If you enjoyed this, check out our podcast on Steely Dan! kzread.info/dash/bejne/ZKiCw9WxctXXnrA.html

Don't worry about listening to all of SD - once you've heard it all, you start over. I've been doing that for over 40 years, still not bored :)

@SightAfterDark

3 жыл бұрын

Lol sounds about right

@ragjamrock

3 жыл бұрын

There are many of us who never get tired of the dan!🎶👍🌴

@ethelynchristopher6995

3 жыл бұрын

I've been listening to Steely Dan for many, many years and I never get tired of their music. So glad you've been enjoying them so much. They were such perfectionists in the studio that they hesitated to do concerts knowing they could not reach the perfection that they strove for in the studio doing a live performance. Not to mention that the band was essentially Becker and Fagan and everyone else were rotating studio musicians for the most part. When they did finally tour I made sure to get to their concert in my area and they were actually pretty great live.

@stevegirardmedia2255

2 жыл бұрын

I first heard this album in 1976, and still listen to it regularly. It’s an exercise in composing in minors. I think Sign in Stranger has the most majors, and it’s still minor. It’s been a great companion, though I often listen without thinking of all the deeper meanings - hell, if I focused too much on all the weirdos, fuck-ups & evildoers in their songs over the last 49 years… I’d have needed a lot of therapy! As it is, I think the Dan WAS the therapy!

Donald Fagans "The Night Fly" and "Kamakiriad" will blow your mind...You will be hooked and listen to the albums over and over again 100 times. The production alone will leave you mesmerized.

@SightAfterDark

3 жыл бұрын

We're looking forward to listening to those after the SD albums!

Those filthy horns, what a fantastic song.

@SightAfterDark

3 жыл бұрын

Filthy is a great way to say it

Such a cinematic song, dripping with mood and atmosphere like film noir. And, of course, another amazing interlude

@peaceonearth8693

3 жыл бұрын

Hmmmm... I hear this as more like a lament. Where noir would be more about an anxiety or dread that is ahead. Where you know that chances are you'll never get out of the way of it. I hear this more a bitterness from a past perspective. Not saying that is the only quality, just the thing that's opposed to being Noir. Imho.

@timcardona9962

3 жыл бұрын

@@peaceonearth8693 I was referring to the musical aspects of the song, not the lyrics.

@SightAfterDark

3 жыл бұрын

Amazing is an understatement

I like Dan's set up to Ms. Grafitti's take on it and Dan definining "The Royal Scam" that still applies today and forever. Ms Grafitti going beyond the issue at hand and going into the difficult yet triumphant sound of the music is a great example of great chemistry in friendship and understanding you guys have. Great music review! 👍

@SightAfterDark

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks so much for your kind words! Appreciate you watching!

This song just drives and drives. And then just drives some more.

@SightAfterDark

2 жыл бұрын

Agreed!

"The City of Saint John" refers to San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico.

@SightAfterDark

3 жыл бұрын

Makes sense! Thanks Steve!

@bigboi57

3 жыл бұрын

Yup, a lot of Puerto Rican’s moved to NY around that time, and especially the 50’s. That’s why you see the PR flag and El Morro in the beginning

@michaelobrien2633

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks I was thinking of one of the Virgin Islands.

I understand where you were both coming from. While Ms. Graffiti was describing this uplifting orchestration, Dan was describing a funeral march, and of course the brilliant Steely Dan conveys a dark, bleak, ominous dirge with regal, majestic "See the glory!" orchestration to create that musical tension. As others have pointed out, this album has a very cinematic feel, and the title cut is a punctuation mark that ties the entire work together. Another satisfying masterpiece. I've always believed that this album was their sharpest critique of human nature and society as a whole.

@SightAfterDark

3 жыл бұрын

Hard to disagree with this! Cinematic is a great way to describe this. Thanks so much for watching!

There are a couple songs that weren't on a studio album. "FM" and "Here at the Western World". Check those out at some point. Steely Ben has videos for those.

@neonpark1874

3 жыл бұрын

Here at the Western World came into being during the studio sessions for The Royal Scam album but didn't make it onto the album. It didn't quite fit with the rest of the tracks...so Becker and Fagin put it on their 1978 Greatest Hits album...because of course they did! :-)

@SightAfterDark

3 жыл бұрын

Will definitely check them out after the albums!

Gaucho, Two Against Nature, EVerything Must Go. All underrated IMO even by the fans. Don't forget the SOLO albums! Donald Fagen: The Nightfly (maybe the best album of all including SD?), Kamakiriad, Morph the Cat, Sunken Condos. All fantastic. Walter Becker: 11 Tracks of Whack - more spare (almost a demo sound), getting used to different vocalist, Circus Money - outstanding recording. Band just kills

@SightAfterDark

3 жыл бұрын

Hey there, we plan on finishing all the albums chronologically, then moving on to the solo albums. Thanks for joining us on this SD journey!

@walterhaynes5393

3 жыл бұрын

Variety is the spice of life! Automatic Man . Find , listen, freak out. My Pearl is a 2:30 song so pretty quickly get a notion of the album. Ahh YEAH very very fantastic album. Never played it and had a real bad review. Basically I get WTF WAS THAT!

@CuriousGeorge1111

Жыл бұрын

What JML said--a big, rich catalog to explore. :)

Coming to America from Puerto Rico to get caught out by the promise of pavements of gold.

It’s specifically about coming to NYC from Puerto Rico (their sunny island, city of St John - San Juan). It’s one of my favorite Steely Dan songs but one of the less known ones. Those horns, the lone low piano note accenting the musical phrase. To me, the music seems less triumphant than foreboding.

@SightAfterDark

3 жыл бұрын

Agreed! Foreboding is a great word for it

@fords_nothere_100

3 жыл бұрын

Was hoping someone would point out the PR immigrant experience angle. It really shows how SD can bring in real world ppl and events. And this is still consistent with seeing the overall approach as critical of capitalism and the American Dream.

@prestonburton8504

Жыл бұрын

most here missed this - his documentation of how terrible the mainland treated their newly accepted 'brothers and sisters' mostly in new york and how awful we treated them. Another terrible chapter in our history. I'm blessed knowing their children that learned the ropes and excelled, but many did not. Europeans are awful to their own - but maybe why we've been so successful? Life is brutal - I came from an age where my grandfathers/mothers expected half of their children to die before they reached working age - 11y. I hope we never return to that period. This is from someone that truly believes we are all Gods children. God Bless All!

This is true genius level writing. After multiple listens you hear the supporting parts that are less prominent. It reminds me of those fractal zooms where no matter how much you "zoom in" there are still crazy details not obvious at first look. Like the quiet trumpet chart(not the lead) in one of the verses. Trumpets and trombones, used extensively here, are VERY sparsely used on/in the 70's SD catalog. Saxes and reeds in general were the brick and mortar in most of their work. They obviously wanted a departure on RS. The organ(Donald) really lights the whole landscape here too. But it's really easy to overlook it with all the percussive characters in the foreground. The piano adds a lot of bling(fool's gold) in places too. This song is no less interesting after four decades of listening.

@SightAfterDark

3 жыл бұрын

Hard to describe this with any word besides Genius!

@rayjr62

Жыл бұрын

@@SightAfterDark these lyrics resonate with what is currently going on in regards to the current Florida governor sending those undocumented workers up north....luring these unsuspecting people onto planes and busses with lies about jobs, housing, and education awaiting them, and then depositing them onto an island off the coast of Massachusetts that’s totally unprepared to receive them. It's almost a form of human trafficking, if you think about it. Much more than a scam.

Thanks for doing this album. I enjoy all their work & think they really hit their stride around here, but very few people know about it.. I'll enjoy your wrap up video too. This one is a gem (and only 45 years old...)

@SightAfterDark

3 жыл бұрын

It’s a great one! Thanks Brian!

Great observations! This album was like their love letter to NY after being holed up in LA. The hard hitting funk grooves, aggressive horns and guitar solos, nasty clavinet and rhodes parts...its all very NY. They *really* didnt like how Katy Lied sounded and they came out swingin' haha

@SightAfterDark

3 жыл бұрын

Hell yeah! We love it 🗽

This is a great track from this classic album; 1977

This album is "so gangster flick soundtrack" to the core and yes the scam of capitolism from that NYC proper Steely sarcastic perpestive !!!

ROYAL SCAM IS STEELY'S BEST ALBUM

5:11 Ghost notes on drums = rats crawling

@SightAfterDark

3 жыл бұрын

😲

@hesh8367

2 жыл бұрын

Bernard Pretty Purdie. King of the ghost notes.

Great analysis both of you! such different perspectives... Female (sorry .. name?) just has "poker face" the entire song... I never know what you are thinking..! then you just lay it all down in the abstract perfectly..'yet the music is still hopeful/triumphant despite the warning of the lyrics... stairs going nowhere...etc..."...damn perfect! Dude mentioned Death March.. been hearing this song for 40 years and that's the first time I ever heard that one... Thanks for being "music people' reacting.. its been fun listening to folks react like 'I LIKE IT!"... but you both add great layers.. well done!

@SightAfterDark

3 жыл бұрын

Haha her name is Sifa. We appreciate you! Thank you so much for watching!

they singing about the real history

Never realized that but your right. Been trying to figure out lyrics forever. Thank you .

Thanks! You cracked the meaning of this song and lyrics for me, after listening to it for 35+ years! Then I am from the "old country" and some of my relatives a century back were probably among those people who "wandered in from the city of St:John". Your right, they are deep. Again thanks! By the way, you are doing a good job.

@SightAfterDark

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks Lars! we're glad you enjoyed the video!

I think you are right that Donald and Walter were leading a road map to survive! I’m a native Brooklynite and still had to navigate surviving life en Nuevo York!

@SightAfterDark

3 жыл бұрын

🗽🇺🇸

Always great to listen with someone who gets sd ❤

Another Great Reaction. When you stated that you were sad that there are only three more albums...well, the rabbit hole runs deeper. The four Donald Fagan albums and two Walter Becker albums are available. There is the early outtakes of Dan music before Can't Buy A Thrill - including Yellow Peril, Mock Turtle Song, and my favorite Let George Do It And lastly, there are bands that were influenced by Steely Dan - one being China Crisis that Walter Becker produced. Flaunt The imperfection and Dairy of a Hollow Horse are the album titles and the songs to try are: Blue Sea, Arizona Sky, Bigger the Punch, The Highest High and my favorite: Hands of the Wheel

@SightAfterDark

3 жыл бұрын

So much music! Can't wait to hear some of it! Thanks for watching Ken!

She nailed it.

I too love the Royal Scam album and also felt that the title song tied it all together. Aja is next, right? That is going to have you feeling sad that it's over too! Enjoy it, classic all the way.

@SightAfterDark

3 жыл бұрын

Aja was actually the first Steely Dan album we reacted to! Heads up: that was before we upgraded our sound system, so the quality isn't as great

They sent letters back home , telling of riches and splendor so as not to seem like failures . And they wondered in......

@SightAfterDark

2 жыл бұрын

Pretty much

“They learned to fear an angry race of fallen kings” “paid in gold just to babble in the back room and waste the time” how did you miss these lyrics?

@SightAfterDark

Жыл бұрын

We haven’t listened multiple times

Great job you guys. Looking forward to Gaucho!

@eileendobbs8009

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah me too. Babylon Sisters....shake it.

@briangray00

3 жыл бұрын

Me too. Good job on the video Ben; You seem to be to the goto for Steely reactions.

@peaceonearth8693

3 жыл бұрын

What's the TIGHTEST S.D. song? I'm looking forward to that!

@danielconnolly8565

3 жыл бұрын

“And they wandered in from the city of St John, without a dime...” Talk about a set up! San Juan. Puerto Rico. West Side Story. Broken dreams. Despair. Incredible at their craft.

@SightAfterDark

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks SB!

GREAT review how this song pulls it together on this album. Stating its case, deep, yet musically triumphant. You GET Steely Dan. Club membership card is in the mail. ; )

@SightAfterDark

3 жыл бұрын

haha we'll make sure to check our mailbox!

You couldn't end the album any better than this heavy dirge (those horns are ominous) about the Puerto Ricans lied to about a paradise where the streets were paved with gold (where they ended up in tenements). They had to leave off "Here At The Western World" unfortunately, which is as good as anything they did--so pretty please react to that.

@SightAfterDark

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks Lucius! We plan on reacting to every SD song eventually, so we will get this done!

Keep up the journey!

@SightAfterDark

3 жыл бұрын

You know we will!

Growing up in the Bronx, half my friends were boricua (native Puerto Ricans). There’s a lot that rings home for me based on what I heard of their experiences.

@SightAfterDark

3 жыл бұрын

For sure!

great reaction on this!

@SightAfterDark

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching!

Congrats on 1k.

@SightAfterDark

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks so much James!

Positively brilliant! And then you throw Larry Carlton into the mix.

@SightAfterDark

3 жыл бұрын

Gotta love it!

Great funky title track, about exactly as you say!

The Nightfly by Donald Fagen is a must-hear album. Better than all but two albums Steely Dan ever put out (those two being Aja and Gaucho). Don't worry about the last two albums. Do those later. Nightfly is the best.

This is actually my favorite SD song although they do have many jems!

@SightAfterDark

3 жыл бұрын

You said it!

This is a song about people from Puerto Rico who immigrated to New York in the '50s and '60s hoping to secure the American Dream only to find discrimination and hate from the native population.

@SightAfterDark

2 жыл бұрын

haha we'll use the term "native" loosely for the purposes of this convo. But yeah, great story and lyrics. Thanks for watching!

The next Steely Dan album you may want to check out is Katy Lied. A great album.

@SightAfterDark

3 жыл бұрын

Already did it! Thanks David!

Only 3 more? Don't forget the Fagen Solo albums. You will def be able to get your Steely Dan fix from them!

@SightAfterDark

3 жыл бұрын

Looking forward to it!

Yes, it's NYC

@SightAfterDark

3 жыл бұрын

🗽

Using a gospel-like choir and chord progression to sing the track’s title. No one does juxtaposition and irony like SD. And that muted trumpet as a counterpoint to the woeful state of things described along with all the other sonic detail. It’s become a top five SD tune for me. A real grower. Also probably my favorite album of there’s too.

@SightAfterDark

3 жыл бұрын

Hard not to love this one!

@markusantonio4866

2 жыл бұрын

I’ve been searching for this song for over 20 years. It was being played on a classic rock station in Portland, Or. KGON was the station and the song was mind blowing. For so many years thinking who did it.

Berg loves the down beat.( I love how your head sways, a true comprehensive you are! Graffiti is so passionate and acute musically, and if you don't mind me saying, completely gorgeous, stunning and sexy, you hot beautiful black women!!! Berg you are honored by God to work with her. You are a bad dude ( Old school term). I love you both so much. Steely Dan 4ever. "Gaucho" will blow your mind!. Looking forward to the reaction!❤❤❤😇😇😇🔥🔥🔥🎻🎻🎻👍

@SightAfterDark

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks for your kind words Edward! We appreciate you!

I think Countdown to Ecstasy is probably their best, followed by Aja. But The Nightfly might just be my favorite.

@SightAfterDark

3 жыл бұрын

Looking forward to hearing Nightfly! Thanks Adam!

St. John = San Juan, PR

@SightAfterDark

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks Brian!

Want to hear more Steely Dan? Look up The Lost Gaucho, it was outtakes from their studio sessions that werent put on the album. Also look up the story of "The Second Arrangement," it wouldve been maybe the greatest sd song of all time but it got deleted...

@SightAfterDark

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks Jay!

Yeah, Sifa, knowledge is power, and recognizing one's peril and predicament is the beginning of finding a way out, through. The immigrant dream as it's sold is the Royal Scam....has been for centuries, even, not getting better, either. The comments on the Gordon Gekko/"Master of the Universe" paradigm are on point too. Cheers, guys, tyvm. 8>D

@SightAfterDark

3 жыл бұрын

Glad you enjoyed!

Have you done the "Gaucho" album yet? If not, please do

@SightAfterDark

2 жыл бұрын

kzread.info/head/PLrQk6HwcCOFetZ257IR0dkOBiKNYxERWk ;)

@emilymartinez6961

Жыл бұрын

@@SightAfterDark ,l've been binge-watching for hours now, my neck hurts ,til tomorrow 🙃

studio playwayers ??

Lyrics about Puerto Ricans going to the US, hoping for a better life due to their 'Associate State' Status, only to end up at the bottom of the social pyramid, doing menial, unskilled underpaid jobs. The music has a bleak, haunting, moody vibe, due in large part to its obsessive, stomping minor key modal vamp and the relatively sparse arrangement and instrumentation. Remember the reference you guys made about the cover and 'capitalist exploitation'? Yeah, 8:10-15 = That's the one.

@SightAfterDark

3 жыл бұрын

We're so impressed by how this song ties the whole album together. It paints such a mood! Thanks for watching!

You have come to enjoy the Dan, one of my faves. They did the song, "Third World Man", while ya'll were doing the Royal Scam album. NOW U gotta check out "Third World CHILD", by Johnny Clegg & Savuka, warriors against Apartheid & Colonialism !!! U already voiced an objection to the trick of capitalism, but these guys are as much about the culture & language (Zulu) of South Afrika. Long time friends of Madiba, ya know, Nelson Mandela. JC was an Anthro Prof. as well as a great musician/dancer...........

@SightAfterDark

3 жыл бұрын

Awesome! Thanks Kevin!

True reactions are great, good reaction channels are great. But, Imho, I'm against people other than the artist adding video or picture content. It's just human nature for people to watch the pictures to be told what things mean. Instead of developing personal meaning, customized for the listener. This is (albeit written awkwardly), the most meaningful meaning for a listener. If AN ARTIST wants to give further input into their work, fine. But this shouldn't be done on a first listen for a consumer. IMHO. Just look at the cartoon movies made about Pink Floyd songs. This totally diverts the ability for people's mind to wander and consider meanings or messages. Back in the day, (other than walking up hill both ways to school), we only had an album cover to savor first. And, then optionally over time we could read liner notes. Personalized meaning from a song, just added so much value, as opposed to being spoon fed MTV levels of depth. Rant over.

@SightAfterDark

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching!

@plantfeeder6677

3 жыл бұрын

That is why MTV sucked. Plain and simple

Check out FM before react to Gaucho album. FM never was released in any album. It was recorded after Aja and before Gaucho.

@neonpark1874

3 жыл бұрын

Not on a Steely Dan album - but it is on the soundtrack album for the film FM.

@SightAfterDark

3 жыл бұрын

Ahh gotcha thanks for letting us know the order

O Grande Escândalo ! (In Portuguese)

@SightAfterDark

3 жыл бұрын

!!!!!

@guilhermevazcelest9038

3 жыл бұрын

@@SightAfterDark i'm from Brazil

Fender Rhodes.

@sooutrageous007

3 жыл бұрын

I couldn't agree more. Though after 40 years listening and enjoying the work, I do appreciate Steely Ben's contribution to the Steely Dan oeuvre, but firmly believe the music needs to be experienced without visual accoutrements. IMHO

'Gaucho' is next?

@SightAfterDark

3 жыл бұрын

Once we finish Innervisions, we'll have a new poll on our Patreon to decide which album is next. Gaucho will definitely be on the list!

The Dan tellin' it like it is. The truth will set you free and they're speaking the truth with a capital T. Don't get me wrong. I grew up in NYC and I always loved the place. It had it's good side but it also had it's dark underbelly. Maybe that's part of it's fascination. It's so weird that this was their darkest album and then Aja was so sunny and southern California. I spent my first 18 years in NYC and then moved to and lived in LA for 30 years and Steely Dan painted a spot on portrait of both cities. But then Becker and Fagan also started out in the big apple and wound up in la la land.

@SightAfterDark

2 жыл бұрын

We’ve never been to LA, but the nyc part is spot on!

10 - 4.

Do you know what a Steely Dan is?? But shell of the Dan !

Actually, the city of St. Johns is in Michigan.

In terms of Donald Fagen's solo work, two of his albums The Nightfly and Kamakiriad are both really good. The mixing and engineering on those albums are absolutely insane.

@masapell

3 жыл бұрын

Yes!! Both albums are outstanding!

@SightAfterDark

3 жыл бұрын

We look forward to listening after we finish the SD albums!

Read my comments son !! Wrote a month ago

@SightAfterDark

3 жыл бұрын

Where? We don't always get all the notifications

@walterhaynes5393

3 жыл бұрын

@@SightAfterDark I am getting old and tired guys , I Lost my son and Granddaughter, and music and athletics were a tight bond. He also my youngest son was / is great musicians. Guitar and Drums . My nephew and my youngest son, drummer had a band, Jon WENT to LA AND TYLER my boy didn't. Jon made an album with , Jack Irons, Chili's and Pearl Jam, Gregg Ritchling, Bass Wallflowers, and ohhh lead Them Crooked Vultures , wrote every note and lyrics, guitar vocals called Arthur Channel. Went no where but it was a good album , we're into music my family I have taken the guitar up for my baby Brendan at 58 it's hard. Hey Rock and Roll . Glad you're listening to the soundtrack to My life! Keep it up. Lotta cool tunes ADULTS HAD TVS WHEN I WAS A BOY . THANK GOD !

First, we must define who "they" are and identify the "city of St. John". Second, how much money are you expecting to make by doing these reactions? Third, Scam? Were it not for capitalism, you would have never heard of Steely Dan and I would have never heard of you. Anyway, I have become a fan of both of you and I've been a Steely Dan fan longer than I like to think about. I look forward to hearing more!

Google steely dan dildo it's real and that's how they named their band

@SightAfterDark

3 жыл бұрын

Haha yeah we’ve heard

This somewhat boring melody perfectly captures the dread felt by those unfortunate immigrants.

@SightAfterDark

3 жыл бұрын

Ahh makes sense

Didn't you happen to notice that Steely Dan is comprised of a couple of multi-millionaires and as such, they are perfect examples of the "American Dream" come true. Yeah, yeah, yeah...NYC is a horrible city except when compared to any other city in the world...Grow up kiddies...Don't take yourselves so seriously, no one else does...

@SightAfterDark

3 жыл бұрын

Lol so what do you think the song is about?

@stevegirardmedia2255

2 жыл бұрын

Sight After Dark I think he knows what the SD songs are about… it’s just that Donald and Walter turned out pretty damn well, despite all their negativity about the world - Becker becoming a Hawaiian pineapple farmer, and Fagen turning into one of NYC’s favorite mellowed curmudgeons!