Product Description

Quality will out. There was no need to put a great big Steely Dan sticker on this smooth little number, the radio programmers took care of that. No tracks jar, each has a big-smile middle eight and although it may be just too slick for some people's taste, mostly it is a tremendous solo album. 'I.G.Y. (International Geophysical Year)', 'New Frontier' and the title track are gloriously easy on the ear. The cover version of Leiber and Stoller's 'Ruby Baby' is so good it soundslike a Fagen original.

Track Listing

1. IGY
2. Green Flower Street
3. Ruby Baby
4. Maxine
5. New Frontier
6. Nightfly
7. Goodbye Look
8. Walk Between Raindrops

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3331 in Music
• Released on: 1984-04-24
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
Donald Fagen's 1982 solo debut extends the sleek, smart pop craft of his work with Steely Dan into the realm of the concept album, taking the Dan's penchant for intricate plotting, evocative narrative voices, and allusive imagery to the logical next step. Fagen's connective thread is futurist nostalgia for the "New Frontier" as anticipated from the prosperous vantage point of late-'50s America. He romanticises a brave new world of technology in the sultry diorama of "I.G.Y.", celebrating the coming glories of the Atomic Age. He then filters that view through his own suburban adolescence--a would-be seduction in a fall-out shelter, the siren song of a graveyard-shift jazz DJ, a not-quite-hard-boiled noir adventure ("The Goodbye Look") that borrows its title from an early '60s Ross MacDonald mystery. Song for song, the set's a stunner and stands apart from Steely Dan thanks to a unique, poignant romanticism embodied in Fagen's yearning "Maxine" and a creamy update of Dion & the Belmonts' "Ruby Baby". --Sam Sutherland

Customer Reviews

From superb to sublime
The Nightfly has always been right at the top of my list of favourite albums, as good as any of Fagen's work with Steely Dan. Superb craftsmanship in every department, from writing to lyrics to arrangement to musicianship.
Now the DVD-Audio format brings new heights of listening pleasure, making full use of the multi-channel capabilities, but with the same understated excellence that created the music in the first place. Steely Dan / Fagen solo always created multi-layered sound, and the channel separation really highlights the sheer number of elements to the music, compared with standard stereo.

If you already have the standard CD and are wondering whether it is worth getting the DVD-Audio version (and of course assuming your player handles the DVD-Audio format, and you have surround sound) the answer is a definite yes.
You might also be interested in the SACD version of the Steely Dan album Gaucho - also an improvement on an excellent original. Bizarrely, the classic Aja album appears not to be available in either SACD or DVD-Audio format - a disappointing omission.

What? This is Mass Hysteria.
Sorry, but this has to be the most over-loved album in the dark and eery history of such things. I can think only that some random love of what people call 'The Dan' has resulted in the eulogising of this smaltzy horror. Concept does not excuse the inept. Avoid.

A Superb Album
Such quality music is rare to find. Donald Fagen is the sound of Steely Dan and this album illustrates his rare talents beautifully. The first of his solo albums, it is difficult to single out individual tracks as stars - I.G.Y.; The Nightfly and The Goodbye Look are particularly good but actually the entire album is such a pleasure to listen to. If you are a Dan fan you will love this but it is a must for anyone's collection.

It says something that every review to date gives this recording 5 stars.