When you are used to this, Tay Swift sounds of nails on a blackboard. Today's pop (mostly) sounds like it was written by middle-school marching band members.
Check out Rich Beato's critique of this on one of his episodes of "What Makes This Song Great"....said Gadd's solos on Aja were the catalyst of a radical shift in his perspective of pop music; also some unknown backstage comments by Larry Carlton, one of Becker & Fagan's favorite session players, as told thru his cousin who's an acquaintance of Beato's > spoiler: Gadd played those after 20 minutes of rehearsal! 😲
@@Hollylivengood I grew up in the Steely Dan era - never heard them referred to as "Yacht rock" or "yacht music". Somewhere maybe; but not in the South, the MidWest, or any of the other forty-one states I lived and worked in. Only way I heard them every described was as a "thinking man's" music. That's why I said, sit on the porch, feel the breeze, and let the music paint the picture. Saying they were "Yacht music" implies a connotation of elitism or snobbery; friend, I'm an ironworker - closest I ever got to a yacht was a zodiac raft! To me, S.D. played the type of music one could wind down a hard day with...
No offense to the great Beatles or their fans, but this album gets my vote. I think it depends on what yer ears are accustomed to, and what yer experience growing up with music is.
"Aja" ...this album is considered to be so ACOUSTICALLY PERFECT..that many sound specialists use to to test out new speakers and sound equipment. You'd do yourself a favor learning this whole album! DEACON BLUES & BLACK COW ..DO THOSE !
Difficult to say because at this stage, it was only officially Walter Becker and Donald Fagen but they hired about 10 session musicians to perform with them particularly on this song,
I'm almost jealous that you get to experience this masterpiece for the first time. Aja is a mind-blowing composition and performance. Absolute sonic perfection.
is'nt wonderful to see these younger brothers as they start to wake up to what real music and composition are all about ; a little more interesting than that 808 and loop stuff huh ?
I’ll never forget my jazz history professor Lloyd Kaplan’s reaction when a student came in wearing a Dan T-shirt. He said “Ahhhh, Steely Daaaaaan.” He looked beyond all of us with a far away, extremely blissful look on his face. That’s what The Dan does to you!
I bet that professor lies awake every night thinking "Damn! I really should have said something like 'You got the Steely Dan T-shirt but where's the shapely body?' Now that woulda been funny."
Chick Corea said about Steve Gadd "Every drummer wants to play like Steve Gadd, because he plays perfect" His drum solo on this song is incredible, so fantastic! 🇩🇪🇩🇪🇩🇪
I got introduced to Steely Dan while going to San Diego State University. Being an African American from Oakland I never heard of them. Aja is still one of my favorite albums. Still listen to it in 2020. I love many of their songs.
Same here, man. I was in my 30's when I got fully introduced to the Dan. I knew of them and really didn't listen to them. Then they turned me on to Deacon Blues and Dr.Wu and I was instantly hooked. Then I was found Aja and my mind was so blown after that. I'm a huge fan of Steely Dan and forever will be.
I was fortunately enough to have a father that introduced me to this when I was young, my brother. Out on the east coast. Aja has ALWAYS been a top 3 album for me
Amazing, isn't it? I remember going into Monmouth Stereo in Red Bank, NJ and testing a pair of Polk 4As with this album. Must have been around 1987 or so.
I bought this album when it came out and loved it. But I had a crappy stereo system because I was just a high school kid and didn’t know much about “HiFi”. When I got a little older I got a much better music system, and my love for this album increased so much. The depth of sound on all the tracks of this album are amazing.
@@michaelanderson2881 I'm 50 ,but i think i got into this album "Arjar" when i was 25+ Thanks to the internet i realised it's called "asia" I luv young people getting into this as it's the same reaction for me when I was younger. Im glad peoples getting broad horizons
One of my favorite tunes of all time. A freaking masterpiece. Never get tired of it. Steve Gadd, Wayne Shorter, Joe Sample, Larry Carlton… SO many great players.
I was a high school freshman when this came out. I listened to it every night before sleep for several months in a row. It’s in my bones 40+ years later
Before bed Yes !! With my Sennheiser headphones stoned to the bone, killer, mesmerizing for sure. I listened to it 100's of times the whole album !! Steely Dan, one of my ll time favorites
Yep. Same. Except I’d blast it on my brothers McIntosh stereo with these big Voice of the Theater speakers every day when I got home from school. Pure bliss!
Steely Dan is a deep, deep dive, my friend... don't fail to explore this well. I recommend "Jose", "Gaucho", "Hey Nineteen", "Kid Charlemagne", "Reeling in the Years", "The Fez", hell, ALL OF IT!!!!
Fagen and Becker created something very special. This song (and album) never gets old. Might be the best popular music album ever. Technically perfect!
How many drummers does it take to change a lightbulb? Ten. One to change the bulb, and nine to discuss how Steve Gadd would have done it. Here all week!
Definitely need to check out “Black Cow” and “Deacon Blues” from this album. As for sounding familiar, I’m sure you have heard with “Reelin’ in the Years” or “Do It Again”. Maybe even “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number”. Keep doing what you’re doing.
Thank you brother Jamal for helping us all get through these rough times, your reactions are priceless and, you are Genuine, a great quality! My Dad passed away the end of last year, then four more family members all within just four months, I was close to each one of them, then Covid, and currently my back is against the wall with serious health issues, not bitching, just reality, again, from my heart thank you, you've brought back soooo many great memories, I'm 56 years old, kind of wish I were ten years older so I could have enjoyed some '70s concerts,,,,peace and love my man...please keep this up as long as you are able...
OH MY GOD!! I've heard a couple of other Steely Dan's songs and love them but never have I heard Aja until this reaction video from 2yrs ago! The layers of instruments and the engineering, so crisp! It's orgasmic sophistication. IT'S FREAKING 2AM AND I'M UP LISTENING TO THIS!!!
Shit, dude, your reaction to Steve Gadd's wicked-ass drum fills had me nearly in tears. I knew you'd be blown away by that and I was giggling watching your expression change as he laid it down. One of my favorite drum/sax solos of all time.
This song is so beautiful and amazing it makes me cry. The inspiration, musical brilliance, and ambition behind it are just stunning. And the musicianship..... don’t even get me started!🎸😎❤️
in a way, sitting here, looking on his reactions as if I was in Olympus looking at man experiencing one more grand epiphany about the world he lives in... One more pearl he never knew existed.... Glorious...
There are only two members in Steely Dan. They hired the best studio musicians to record their masterpieces. They could be hard on the hired hands. Every Steely Dan project featured an all star lineup. Steely Dan is a one-of a-kind phenom.
Aja is an absolute masterpiece! Soniclly brilliant! Every little detail of every little sound is exactly perfect and in the perfect place. The Aja album, and more specifically the Aja track is my standard for setting up and tuning any sound system I plan to spend any time listening to. It is always the first track I play whenever I install\tweak a new car stereo system or the home sound system. EVERYTHING is set up with Aja as my reference. Headphone purchases... Speaker purchases, amplifier purchases... EVERYTHING. If it's tweaked to Aja it's ready for ANYTHING!
Steely Dan is two guys, guitar/bass and keys. They hired the best of the best studio musicians to do everything else which is why their records are so tight.
"Deacon Blues" is what you need to do next. And Steely Dan was Donald Fagen and the late Walter Becker. They, of course, had backing musicians. The great Michael McDonald sang on "Peg." I'm a Black female fan of theirs from my 1970's childhood.
"How many band members in Steely Dan?" is a question we've all been asking for so long... it's two guys, but they hired a lot of studio musicians, and were famous for recording and re-recording over and over until they got just the sound they wanted. I hope this becomes a favorite band of yours and you can listen to all of their stuff.
Donald Fagen and Walter Becker we’re the quintessential perfectionists. Everything had to be just perfect before they would be satisfied. They had a real talent for combining jazz and rock and making something unique.
Steely Dan is more of an aesthetic than a band. It’s an approach to fulfilling the ideas of Fagen and Becker (RIP). The first album was a band and had 6 members.
I Love this band, too! There are so many choices; Reelin’ in the Years 1972, Do it Again 1972, Dirty Work 1972, My Old School 1973, Rikki Don’t Lose That Number 1974, Doctor Wu 1975, and Kid Charlemagne 1976. I think I should stop. You might go crazy. Great reaction! I am glad you like it Jamel.
"Do It Again" "Reelin' in the years", "Peg", "Josie", "Hey Nineteen", "Rikki don't lose that number", "FM (No Static At All"), "Cousin Dupree" "Kid Charlemagne" "Deacon Blues" "My old school" and "Babylon Sisters" are all hits by Steely Dan they have had many members through the years. 2 main guys produced most of it
I'm 70 and still loving my music! As I will til I croak. We were so damn fortunate/lucky to live the musical era we did. Steely Dan is one of my very top shelf groups. How could they not be with such a catalogue? Sonic perfection. But talk about a bottomless pit of awesomeness! So much so that we can forgive the tsunami of trash we waded thru because the payoffs were so extremely enriching. Now, many years later we get to relive our treasures while watching the joy erupt from inquisitive younger people like Jamel who were used to settling for weak facsimiles of what we celebrated during the greatest ever musical era. I'm here often listening and observing because every time without fail it makes my day once again! And in the armpit that is 2020 I'll take all of that I can get.
As a drummer, it's my job to tell you the amazing story of this amazing drum track. A, it's legendary hired-assassin drummer Steve Gadd with one of the most iconic performances ever. Among thousands of other tunes, he's also famous for Paul Simon's "50 Ways" and "Late In The Evening," two you may know. This track was Modern Drummer magazine's readers' poll performance of the year in 1977. B, as complicated as this tune is, he had the band run it down once while marking the chart with a pencil, and then recorded what you just heard in one take. The second time he ever heard this song, he was recording this track, which is THE FIRST AND ONLY TAKE HE RECORDED. C, he was so out of his mind on drugs when he recorded it, HE DIDN'T EVEN REMEMBER RECORDING IT. When they played him a mix of it weeks later, he said, "That's great - who's the drummer?" "Um... that's you, Steve." "Man, I'm a MOTHERfucker."
I've had this experience also. I work in a recording studio, and every once and a while someone will ask me to play bass or rip a guitar solo. Then listening back a month later when you hit playback, I'll wonder who did that crazy guitar solo, and they look at me and say, "Dude, that's you, you dummy."
@@joeday4293 Thanks so much!! this is my funeral song, I only let myself listen once a year so it doesn't become jaded, but I thought the vicarious pleasure would be worth it.. and I get this story!! So Happy..I remember back in the day all the musos arguing over whether the sticks hit at the end of the first sax solo was on purpose HaHa
This album right here...I consider to be closest to the most perfect album of all time. The production is beyond impeccable, the arrangement is gorgeous, the album cover is the most elegant graphic design ever...seriously the most complete recording ever. Read the history of the making of this album and look up a list of the studio musicians. Each song is pretty much an entirely different line up. Donald Fagen knew what he wanted and every part was specific. How many band members? Look at the personnel list en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aja_(album)
Steve Gadd is amazing on this record. Am I the only one whose favorite part of this phenomenal drum performance is when he snaps his sticks together at the end of the first section?
The whole album "Aja" is a classic masterpiece. "Black Cow" is my personal favorite but "Josie", "Peg", "Deacon Blues", and the rest are great. You'll see why it's such a classic.
Deacon blues will forever be one of my favourite songs of all time... this entire album is brilliant! "Drink scotch whiskey all night long & die behind the wheel"
My favorite song to hear live from them, and the version on RUclips with Ricky Lawson on drums is the absolute best even though generally I'm all about Keith Carlock and saw him play with SD five times.
When I was a young drummer at 17 years of age, I bought this album after hearing Steve Gadd playing with Chick Corea on "The Mad Hatter". This song changed my life.
All credit to Mr. Peter for getting our friend started on his Steely journey! Love watching Jamel getting pulled in as he reacts to the Dan for the first time! :)
The entire album is a masterpiece. “Home at last” is my personal favorite. But you should check out all of Donald Fagen’s solo work as well because it is equally as masterful
Joel Cullers not only is it a musical masterpiece, it’s also become the sonic “bible” for countless studio/audio engineers, who strive for that kind of incredible audio fidelity, and the perfect mix. ❤️
As a black person, I've heard Steely Dan songs since '72 back in Detroit: ("Do it Again", Rikki Don't Lose That Number")...BUT Steely Dan accessibility on R&B radio came through "Peg" via Michael McDonald's background vocal. McDonald's accessibility through R&B only magnified through The Doobie Brothers; "Takin' it to the Streets", "You Belong to Me", "Minute by Minute", "What a Fool Believes" I used to refer to that iteration of The Doobies as "DoobieDan".
DoobieDan! That's brilliant! It really says something about the Doobies that not just 1 but 2 of their members were allowed to play in the only-world's-best-allowed realm that was Steely Dan. Cornelius Bumpus played on a number of their tours at least.
@@oddeagle1968 Yes he did. Skunk was the original lead guitarist for the Dan. Gary Katz who produced both groups hired him after the Dan`s core ,Walter Becker and Donald Fagan dissolved the formal group and began using session musicians. Michael McDonald was originally a back-up singer for the Dan.
My best friend and I loved this album when it came out in our Junior year of HS. I even made her an Aja T-shirt for Christmas. A cute black T and red satan AJA all made by hand. She loved it!
I needed this response, my soul brother. With everything going on in the world today (December 2022), with my wife struggling with cancer, my own world struggling... your response lifted me and made me forget, for a time, my troubles. Always appreciate the lift you try to give Mankind through aesthetics. All my love.
And "Babylon Sisters." No other band made so many great songs about middle-aged men knowing they ought to know better than to mess with young girls. LOL
Knowing every nook and cranny of this, and knowing the players involved, I must say, it is a JOY to watch you, Jamal, enjoy and digest the greatness that is this recording, AJA, with this group of magical, musical geniuses. And, thank you for recognizing the greatness....pass it on, my friend, I'm 62 and have loved this for years, bring this to this generation and let them understand what musical instruments and talent can do, as opposed to electronics and digital substitues
Steely Dan are legendary for their precision and perfectionism. The core of the band is two guys, Donald Fagan and Walter Becker, and literately everyone else is a session musician. They’ll have whole different bands for different songs on the same album. And they practiced the songs until they were perfect according to the vision of what Fagan and Becker wanted. And then they’d practice some more. They wanted perfection, and then they also wanted their players to know the songs so well that it was as smooth and as natural and as fluid as you are hearing. This particular record came out in 1977. They released 7 studio albums between 1972-1980. Then they split up for 13 years before they started playing together again in 1993. After reuniting they released 2 more studio albums in 2000 and 2003. Walter Becker passed away in 2017.
But it's not their perfectionism that makes the compositions great, rather the opposite. To my taste, many of their songs would be better with a little looser (jazzier) attitude, as can sometimes be heard in their live performances.
rettboy1You just said everything I wanted to say but couldn't put it in words. Perfect explanation of Steely Dan and I couldn't have said it better myself. 👌
I love that I am a child of the 70’s, such a diverse time in music. Steely Dan fused Jazz, R&B and Rock with incredible musicians. Listen to Peg and Black Cow.
! So true, it was time of first bit of fusion for all kinds of things and when discovery seemed so hopeful and broadening. I was too young to appreciate how much was invented at that time from pure imagination.
My all time favorite album. I've listened to this track a million times. It's a nearly perfect work of art. Aja was released in 1977, almost 40 musicians accompanied Walter Becker and Donald Fagen. The saxophone solo on Aja was done by the great Wayne Shorter. You've probably heard Peg or Deacon Blues from this album, and you've certainly heard other pieces by them. They were one of the most influential musical acts of the 1970s.
Развлечения
This album is as close as anybody’s going to come to perfection. It’s definitely on my desert island list.
100%
Call me crazy but I like Countdown to Ecstasy better
You and Bababooey
if you love Steely Dan you miiiiight,,,, Just might enjoy Bill Bruford's Feels Good To Me from 1978
I couldn’t agree more!! Every time I listen to Aja I’m blown away!
Who else was just waiting for Wayne Shorter and Steve Gadd to blow his mind?
Yes! Wayne is jamming on it! Still love Wayne...
Ha-ha!
Exactly! XD
Me Me that's me I couldn't frickin wait!
RIGHT HERE!! I was waiting for his reaction on Gadd!!👍
nitedreamer23 ME!
One of the greatest albums of all time. Perfection.
Most albums have one good song and others are ok to bad. Aja is a perfect album, each song is perfectly made, no bad songs.
They mix rock and jazz
Agree! 2 Steely Dan albums are in my top 10 and this is one of them!
Perfection and grace...
A masterpiece in every way.
Every Steely Dan song is like a wonderful dish of food, with each bite you discover a deeper flavor and just want to have more
Steely Dan is your favorite band’s favorite band.
Also my dad's favorite band, many a car ride to town with this as the soundtrack.
M K Pedantic people are fun...
Who’s his favorite band? Also gotta let him know RIP Walter Becker.
M K *sigh* You must be fun at parties
Tahoe Nevada yep and most musicians I know ALL LOVE Steely Dan !
Aja is literally the perfect album. Every cut is phenomenal.
scoonman Every single one.
Easily one of my favorite albums of all time. EASY!!!
Best musicianship, best writing, and absolutely the best production. They killed it.
I think it's a tie with Royal Scam
Perfection 💯
Does anyone else who grew up when this was THE sound and music, does anyone else realise how blessed we were? The background of our youth ☺️
When you are used to this, Tay Swift sounds of nails on a blackboard. Today's pop (mostly) sounds like it was written by middle-school marching band members.
Youth ? I’m still listening. . . daily
100 Percent, Clarissa.
Check out Rich Beato's critique of this on one of his episodes of "What Makes This Song Great"....said Gadd's solos on Aja were the catalyst of a radical shift in his perspective of pop music; also some unknown backstage comments by Larry Carlton, one of Becker & Fagan's favorite session players, as told thru his cousin who's an acquaintance of Beato's > spoiler: Gadd played those after 20 minutes of rehearsal! 😲
Sound of my youth too (I’m 14 lol)
watching people discover Steely Dan is always such a kick..
I'm old enough to remember the commercials that promoted this "album" .
When you see someone getting the joy you've been privileged to experience for 35+ years 😂🔥🤣👌🏽❤
Yes!
Big ditto!
That's why I love watching reaction videos...it's almost as good as hearing the song for the 1st time
I keep saying the big j is a very lucky he's got a whole new world to experience
Well said! And Jamal is open to new sounds.....Yeah....we can hang together....got something in common!
The list of session musicians that played with Steely Dan is like a who's who of Rock and Jazz legends.
If you have Steele Dan on your Resume you can pretty much write your ticket!
Kevin Hall watch the Making of Aja documentary.
Wayne Shorter, Victor Feldman, Larry Carlton, and Steve Gadd really come to mind here. Like a Michael Franks line up, with balls. Big ones.
Chuck Rainey and Bernie Purdie for starters...
Definitely.The shared DNA between Michael Franks and Steely Dan always stands out to me. One-Trick-Pony-era Paul Simon too.
When I lived down south, Steely Dan was my sit on the porch, sip a beer, feel the breeze and watch the sun go down music...
Yacht Music.
Sounds about right, something to chill to!
Didn't they used to dub Steely Dan "yacht rock"?
good anology
@@Hollylivengood I grew up in the Steely Dan era - never heard them referred to as "Yacht rock" or "yacht music". Somewhere maybe; but not in the South, the MidWest, or any of the other forty-one states I lived and worked in. Only way I heard them every described was as a "thinking man's" music. That's why I said, sit on the porch, feel the breeze, and let the music paint the picture. Saying they were "Yacht music" implies a connotation of elitism or snobbery; friend, I'm an ironworker - closest I ever got to a yacht was a zodiac raft! To me, S.D. played the type of music one could wind down a hard day with...
My favorite from their entire catalog. Jazz, pop, a tinge of rock. I’m a drummer, and the drums on this song are otherworldly.
The incomparable Steve Gadd
@@pamelashannon6104 Legend has it that Gadd and saxophonist Wayne Shorter laid this down in one take. No do-over. Simply amazing!
@@rickysmith3214 I can believe it. Steve is a master of his craft. I'm blown away by his drumming / percussion skills. Just unreal!
@@pamelashannon6104
BADASS Steve Gadd!!!
no band existed like them before they started/there’s never been one like them since...Aja could be the most perfectly recorded/produced album ever(?)
Er....The Beatles? Heard of them?
only thing in your opinion I disagree with are the two words could be. let's just substitute the word is. NOTHING compares to this.
David Tregear the Flower Kings.
No offense to the great Beatles or their fans, but this album gets my vote. I think it depends on what yer ears are accustomed to, and what yer experience growing up with music is.
love that Album, probably my all time kick back re group treats.
"Aja" ...this album is considered to be so ACOUSTICALLY PERFECT..that many sound specialists use to to test out new speakers and sound equipment. You'd do yourself a favor learning this whole album!
DEACON BLUES & BLACK COW ..DO THOSE !
Abso-frickin-LUTELY!!!
Amen!
I bought myself a RT-909 reel to reel tape deck in 1983... and Aja is the first music that I ever played on it. It was incredible then and still is.
Played this one so much too, it’s so good
Truth
The greatest produced record of all time. The sound, the musicians, incredible
How many band members are in Steely Dan? Answer: "Yes".
GREAT ANSWER!!
All of them.
Yup! Great answer!
Difficult to say because at this stage, it was only officially Walter Becker and Donald Fagen but they hired about 10 session musicians to perform with them particularly on this song,
Q: How many band members are in Steely Dan?
A: Everybody.
I'm almost jealous that you get to experience this masterpiece for the first time. Aja is a mind-blowing composition and performance. Absolute sonic perfection.
I'm just here to see his reaction to Steve Gadd's drum solo.
Yep. Gadd just rocks it in the ending. The whole song. But man...
Find another another song that reached #3 or higher on the charts that has anything close to what Steve Gadd did on this track.
Me too
Exactly!😂
Literally showed out! Completely unnecessary to be this to be THAT BAD! Perfection.
HIs reaction was priceless. It's like he saw the face of God. Close enough, I'd say.
The whole Aja album was a masterpiece
Steve Gadd on drums and Wayne Shorter on sax, it doesn’t get any more magical than that.
Donny Thompson Fun fact: Steve Gadd also played the concert in Central Park with Simon & Garfunkel. My favorite live concert of all times.
Matt Bargain Lucky bastard!
Reportedly Gadd’s solo-considered to be in many drummers top 10-was on his second take.
is'nt wonderful to see these younger brothers as they start to wake up to what real music and composition are all about ; a little more interesting than that 808 and loop stuff huh ?
Whatever
I’ll never forget my jazz history professor Lloyd Kaplan’s reaction when a student came in wearing a Dan T-shirt. He said “Ahhhh, Steely Daaaaaan.” He looked beyond all of us with a far away, extremely blissful look on his face. That’s what The Dan does to you!
@@drumsnbass LOL!
Great story Anna!!!
I bet that professor lies awake every night thinking "Damn! I really should have said something like 'You got the Steely Dan T-shirt but where's the shapely body?' Now that woulda been funny."
Agreed the Dan has that effect on ya
You hook up with the professor?
AJA is musical perfection, music doesn't sound the same after listening to this.
Chick Corea said about Steve Gadd "Every drummer wants to play like Steve Gadd, because he plays perfect" His drum solo on this song is incredible, so fantastic! 🇩🇪🇩🇪🇩🇪
Steve Gadd. The best.
Rip Corea!!
I got introduced to Steely Dan while going to San Diego State University. Being an African American from Oakland I never heard of them. Aja is still one of my favorite albums. Still listen to it in 2020. I love many of their songs.
Same here, man. I was in my 30's when I got fully introduced to the Dan. I knew of them and really didn't listen to them. Then they turned me on to Deacon Blues and Dr.Wu and I was instantly hooked. Then I was found Aja and my mind was so blown after that. I'm a huge fan of Steely Dan and forever will be.
I was fortunately enough to have a father that introduced me to this when I was young, my brother. Out on the east coast. Aja has ALWAYS been a top 3 album for me
Go Aztecs! Steely Dan albums were a staple of college life there for me too.
@Vernoy Mayweather...and it’s suffice to say you like the rest of us will continue to listen to this stand alone, ingenious, timeless music until...✌🏾
I was introduced to SD heading up north for a ski trip. The song was Deacon Blues....
...hooked ever since
I love how much Jamal is digging steely dan...my man!!!!
I appreciate Jamal’s innocence and joy while getting into the music
yah
For over 40 years, my favourite song. Touches a place in the soul every time.
I always said that Steely Dan is where Jazz meets Rock.
You can really go down the Rabbit Hole with Steely Dan. Outstanding musicians.
40+ years later and this is still the quintessential test "record" for auditioning high end stereo gear.
Amazing, isn't it? I remember going into Monmouth Stereo in Red Bank, NJ and testing a pair of Polk 4As with this album. Must have been around 1987 or so.
It's a close second to DSOTM
I bought this album when it came out and loved it. But I had a crappy stereo system because I was just a high school kid and didn’t know much about “HiFi”. When I got a little older I got a much better music system, and my love for this album increased so much. The depth of sound on all the tracks of this album are amazing.
@@michaelanderson2881 I'm 50 ,but i think i got into this album "Arjar" when i was 25+ Thanks to the internet i realised it's called "asia" I luv young people getting into this as it's the same reaction for me when I was younger. Im glad peoples getting broad horizons
One of my favorite tunes of all time. A freaking masterpiece. Never get tired of it. Steve Gadd, Wayne Shorter, Joe Sample, Larry Carlton… SO many great players.
Michael McDonald and Timothy B. Schmidt (Poco, Eagles) background vocals!!!
Not to mention Dennis Dias. His last appearance on a Steely Dan record
Watching his reaction is priceless. Now just imagine hearing this for the the first time at 15 in 1976!
I was a high school freshman when this came out.
I listened to it every night before sleep for several months in a row.
It’s in my bones 40+ years later
Before bed Yes !! With my Sennheiser headphones stoned to the bone, killer, mesmerizing for sure. I listened to it 100's of times the whole album !! Steely Dan, one of my ll time favorites
In my bones as well, y’all!
same. we're the same age. ditto.
Yep. Same. Except I’d blast it on my brothers McIntosh stereo with these big Voice of the Theater speakers every day when I got home from school. Pure bliss!
Michael ONeill Hardly a day goes by that I don't hear a tune from this iconic Album.
Steely Dan is a deep, deep dive, my friend... don't fail to explore this well. I recommend "Jose", "Gaucho", "Hey Nineteen", "Kid Charlemagne", "Reeling in the Years", "The Fez", hell, ALL OF IT!!!!
Don't forget Dirty Work, Deacon Blues, and Do It Again!
Yes, ALL of it!
Green Earrings...live version...Drew Zing’s lead guitar solo?? Nothing’s fuckin with it!!!😎🔥
Oh yes, and don’t ever forget Dirty Work where they had David Palmer on lead vocals. Such an explorative band with other musicians!
Reeling in the Years is one to miss, their worst track in my opinion
Fagen and Becker created something very special. This song (and album) never gets old. Might be the best popular music album ever. Technically perfect!
damn, i grew up listening to steely dan but seeing this dude react to it made me hear it in a whole new way... blew my mind. such a masterpiece.
This drum track was recorded in two takes, the only direction he was given was to just go wild. Man is a legend. Steve Gadd.
Hell YASSSS!
How many drummers does it take to change a lightbulb?
Ten. One to change the bulb, and nine to discuss how Steve Gadd would have done it.
Here all week!
The chart was taped across one cymbal stand to another!
Steve "went ham"
inorite JJ, 'ham'!..😊
Definitely need to check out “Black Cow” and “Deacon Blues” from this album. As for sounding familiar, I’m sure you have heard with “Reelin’ in the Years” or “Do It Again”. Maybe even “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number”. Keep doing what you’re doing.
Yes! This is a great number of starter songs for the band! Welcome to the EndGame Jamel!, Steely Dan is the best it gets!
Yes, both good recommendations.
Love Black Cow.
Also love Steely Dan - Gaucho
And anything by Donald Fagen and the album The Nightfly
Agreed on all songs, and don't forget "Peg".
Steve Gadd. The best drum solo/breakdown ever recorded.
And yet was omitted from the making of Aja video. Absolute beast of a drummer.
Amen , those triples, man...'.
Done in one take!!
Rick beato
Definitely agree
Thank you brother Jamal for helping us all get through these rough times, your reactions are priceless and, you are Genuine, a great quality! My Dad passed away the end of last year, then four more family members all within just four months, I was close to each one of them, then Covid, and currently my back is against the wall with serious health issues, not bitching, just reality, again, from my heart thank you, you've brought back soooo many great memories, I'm 56 years old, kind of wish I were ten years older so I could have enjoyed some '70s concerts,,,,peace and love my man...please keep this up as long as you are able...
Thank you Sir
Donald Fagan is known as the “Musicians Musician”.
*FAGEN
Indeed
Your favorite band's favorite band.
cant forget WALTER BECKER!!
You just witnessed eight minutes of musical perfection. Plain and simple. The Dan is brilliant!
Bob Ziadie preach
Steve Gadd's incredible and damn near impossible drumming has inspired me since the early 70's. We wore this album out!
Triples at the end get you pumped up!
7:27 the "Stick Click" I still get goosebumps from it. 1 take performance by Steve Gadd 👍👍
OH MY GOD!! I've heard a couple of other Steely Dan's songs and love them but never have I heard Aja until this reaction video from 2yrs ago! The layers of instruments and the engineering, so crisp! It's orgasmic sophistication. IT'S FREAKING 2AM AND I'M UP LISTENING TO THIS!!!
Shit, dude, your reaction to Steve Gadd's wicked-ass drum fills had me nearly in tears. I knew you'd be blown away by that and I was giggling watching your expression change as he laid it down. One of my favorite drum/sax solos of all time.
“All that greatness...” no lie, Jamel. AJA is one of the greatest albums of all time, and you need to give it a full listen. Peter done you good.
Is it bad if my favorite is Gaucho?
@@DiomyYunsa - Heck no, it's not bad. "Babylon Sisters," "Gaucho," and "Third World Man" are three of my favorite tracks in the SD book. 🎶❤️👍🎸
@@DiomyYunsa Gaucho, Pretzel Logic, Katy Lied, Royal Scam. . . don't make me pick a favorite!
It coulda been made yesterday
in my book its one of my 10 favorites came out when I was 17 still doesn't get old!
This song is so beautiful and amazing it makes me cry.
The inspiration, musical brilliance, and ambition behind it are just stunning.
And the musicianship..... don’t even get me started!🎸😎❤️
in a way, sitting here, looking on his reactions as if I was in Olympus looking at man experiencing one more grand epiphany about the world he lives in... One more pearl he never knew existed.... Glorious...
Donald Fagen released a solo album in the early '80s called "Nightfly" Give IGY or New Frontier a listen.
Has become one of my favorites post 81
Oh yes Nightfly is awesome.
Both great tunes
Joey Robison The goodbye look 😊
I LOVE THAT ALBUM!
I’ve been loving their music since the 70s. Their is a distinct and tight musicianship. Top notch! Enjoy the journey.
*there
Aja is a brilliant immortal classic.
There are only two members in Steely Dan. They hired the best studio musicians to record their masterpieces. They could be hard on the hired hands. Every Steely Dan project featured an all star lineup. Steely Dan is a one-of a-kind phenom.
Steely Dan is my all time favorite band. Play More!!!!!!!
Yes!!! Peg should be next 👍🎶😎
@@illuminateyourlife3401 Black Cow. So outrageous!
This is the Magnum Opus of the Rock Era. The whole album is a masterpiece!
Hunky Dory
"He just went ham on those drums." Facts. Another new Steve Gadd fan.
The greatest jazz
ock band who ever played music. Musical perfection is the best way to describe Steely Dan and everything they've done.
Aja is an absolute masterpiece! Soniclly brilliant! Every little detail of every little sound is exactly perfect and in the perfect place. The Aja album, and more specifically the Aja track is my standard for setting up and tuning any sound system I plan to spend any time listening to. It is always the first track I play whenever I install\tweak a new car stereo system or the home sound system. EVERYTHING is set up with Aja as my reference. Headphone purchases... Speaker purchases, amplifier purchases... EVERYTHING. If it's tweaked to Aja it's ready for ANYTHING!
thanks to Bernie Grundman who mastered this record
Exactly the same - I know this like my dna - so as something evolves I immediately hear it and go wow
How interesting!!
@@RocknRonni You can’t leave out Elliot Scheiner, the Grammy winning mixer.
Steely Dan is two guys, guitar/bass and keys. They hired the best of the best studio musicians to do everything else which is why their records are so tight.
also I just learned that they played each song many many many times to get them tight
It's a damn shame Walter Becker is no longer with us.
Steely Dan - Aja is in the rock and roll hall of fame for being the best recorded LP in rock history.
This song takes you on a journey, actually the whole album does.
Pink Floyd-Dark Side Of The Moon and Aja may be the most perfectly recorded albums ever. Production is perfection.
agree I have to add Abbey Road for the technology of the time and for pop thriller.
Supertramp, Crime of the Century and Little Feat, Waiting For Columbus both have incredible sound. One studio, the other live.
Pink Floyd is not in the league of Steely Dan.
I must agree!
@@prairiegold6870 Agreed. Pink Floyd is higher.
"Deacon Blues" is what you need to do next. And Steely Dan was Donald Fagen and the late Walter Becker. They, of course, had backing musicians. The great Michael McDonald sang on "Peg." I'm a Black female fan of theirs from my 1970's childhood.
Me too!
@@wyleneedwards Hey, Girl!
lisa knox totally agree!! Although every cut on that album is great. My favorite album of all time.
lisa knox
That is my favorite Dan song!!!! Love it!!
It blew my mind when it finally dawned on me who that husky voice doing the "PEEEEEEEEEG" on the backup vocals was lol.
"Magic" - perfect description. Now, wrap your head around the fact that this was new in 1977.
"Sounds familiar, I wouldn't be surprised if I know a song by them". The greatest band of all time don't often go undetected for long!
Jamel's connecting Steely Dan to Pink Floyd is so damn right. It's about studio perfection, gentlemen!
"How many band members in Steely Dan?" is a question we've all been asking for so long... it's two guys, but they hired a lot of studio musicians, and were famous for recording and re-recording over and over until they got just the sound they wanted. I hope this becomes a favorite band of yours and you can listen to all of their stuff.
I've read that they tried as many as six different guitarists for the same song to get the sound they wanted.
Donald Fagen and Walter Becker we’re the quintessential perfectionists. Everything had to be just perfect before they would be satisfied. They had a real talent for combining jazz and rock and making something unique.
@@robertbrown9912 6 entire bands, not just guitarists
Steely Dan is more of an aesthetic than a band. It’s an approach to fulfilling the ideas of Fagen and Becker (RIP). The first album was a band and had 6 members.
They hired the very best musicians.
I Love this band, too! There are so many choices; Reelin’ in the Years 1972, Do it Again 1972, Dirty Work 1972, My Old School 1973, Rikki Don’t Lose That Number 1974, Doctor Wu 1975, and Kid Charlemagne 1976. I think I should stop. You might go crazy. Great reaction! I am glad you like it Jamel.
"All that greatness." Couldn't be said better.
"Do It Again" "Reelin' in the years", "Peg", "Josie", "Hey Nineteen", "Rikki don't lose that number", "FM (No Static At All"), "Cousin Dupree" "Kid Charlemagne" "Deacon Blues" "My old school" and "Babylon Sisters" are all hits by Steely Dan they have had many members through the years. 2 main guys produced most of it
I’d start with peg...but this list is about exactly what I’d suggest
You forgot "Haitian Divorce".
Gary Katz produced all of their 70's material in collaboration with engineer Roger Nichols
Uh, are you familiar with the phrase "mansplain"?
what about black cow
"Their most popular song..." Ha! They had so many amazing songs, it's impossible to pick one. Check out ALL their work. My fav band EVER.
I'm 70 and still loving my music! As I will til I croak. We were so damn fortunate/lucky to live the musical era we did. Steely Dan is one of my very top shelf groups. How could they not be with such a catalogue? Sonic perfection. But talk about a bottomless pit of awesomeness! So much so that we can forgive the tsunami of trash we waded thru because the payoffs were so extremely enriching. Now, many years later we get to relive our treasures while watching the joy erupt from inquisitive younger people like Jamel who were used to settling for weak facsimiles of what we celebrated during the greatest ever musical era. I'm here often listening and observing because every time without fail it makes my day once again! And in the armpit that is 2020 I'll take all of that I can get.
"... sitting in the front row of a jazz cafe." The perfect compliment to a perfect album.
As a drummer, it's my job to tell you the amazing story of this amazing drum track.
A, it's legendary hired-assassin drummer Steve Gadd with one of the most iconic performances ever. Among thousands of other tunes, he's also famous for Paul Simon's "50 Ways" and "Late In The Evening," two you may know. This track was Modern Drummer magazine's readers' poll performance of the year in 1977.
B, as complicated as this tune is, he had the band run it down once while marking the chart with a pencil, and then recorded what you just heard in one take. The second time he ever heard this song, he was recording this track, which is THE FIRST AND ONLY TAKE HE RECORDED.
C, he was so out of his mind on drugs when he recorded it, HE DIDN'T EVEN REMEMBER RECORDING IT. When they played him a mix of it weeks later, he said, "That's great - who's the drummer?" "Um... that's you, Steve." "Man, I'm a MOTHERfucker."
Nice work. Thanks for that.
I've had this experience also. I work in a recording studio, and every once and a while someone will ask me to play bass or rip a guitar solo. Then listening back a month later when you hit playback, I'll wonder who did that crazy guitar solo, and they look at me and say, "Dude, that's you, you dummy."
The story as told by "Aja" producer Gary Katz: fivethingsseenandheard.com/tag/steve-gadd/
@@joeday4293 Thanks so much!! this is my funeral song, I only let myself listen once a year so it doesn't become jaded, but I thought the vicarious pleasure would be worth it.. and I get this story!! So Happy..I remember back in the day all the musos arguing over whether the sticks hit at the end of the first sax solo was on purpose HaHa
@Cedric Harris Nope. One take, period. Read the link above.
This album right here...I consider to be closest to the most perfect album of all time. The production is beyond impeccable, the arrangement is gorgeous, the album cover is the most elegant graphic design ever...seriously the most complete recording ever. Read the history of the making of this album and look up a list of the studio musicians. Each song is pretty much an entirely different line up. Donald Fagen knew what he wanted and every part was specific. How many band members? Look at the personnel list en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aja_(album)
Scott McCrate A great album that I purchased when it was released!👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
With the exception of Royal Scam maybe.
some of his best work. never heard anything quite this good.
I have it! Lyrics, music brilliant!🤗🤗🤗🤗
Incognito ONE as much as I love royal scam, I still couldn’t come close to calling it better than Aja
Steve Gadd is amazing on this record. Am I the only one whose favorite part of this phenomenal drum performance is when he snaps his sticks together at the end of the first section?
Classic and so unexpected.
Just watching his face enjoying the music says it all.
The whole album "Aja" is a classic masterpiece. "Black Cow" is my personal favorite but "Josie", "Peg", "Deacon Blues", and the rest are great. You'll see why it's such a classic.
Home at Last is a great understated hit too
Seriously, listen to the entire album, wait.....EXPERIENCE the entire album♡
Deacon blues will forever be one of my favourite songs of all time... this entire album is brilliant!
"Drink scotch whiskey all night long & die behind the wheel"
Kid Charlemagne.... a masterpiece amongst many that Steely Dan has blessed us with.
My favorite song to hear live from them, and the version on RUclips with Ricky Lawson on drums is the absolute best even though generally I'm all about Keith Carlock and saw him play with SD five times.
when this record hit every other band said "what the fuck are we gonna do after that shit god dammit"
8':40" "...this is like..magic.." welcome to Steely Dan, alchemists of the 70's
The Master, Steve Gadd on drums. One of the most remarkable interpretations of Steve.
When I was a young drummer at 17 years of age, I bought this album after hearing Steve Gadd playing with Chick Corea on "The Mad Hatter". This song changed my life.
@Judi Dipillo Heck yeah!🤙🏾😄
Steve Edwards me too
Welcome to fusion, my brother! If you're down with Steely Dan, you'll love Weather Report. Wayne Shorter on sax, Jaco on bass....
LOVE Weather Report!!!
Fusion? i wouldnt classify the Dan as fusion, Weather report yes, John Mc Glaughlin, Stanley Clark, Jeff beck, Chic Correa, etc
@@scottwoods9282 Not all steely Dan songs are fusion but this one definitely is
All credit to Mr. Peter for getting our friend started on his Steely journey! Love watching Jamel getting pulled in as he reacts to the Dan for the first time! :)
The entire album is a masterpiece. “Home at last” is my personal favorite. But you should check out all of Donald Fagen’s solo work as well because it is equally as masterful
Thanks... now I gotta go listen to Home at Last... My fav too.
Joel Cullers not only is it a musical masterpiece, it’s also become the sonic “bible” for countless studio/audio engineers, who strive for that kind of incredible audio fidelity, and the perfect mix. ❤️
“You in your Lark you’re a mark you’re a screamer, you know how ta hustle!”
This could have been my comment ❤️
NImH I respect the Pages song on your playlist man
As a black person, I've heard Steely Dan songs since '72 back in Detroit: ("Do it Again", Rikki Don't Lose That Number")...BUT Steely Dan accessibility on R&B radio came through "Peg" via Michael McDonald's background vocal. McDonald's accessibility through R&B only magnified through The Doobie Brothers; "Takin' it to the Streets", "You Belong to Me", "Minute by Minute", "What a Fool Believes" I used to refer to that iteration of The Doobies as "DoobieDan".
DoobieDan! That's brilliant! It really says something about the Doobies that not just 1 but 2 of their members were allowed to play in the only-world's-best-allowed realm that was Steely Dan. Cornelius Bumpus played on a number of their tours at least.
Was it Skunk Baxter who played in both the Doobies and the Dan?
Marrk Zulunuz PEG IS MY JAM. THAT BASS ON PEG IS FIRE
@@oddeagle1968 Yes he did. Skunk was the original lead guitarist for the Dan. Gary Katz who produced both groups hired him after the Dan`s core ,Walter Becker and Donald Fagan dissolved the formal group and began using session musicians. Michael McDonald was originally a back-up singer for the Dan.
Yes!
I remember all those jams!
You tugged my tail when you mentioned Rikki don’t lose my number! I loved that one!
Takes me way back.
We call that sweet jazz with honey smooth vocals and God’s angels guiding the instruments to heavenly perfection.😎
the documentary on aja is really amazing
This project was created when musicianship mattered.
RIP music.
....and when the quality production of said musicianship mattered.
Yes!! 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾💖
Yup. I feel very privileged to have grown up in that era. Steely Dan, Stevie Wonder....
@@howardaltman2600
The 1970s AM and FM radio airwaves were filled with great music!
My love for this album knows no bounds. Wayne Shorter’s tenor solo on Aja is one of the greatest guest appearances on a pop album in the rock era.
My best friend and I loved this album when it came out in our Junior year of HS.
I even made her an Aja T-shirt for Christmas. A cute black T and red satan AJA all made by hand.
She loved it!
I needed this response, my soul brother. With everything going on in the world today (December 2022), with my wife struggling with cancer, my own world struggling... your response lifted me and made me forget, for a time, my troubles. Always appreciate the lift you try to give Mankind through aesthetics. All my love.
Hope your wife is doing well, brother
I was so happy to see someone requested all these steely dan songs. I’m way behind on tasks, but I don’t care, 100% worth it
One of my favorites is "Hey, Nineteen" and another is "FM". Lots of good songs!
And Peg 👌🎶😎
And "Babylon Sisters." No other band made so many great songs about middle-aged men knowing they ought to know better than to mess with young girls. LOL
Steely Dan isn’t really a band so much as two dudes and every awesome musician around.
Right you are! Some of the greatest musicians of our time and all time!
From n.j
John Shannon
Right. That’s true.
Yeah, they not only got the best musicians but the ones who fit the best for any particular piece.
exactly the best in that deparment for that paticular song...they tried out as many as 3 for different songs and picked what they thought fit best
"This is smooooooooth!"
Hell yeah!
Knowing every nook and cranny of this, and knowing the players involved, I must say, it is a JOY to watch you, Jamal, enjoy and digest the greatness that is this recording, AJA, with this group of magical, musical geniuses. And, thank you for recognizing the greatness....pass it on, my friend, I'm 62 and have loved this for years, bring this to this generation and let them understand what musical instruments and talent can do, as opposed to electronics and digital substitues
Steely Dan are legendary for their precision and perfectionism. The core of the band is two guys, Donald Fagan and Walter Becker, and literately everyone else is a session musician. They’ll have whole different bands for different songs on the same album. And they practiced the songs until they were perfect according to the vision of what Fagan and Becker wanted. And then they’d practice some more. They wanted perfection, and then they also wanted their players to know the songs so well that it was as smooth and as natural and as fluid as you are hearing.
This particular record came out in 1977. They released 7 studio albums between 1972-1980. Then they split up for 13 years before they started playing together again in 1993. After reuniting they released 2 more studio albums in 2000 and 2003. Walter Becker passed away in 2017.
But it's not their perfectionism that makes the compositions great, rather the opposite. To my taste, many of their songs would be better with a little looser (jazzier) attitude, as can sometimes be heard in their live performances.
rettboy1You just said everything I wanted to say but couldn't put it in words.
Perfect explanation of Steely Dan and I couldn't have said it better myself. 👌
I saw either fagen, becker or both 4 times live and they never disappointed. always one hell of a show.
I love that I am a child of the 70’s, such a diverse time in music. Steely Dan fused Jazz, R&B and Rock with incredible musicians. Listen to Peg and Black Cow.
Me too. Loved Steely Dan for years.
! So true, it was time of first bit of fusion for all kinds of things and when discovery seemed so hopeful and broadening. I was too young to appreciate how much was invented at that time from pure imagination.
My all time favorite album. I've listened to this track a million times. It's a nearly perfect work of art.
Aja was released in 1977, almost 40 musicians accompanied Walter Becker and Donald Fagen. The saxophone solo on Aja was done by the great Wayne Shorter.
You've probably heard Peg or Deacon Blues from this album, and you've certainly heard other pieces by them. They were one of the most influential musical acts of the 1970s.
First time I've heard this song and its the second Steely Dan song in total. That was awesome!