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Rating: Excellent |
There are albums that slowly embrace you, like an old friend putting his hand on your shoulder. And then there’s *Aja*: a record that immediately draws you into a world of crystal-clear precision, muted luxury and musical finesse. Steely Dan, the brainchild of Donald Fagen and Walter Becker, had already built a reputation as masters of complex arrangements and clever lyrics with previous albums, but with *Aja* they achieved a kind of sonic nirvana. The record was released in 1977, at a time when pop music was splitting in a thousand directions – and it was precisely there that Steely Dan managed to carve out a path of its own.
Fagen and Becker were not your typical rock stars, but studio adepts, perfectionists with a penchant for jazz, cynicism and musical virtuosity. They surrounded themselves with a selection of top musicians – session players of the highest level – and gave their compositions the space to breathe, to groove and sometimes to shine downright. *Aja* is the result of years of artistic maturation, during which they drew up their hybrid style of rock, jazz and R&B down to the smallest detail.
The magic of *Aja* lies in the tension between the clinical and the emotional. Everything sounds perfect – every drumbeat, every sax solo, every chord change – and yet you don’t feel distance, but rather proximity. Steely Dan writes about longing, alienation, illusion and irony, but it does so with a warmth that gets under your skin. The harmonies are complex, the rhythms often elusive, but the whole thing feels natural, like a carefully structured daydream. Fagen’s voice – nasal, dry, slightly mocking – is never raised, but acts as a guide through a world of neon lights and late-night jazz clubs.
In the context of 1977, *Aja* was an odd duck. Punk was storming the streets of London and New York, disco ruled the dance floors, and progressive rock was beginning its descent. Steely Dan did not follow fashion, but created a monument: an album that offered peace and clarity in a time of musical turmoil. Its success was remarkable – commercially and critically – and *Aja* became their best-selling record. Perhaps precisely because it did not limit itself to anything.
The recording sessions for *Aja* were notoriously intense. Fagen and Becker were known for their endless re-takes, their search for the perfect take. In studios like Village Recorder in LA and A&R in New York, they had dozens of guitarists play the same part, only to eventually find the one right version. Drummers like Steve Gadd and Bernard Purdie made iconic contributions – their playing is not only technically brilliant, but also full of character. This perfectionist approach did not produce sterile music, but something magical: an album that sparkles with its control.
On vinyl, *Aja* comes into its own. The original pressing has a broad soundstage: warm and precise, with each instrument clearly defined in the mix. The percussion is sharp, the bass lines flow like warm oil, and the horns float like flashes of light across the stereo image. The cover is as striking as the music: the Asian woman in black and red profile not only graces the front, but flows smoothly through to the back – a rare graphic gesture that reinforces the visual tranquility of the record. The whole feels like one breath, one composition, in sound and image.
For those seeking the ultimate listening experience, Analogue Productions’ audiophile reissue offers an almost transcendent experience. Cut from the original analog tapes, pressed on 180- or 200-gram vinyl, this release opens up the soundscape down to the smallest detail. The spaciousness, the mud-free bass, the contour of each instrument – it makes *Aja* even more transparent, even more physical. Not just a reissue, but a tribute to the original studio work.
*Aja* is one of those rare albums that is simultaneously cool and intimate, complex and accessible. It is not a record to be played casually, but a listening experience that demands attention – and that reveals something new every time. Once you are gripped by the world of Steely Dan, you rarely come out completely. In the realm of studio perfection, *Aja* remains a softly beating heart – full of subtlety, rhythm and melancholy. An album that does not age, but deepens. Grows with the listener.
A whispering jazz dream on black disc – timeless in every groove.
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