How does Donald Fagen do it?


It seems, to my ears, that Donald Fagen is able to get an amazing sound out of a mixing board, much better than other producers can.  I have read that he is a perfectionist and uses extreme attention to detail when in the studio.  Do you notice the same thing in his recordings?  A shout out to the late Walter Becker too.
128x128mikeydee
What the hell is wrong with Katy Lied?


have you listened to it on a decent system?
Interesting article nicotico, nevertheless ‘Katy Lied’ is one of Steely Dans best records. Listen to the most recent remaster that Donald and Walter did, it crushes any vinyl release. 

As far as ‘Gaucho’, it’s a good sounding recording, much like ‘Aja’ but the material doesn’t live up to their first five albums. My favorite is ‘Countdown to Ecstacy’ but ‘Katy Lied’ is a close contender.

As for recording quality, ‘Two Against Nature’ and ‘Everything Must Go’ are easily better sounding than their previous recordings. I’d also argue that their isn’t one weak song on either of those records.

I’ve been loving Steely Dan since the early 1970’s and still do, to the point where my friends say I’m living in the Steely Dan past. They were one of the few rock bands that made me feel grounded. Unfortunately, I’ve never seen them live but I’m hoping to catch Donald with Steve Winwood.
check out Becker on 11 Tracks of Whack. Of course there is variability across the Dan and solo catalog....but ah, the music.....
I was never really a fan of Becker’s solo efforts. However, he did a great job producing Donald Fagen’s ‘Kamakiriad’. I like all of Fagen’s solo records except for ‘Sunken Condos’ which to me doesn’t even sound like Fagen. Can’t wait to hear from the Steely Dan band.