In between recording with Walter Becker the seminal albums “Aja” and “Gaucho” under the banner of Steely Dan, Donald Fagen recorded this masterpiece of audio art. The afore mentioned album called the “The Nightfly” runs at less than 40 minutes long and has 7 self-penned tracks and has 1 track written by the legendary song-writing partnership of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, their song “Ruby Baby” is clearly the most commercial sounding on the whole album, the collection was arranged by Donald Fagen and on production duties was the same producer as the man who had produced all the Steely Dan recordings Gary Katz. As the album opens up with the track ”I.G.Y.” (International Geophysical Year) the “electric piano” playing of Greg Phillinganes creates a retro sound that he manages to duplicate on all the tracks he plays on which is half of the tracks here. The album if the sleeve notes are to be believed is the dreams of a young man growing up in a remote suburb of a northeastern city during the late 50’s and early 60’s about the same general height and weight and build as “Mar Fagen” The problem I have with this album in its current incarnation on C.D. is that the disc that is currently available has not been re-mastered; a lot of the delicate little touches have been lost that you were quite clearly able hear before on vinyl. I must put forward the case for the artist to go back and do some sonic renovation so that this classic from the early 80’s can be heard as it’s meant to be heard. In closing a great album let down by the current pressing, which is a shame the album is superb and deserves better…
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Nice easy to read review there on a Classic piece of music. Green Flower Sreeet and New Frontier are stand out tracks for me. My CD on Warner Brothers does n't seem to be poor quality though.......Roy
Silverback 13.05.2005 08:04
Yes, this was the greatest album Steely Dan never made. It was only marred for me by the fact that Dave 'Hairy Cornflake' Lee Travis used to play it frequently on his show. I've had to laboriously transfer my vinyl version to computer for iPod listening. Paul
Averilla 12.05.2005 16:28
What a shame the 'pressing' doesn't do it justice. Av xx
Donald Fagen's 1982 solo debut extends the sleek, smart pop craft of his work with Steely ... more
Dan into the realm of the concept album, taking the Dan's penchant for intricate plotting, evocative narrative voices, and allusive imagery to the logical next st...
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