tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-371838407458930719.post4357504848590779083..comments2023-11-02T08:27:04.487-04:00Comments on One Man, 500 Albums: No. 385: Pretzel LogicR.J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/10383814114949080690noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-371838407458930719.post-78367240046088352822008-02-28T09:43:00.000-05:002008-02-28T09:43:00.000-05:00And ones that are way into dick jokes.And ones that are way into dick jokes.kellydwyerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06497147732889407529noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-371838407458930719.post-77490699669346946982008-02-27T22:11:00.000-05:002008-02-27T22:11:00.000-05:00I feel about Steely Dan the way R.J. feels about T...I feel about Steely Dan the way R.J. feels about The Eagles: They have an uncanny ability to strip the soul out of everything they touch. They are technically flawless, but their coldness crushes whatever positive elements their music holds.<BR/><BR/>With that said, I've not heard this specific album from front to back. My comments are based on the band in general, and Becker and Fagen as musicians. I'll give this a listen.<BR/><BR/>Zappa did the same kind of thing as Steely Dan, but he did it first, he did it with warmth and heart, and he did it a helluva lot better. The fact that FZ has 2 albums on the list so far and SD has 3, the highest of which is about 100 places above Zappa's highest, suggests to me that Rolling Stone needs to hire some reviewers who aren't deaf.taotechuckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18275520227023393969noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-371838407458930719.post-53351356838414702642008-02-27T11:30:00.000-05:002008-02-27T11:30:00.000-05:00Oh, and "Dylan." "Dylan" should be in there, in be...Oh, and "Dylan." <BR/><BR/>"Dylan" should be in there, in between "funk" and "Brill Building."kellydwyerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06497147732889407529noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-371838407458930719.post-71026713305670977812008-02-27T11:26:00.000-05:002008-02-27T11:26:00.000-05:00I think it's the American "Sgt. Pepper." Doesn't m...I think it's the American "Sgt. Pepper." Doesn't mean it's the best in the pile, but it touches on everything we're made from.<BR/><BR/>Where the Brits take from music hall, cheeky vaudeville, trad jazz, Anglo-pop, and whimsy; this one takes from Horace Silver, the blues, hard bop, western music (if not country), funk, Brill Building (several of the songs were written while the band was stuck in Brooklyn in the late 60s, trying to sell songs), 60s soul, and smartass irony.<BR/><BR/>It's what we are. Or, what we should have been in 1974. Not the finest re-telling, but damned good.kellydwyerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06497147732889407529noreply@blogger.com