Steely Dan albums

Until a few months ago, I had no idea that Steely Dan produced such quality sounding recordings. Learn something new every day.

There have been many reissues of Steely Dan AJA for sure. The original from 1977 Gatefold i believe by ABC records is fantastic if it is in good shape and many of the single sleeve versions were fine but not up to the caliber of the original.  MCA versions came out with the whole Steely Dan catalogue along with a few scattered Audiophile pressings which were essentially half speed mastered pressings from Japan sold by the US label. I have the Goucho audiophile pressing. Then to the present ,  UHQR which is a whole new level in Audiophile pressings. Heavier 180 to 200 g 45 rpm audiophile Bliss.  Spendy but you will hear what it offers. Utter quiet between tracks with a holographic like image . I have given the streaming versions a go from the likes of Tidal and the Qobuz high rez files but I find them to be a bit more up front in sound and not quite as layered compared to many of the vinyl releases. I am an audio geek so i just love comparing pressings and audio streams. Its incredible as to how the mixing and remastering is done and how the final product is presented.

With so many fair quality recordings in the 70s, Aja and Gaucho were definately better. Even a step up from Royal Scam which was right before Aja. As seen in the Aja recording documentry, Fagen and Becker were extremely picky and went threw several studio musicians. Not sure if they used the absolute best recording capabilities of the day. My version of D.F.s Night Fly even beats them out in quality. Surprising to find vinyl from early 1980s recorded so well. Not great but quite good are Sade  and Nora Jones 1st from that time when cds took over vinyl. 

Big Steel Dan fan, have most of the original releases. While all their recordings are done very well, my favorites, in terms of sound quality are Goucho and Everything Must Go. Love the layering and soundstage they create. In general, it seems that each album just got better, probably as gear and techniques improved, and SD evolved. Fagen's solo work is also very good, Nightfly being my favorite. I have Northeast Corridor, great live recording, but like many live recordings, lacking the layering found on the studio recordings. Great version of The Things I Miss The Most, though!