I wish I still had ahead of me the joy of hearing the second guitar solo in 'Kid Charlemagne' for the first time.

I am sure you will get any number of recommenstaions about where to start - my only advice would be that the albums are probably best heard in their entirety. Starting with a straightforward 'Best of ...' might take the edge off dicovering the lesser known tracks.

Dont'be fooled - it's not the Muppet house band:

You can get the Citizen Steely Dan box set reasonably cheaply (30 squid ish) then you have the lot, but I'd suggest the first one - Can't buy a thrill" (which has "Do it again" on it) and "Pretzel Logic" for the aforementioned brilliant guitar playing as fine starters. You can't go far wrong with any of them to be honest.

You lucky fellow - all that brilliant music to discover.

I'm genuinely excited - thanks for the advice

10 minutes ago I was listening to their 2000 "comeback" album "Two Against Nature". It's good but, as Ian McK suspects, doesn't quite match up with their earlier output. I'd go with "Can't Buy A Thrill" for starters.

simple as I will come back with further critical analysis in due course

with Countdown to Exctasy and didn't get very far. Should I start again from somewhere else?

Which album has All Around My Hat on it? (sorry).

IN the unlikely event that you don't like it, give it to somebody else. They will.

Can't Buy A Thrill: Inconsistent. Some of their greatest songs are on here (Reelin' In The Years is their best pop song) and some of their worst (Turn That Heartbeat Over Again is a big nothing).

Countdown To Ecstasy: Their most consistent album of very high quality material. The last two songs are nothing special but the other six tracks are excellent. It's probably the best album they made, although I personally prefer Gaucho.

Pretzel Logic: Strange album as it features a few short half songs that seem more like sketches that should have been expanded into proper songs. Having said that there are four or so classics here.

Katy Lied: Some people love this. I think it's their weakest album of undistinguished below par material. There is only two or three classic songs on it.

The Royal Scam: I didn't care much for this to begin with. Repeat listens have been very kind to it and I now see that it has about six or seven classics on it. It's not a warm album so I think it might take a few listens to appreciate it. It's probably the most rock orientated album they made, but it's still very far from heavy.

Aja: Their sound changed from this album onwards. With the exception of the songs Peg and Hey Nineteen (from Gaucho), all the pop leanings have been removed, and the songs are longer and more jazzier than before. Five classic tracks and two so-so songs towards the end. As much a jazz record as it is a muted rock album. Not a thrilling record but very enjoyable. Aja is their most popular and critically acclaimed release.

Gaucho: A clinical cold album. It has been noted by some that it feels like it has no centre, as though an important track that ties it all together has been removed. It is flawed and maybe their most bland sounding album as the melodies aren't as pronounced as they used to be. Having said that, I think it's my personal favourite Steely Dan album. There is something appealing about its numb jazzy soundscapes (fans of Wish You Were Here era Pink Floyd and Moon Safari era Air should seriously check it out).

I would not recommend buying Donald Fagan solo albums or the two Steely Dan albums they recorded since they reformed. They are as bland and as insipid as the 70's Steely Dan was inspiring and cutting.

that a Greatest Hits is maybe too much good stuff all in one place? And that first exposure in one sitting would make it harder to discover the hidden gems on the albums? Just a thought.

(Should I get my coat?)

I've got all of their albums, and they all have charms, but what I keep in the car is the first 2 CDs from the Citizen boxed set, which is basically the first 3 and a half albums (Thrill, Ecstasy, Pretzel and side one of Katy) plus a couple of odds and ends.

As with many bands, there's a distillation of later stuff that's almost as good, but the real gist of the thing that is/was Steely Dan is there in the first 3.

The first Fagen solo album is also great.

You can get the Citizen Steely Dan box set for £7.99 on iTunes, an absolute steal.

post idc

The Nightfly is great by the way

...by which I mean post Thrill and Pretzel (hey, I can do these kooky abbreviations too), which I had always put down as too jazzy for me, which at the time I thought that was probably why I found them bland and a litle dull. I have the vinyl double LP best of, from many moons ago, apart from a CD of Thrill, but haven't listened in years. Now I have had a year of "getting" jazz, will I suddenly "get" Aja and all that lot. Or will I find them , nervous cough, to jazz lite now?

Here's The Skunk's finest moment

....Chimney is under 45?

Really hard to imagine anyone over that age (who has an interest in music) not having heard "Reelin' In The Years", "Rikki Don't Lose That Number", "Do It Again", "My Old School", "Haittian Divorce" etc. etc.

I have all 7(?) albums on vinyl. The only one I had on cd was "Can't Buy A Thrill" until early last year when I bought the Citizen box set(which, as previously mentioned is all 7 albums on 4 cds).

I don't download music but if you do, then £7.99 is a steal! Even £30 for the *real* box set is excellent value but maybe a bit much to spend for a newbie to *The Dan*. There are 2 or 3 compilations out there that won't break the bank and should be a decent introduction.

The "Classic Albums" DVD for "Aja" is one of the best music docs I've seen - really bears rewatching over and over - just to complete your education Chimney!

"Can't Buy A Thrill" has to be a) stupendously good by any standard; and b) probably The Best Debut Album of All Time. I have to take exception to the comments about Donald Fagen's solo albums though: "The Nightfly" is very, very good; "Kamakiriad is excellent and criminally under-rated; and "Morph The Cat" is very good.

the first Dan reunion tour featured the guitar-playing of Drew Zingg - possibly the finest-monikered guitar player of all time.

...unless you know better :-)

... and still am - grew up with them really. I find it hard to choose between their albums for a favourite. Can't Buy a Thrill is a brilliant debut - possibly marred by too many vocalists, Countdown to Ecstasy is really intricate - wonderful vibraphone, Katy Lied is supposed to suffer from a technical problem but I have never been able to tell. Pretzel Logic is maybe a little too varied but has Rikki Don't Lose that Number - sublime. I could go on, but in summary, if you go for any of the first six albums you cannot possibly fail.

on the live Cd "Alive in America" is absolutely awesome.I had the great pleasure of first seeing The Dan live in NYC at Roseland Ballroom in 1995 and went to the after show party where i met Zingg and the rest of the band (although Walt & Don never turn up to these things!)Since then I have seen them many times here and in the US and they are a great musical pleasure.The thing I have found is that people have their own individual favourite album and this is the hallmark of a multi dimensional group...so i say buy em all and you will not go wrong.
By the way,Drew Zingg was so good the rumour was that he was taking the limelight away from Don & Walt so they got rid of him and hired Wayne Krantz instead after that.He then went on to be in Boz Scaggs' band.
And "The Nightfly" is a must have my old son!

that's where me and the Dan parted, it is far too manicured. I found it bland and sterile.
Countdown to Ecstasy is just so damn good (listen to the writing and the playing - check those guitar solos on My Old School) and it has such memories for me. Abandoned Luncheonette is lumped in with those memories (ok, different act, forgive me) and if pressed, I would say:
"There are highs on those albums that each combo never achieved again".

'manicured' was the bad word, hope it wasn't too strong

Best debut album ever? Fully formed brilliance. I'd buy that after the original 'Best Of', the one with Here At The Western World on, the best 'Best Of' in 'Best Of' history; there's not a duff second on it. You haven't heard Bad Sneakers yet, Chimney? A whole new world of wonderfulness is going to open up for you. Tip : if some of the references in the lyrics are a bit baffling, here's a site explaining them :
http://www.steelydandictionary.com/

There are two distinct Dans - the 'group' that existed from '72 until about '75 which was essentially a performing and touring outfit, and a vehicle for Becker & Fagen's songs. After The Royal Scam, it's just Don and Walt and whatever other session musicians they chose for the individual recording sessions....touring was completely out.

Absolutely recommend you start with a decent compilation for starters, but hearing the debut Can't Buy A Thrill AND their final album Gaucho is essential to understanding their slow progression from rock-jazz to jazz-rock.

The Nightfly is on another level entirely....charming, warm and utterly effortless. Definitely recommended.

The meaning of says it all really

I take so much ribbing at work for liking Steely Dan. But when people actually hear the songs like FM, Peg, Josie they tend to say 'Oh is THAT Steely Dan? I like that.' They are still a kind of invisible band, dismissed as jazzers by those who just don't really listen. Was it Ian Dury or Andy Gill who said in the Classic Albums documentary that Steely Dan was an alloy of rock and jazz - not one thing or the other.

I really love Aja and would agree that the new stuff never really hits those heights. But who else could right a song as comic about a man left by a rich woman as Things I Miss The Most or one as dark as Gaslighting Abbie, insipired by a classic Hollywood movie.

I loved Chain Lightning for years before discovering that it might be about two old Nazis revisiting the sites where Hitler held his rallies.

And please don't dismiss The Nightfly. The title track is a wonderful recreation of a disc jockey's life and the whole album has a fantastic live feel about it all those years later.

The solo in Ruby Baby is amazing. It was by Greg Phillinganes and reportedly Fagen told him to play differently with his left hand than his right. I think this may have been impossible to do live and was achieved with multi-tracking.

Here is a quiz for you. What British sixties classic track inspired the solo? Once you know, it's obvious!

are really rather splendid. Buy everything immediately.

I dropped in to download the CD cover and spotted this thread. I'm wearing out ShowBiz Kids in the car reliving my teenage years and my vinyl originals are hidden away, so I was delighted to find out that that Citizen Steely Dan was on iTunes for the price a single album. That's the cheapest Christmas present I've bought this year.

I will restrain myself, mainly because I've got to be back in work on the 5th of January.

Put simply -The Nightfly is a masterpiece.

I started rambling and had to delete it because I knew that I would end up popping over to the computer all night to ramble on about the Dan.

Finally, when magazines rave about unreleased recordings they always forget 'The Second Arrangement' from Gaucho which, had it been released, would have been their biggest hit.

can I point you in the direction of this;

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/donald_fagen_defends_steely_dan_to