Steely Dan Album: “Gaucho”

Gaucho is probably the most perfect album ever made. It is in fact so perfect, that you don't notice how much work went into it. It was as if the album was doomed from the start and I bow deep to Donald Fagen, Walter Becker, Gary Katz and Roger Nichols that they eventually got it finished. At the time of mixing, Walter Becker was almost whacked out of life by a car so he couldn't help mixing the record. A technician fell asleep on the job and erased one of the best songs (The Second Arrangement). It took three years and a million dollars to finally get it done. But it was worth it. The musicians on this album are in top notch shape, as is production, engineering and songwriting. An absolute classic.

The lazy decadence of the opening track Babylon Sisters is the perfect music to listen to when seated in a convertible, sun shining and cruising the highway. Listen to the fading chorus at the end: that alone took three days!

Hey Nineteen is a typical Steely Dan approach to telling a story abnout a guy who is feeling he gets older,... Classic stuff.

Glamour Profession deals with addiction to drugs in a funny yet exacting way.

Title track Gaucho is a mean little story about a rendevous with great saxophone playing and abeautiful melody.

Time out of Mind features Mark Knopfler in his first stint as a session musician, an occasion he will not forget very easy. He was asked to play many hours of solos, but eventually saw seven seconds of his efforts mixed into this song. Listen carefully; blink and you've missed it.

My Rival is a song about I still can't figure out what. It is a great song, but if anybody can enlighten me about the subject, I'd be most obliged!

Legend has it that Third World Man is constructed around a solo that was lying around from the Royal Scam sessions (1976). A haunting melody and indeed a GREAT solo by Larry Carlton.

That concludes my review for one of the best albums by one of the best outfits. Buy this one and you'll find it in your player more often then you would think.

When we built our new home last year we installed a surround system on the living room set. Like an idiot I've purchased about 30 of these discs so I have something to listen to on it. There are alot of suround discs with minor alterations from the stereo versions that don't yield very extraordinary results.

This disc is by far the best use of the suround technology. It opens the music up, allowing each instrument to be heard without competition and the resut is glorious.

What is more, the music lacks a center point so the sound sounds good all over the room, not just in one chair.

More SACD producers should take cues from the great production evident on this album. SACD would have a real future if all released were this good. Please, more Steely Dan please sir.

I recently purchased an Acura TL that is equipped (from the factory) with DVD Audio. Since gaining this lovely accessory, I have been purchasing discs for the car of some favorite recordings which have been reissued or remastered for DVD Audio. Being a life-long S Dan devotee, I grabbed Gaucho as soon as I found it and went for a drive. Although not as lively as some other DVD Audio discs I have found, Gaucho sounds great. For instance, when Michael McDonald chimes in for his background vocal on "Time Out of Mind", it sounds like the man's head is sitting on the dashboard!! This disc is easily worth the price. If you have DVD Audio capability, pony up and order, now.

The sardonic brain trust that comprised Steely Dan in this outing, explore with delicious irony and wit various ills and taboo associated with American societal organisation; moreover, in the decade that followed the one undeniable theme that comes from this album and its predecessor (Aja) is that despite the inevitable innovation, production advances and marketing associated with the music industry, that those lyrics and music, which will stand the test of time comes from both individual musician and songwriters whose passion is to tell us a story or to evoke through music both pleasure and pain that has been either masked or embellished. Something the popular music failed to accomplish in the eighties, thanks goodness these musician and lyricist saw fit to utilise, jazz, pop rock and words to suggest to the next generation of musician and songwriters that it is indeed about the music.

This 180 gram vinyl reissue was made from the digital master they use to make the CD's. It sounds just like the CD, dull and flat. All the imperfections from the CD are on here also. On Time Out Of Mind the sound drops out in several spots just like the CD. If you want this LP just hunt down an original pressing from 1980. Don't waste your money like I did. Its sad because this is one the greatest albums ever.