Rolling Stone (3/10/94, p.67) - "...suggests that the group's greatest strength wasn't writing or playing but arranging..."
Q (2/94, p.109) - 5 Stars - Indispensable - "...Steely Dan is the closest pop has come to the acid wit of Wilde and Coward and Vidal...."
Melody Maker (1/8/94, p.29) - "...Steely Dan were no more nihilistic than The Stooges. It's just that, instead of Rolling Stones riffs and Chuck Berry solos, Becker and Fagen used East Coast Jazz, Latin rhythms, saccharine harmonies and choruses worthy of Burt Bacharach or Hollywood musicals..."
CITIZEN STEELY DAN is a 4-CD box-set containing tracks from all 7 Steely Dan releases, including 2 B-sides and a previously unreleased demo track. It also includes a 40-page booklet with extensive liner notes and recording information as well as rare and unpublished photos.
Steely Dan: Walter Becker (vocals, guitar, harmonica, bass); Donald Fagen (vocals, acoustic & electric pianos, organ, synthesizer); David Palmer (vocals); Jeff "Skunk" Baxter (pedal steel guitar, acoustic & electric guitars); Denny Dias (guitar, electric sitar); David Hodder (drums).
Additional personnel includes: Elliot Randall, Dean Parks, Rick Derringer, Hiram Bullock, Steve Khan, Larry Carlton, Mark Knopfler, Lee Ritenour (guitar); Tom Scott (flute, saxophone, lyricon); Phil Woods, Wayne Shorter, Ernie Watts, Michael Brecker, John Klemmer, Plas Johnson, David Sanborn (saxophone); Randy Brecker (trumpet, flugelhorn); Victor Feldman (piano, vibraphone, marimba, percussion); Michael Omartian (piano); Joe Sample (Clavinet, electric piano); Don Grolnick (Clavinet), Ray Brown (acoustic bass); Chuck Rainey, Wilton Felder (electric bass); Hal Blaine, Rick Marotta, Jeff Porcaro, Jim Keltner, Steve Gadd (drums); Michael McDonald, Shirley Matthews, Myrna Matthews, Patti Austin, Valerie Simpson (background vocals).
Includes liner notes by Chris Willman, Walter Becker & Donald Fagen.
Digitally remastered by Glenn Meadows (Masterphonics, Nashville, Tennessee).
For fans of the legendary Steely Dan, this four-disc box set is a dream come true. CITIZEN STEELY DAN 1972-1980 contains every track (plus one rare demo) from every album by the ultra-creative team of Donald Fagen and Walter Becker. The accompanying book is stuffed full of rare photos, cover art, album reviews and other info you never thought you'd see about these reclusive artisans. Tales of Fagen and Becker's infamous marathon recording sessions and intense working environment aside, the results of their efforts are spectacular.
All the hits are here, of course, but it is the massive amount of additional material that makes this set so special. The deep soul of "Dirty Work" from CAN'T BUY A THRILL or the funk of "Your Gold Teeth" from COUNTDOWN TO ECSTASY are just a couple of early examples of their craftsmanship. The unique performance of Duke Ellington's "East St. Louis Toodle-oo" followed by "Parker's Band" from the sensational PRETZEL LOGIC reveal the source of the jazz influence that permeated Fagen & Becker's work. The later material from ROYAL SCAM, AJA and GAUCHO takes on a sheen of refinement and it, like the rest of their art, is best enjoyed in its entirety.
