| | Donald Fagen Morph The Cat CD Donald Fagen Discography of CDs
 (5 Customer Reviews)
Though MORPH isn't Fagen's first post-9/11outing (that would be Steely Dan's EVERYTHING MUST GO), it deals more explicitly with that world. For all the foreboding expressed in "Mary Shut the Garden Door," though, it takes a narrator as willfully perverse as Fagen to find himself turned on by the airport security officer giving him the once-over in "Security Joan." MORPH THE CAT is prime Fagen, existing in that singular Twilight Zone where Bob James plays the Leonard Cohen songbook and makes you love it.
This set is another contemporary classic from half of the duo Steely Dan. With Fagen's adventurous musical depth, uniquely layered lyrics, and entertaining subject matter (from a conversation withthe ghost of Ray Charles to a romantic liaison with an airport security guard named Joan), this set is the newest is the newest chapter chronicling the most sophisticated music in rock.
Donald Fagen may be one of the most subversive artists in the pop/rock world. Unlike, say, Prince or Sinead O'Connor, who've worn their subversion on their sleeves, Steely Dan main man Fagen has wormed his way into the American consciousness (and pop charts) with a deceptively harmless sound. Like the Dan catalog and Fagen's previous solo albums, MORPH THE CAT seems on the surface like ear candy that goes down easy. Lurking just below the skin of Fagen's trademark bouncy grooves and pristine, lite-jazz production, however, is a seamy, disconsolate underworld that bespeaks both a lifelong cynicism and a deliciously morbid sense of humor.
Personnel: Donald Fagen (vocals, Fender Rhodes piano); Wayne Krantz (guitar); Marvin Stamm (trumpet); Freddie "Ready Freddie" Washington (bass guitar); Keith Carlock (drums); Bashiri Johnson (percussion); Cindy Mizelle (background vocals).
Rolling Stone (p.64) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "[H]is catchiest, most immediate compositions in decades....[The] spirited results prove Fagen can still pop amid his jazz."
Uncut (p.104) - 5 stars out of 5 -- "[T]he juxtapositions play out while he reflects on mortality....In 2006, as in 1976, pop music doesn't get any headier than this."
JazzTimes (p.99) - "MORPH THE CAT fans out in all sorts of magical directions, delivering multilayered musings on everything from a skyward feline determined to brighten New York's trampled soul to a bedraggled but bemused traveler eager to hand his heart to a wand-wielding airport-security officer."
Mojo (Publisher) (p.104) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[An] impeccably played, beautifully produced and nicely crafted album." Morph The Cat Music Review Average Rating: (4.6 out of 5 stars)   Fagen's In Top Form
Exceptional songwriting and recording quality. It doesn't get much better than "Brite Nightgown".
Submitted by mnfunk (minneapolis, mn) 
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Another outstanding piece of work from Fagen
This album is simply outstanding. As with other Steely Dan and Fagen albums, it grows on you the more you listen to it. The musical arrangements are complex, deep, and very diverse; ranging from funk to blues to rock. The DVD-Audio is an outstanding 5.1 mix that nicely highlights the intricacies of this highly satisfying album. Fagen is a musical genius. Highly recommended!
Submitted by Aaron (Milwaukee, WI)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No Another Masterpiece!
Another fine piece of work from Donald. As usual, every song takes on a meaning of its own. The more I listen to it the more I like it and discover something I hadn't noticed before. Rich, precise musicianship and oh those bizarre lyrics. Love it!
Submitted by Kevin (Egg Harbor Township, NJ)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No  Morph The Cat "CD"
If you expect a CD, suprise! It will not even play in your CD player. Why? because it's actually a DVD, that's why!
And thank you CD Universe for not catching this and titling it appropriately.
Submitted by gary.roufosse (Edmonton)
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Top quality
Stunning sound, crisp and clear. Surround mix very good, no effects just because of the effects. Highly recommended.
Submitted by ronald_zoetelief (Netherlands)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No 0 of 1 found this helpful. | Have you heard this album? |  |
Purchase Morph The Cat CD To buy, Click on price to add to cart | Eric Clapton Slowhand CD (1977) Hybrid; SACD Hybrid
Morph The Cat
 $15.19  
This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.
SLOWHAND was the album which defined the new cool of Eric Clapton, a sultry, laid-back mix of rock and blues, with a heavy dose of country and southwestern regional sounds to leaven the blend. After LAYLA, SLOWHAND was probably Clapton's ...
| | Pink Floyd - Pulse DVDs (1995) Digipak
Morph The Cat
 $14.59 
| | David Gilmour On An Island CD (2006)
Morph The Cat
$8.99 
The men of Pink Floyd have always taken their time, turning out stately epics at a less than hectic clip. Accordingly, 22 years separate ON AN ISLAND from ABOUT FACE, the previous solo album by Floyd axeman/singer David Gilmour. On the latter, Gilmour was still trying to distance his own sound from Floyd's, but with that band mostly a memory in 2006, he was free to honor its legacy, much as Paul McCartney's later albums acknowledged the Beatles' work.
The template for ON AN ISLAND seems to be tracks like "Breathe" from DARK SIDE OF THE MOON. The mood is an overwhelmingly mellow, spacious one, with Gilmour's trademark double-tracked vocals and plangent, liquid guitar tones flowing gracefully across almost exclusively slow-to-mid-tempo arrangements. But with Roger Waters missing from the equation, there's a notable lack of misanthropy in Gilmore's lyrical sentiments. ...
| | David Gilmour About Face CD (1984) Remastered
Morph The Cat
$7.59
Combining layered vocals with a heavily looped guitar sound, "Until We Sleep" begins ABOUT FACE with an almost Byrds-like quality, while the gentleness of the acoustic opening to the ballad "Murder" disguises its homicidal subject matter. Both "Love On the Air," and "All Lovers are Deranged," are distinguished by lyrics written by Pete Townshend, and "Blue Light" is an attempt at funk with a Floydian flavor. Gilmour's strength at ballad writing is evidenced ...
| | David Gilmour CD (1978) Remastered
Morph The Cat
$6.79
Before David Gilmour virtually "became" Pink Floyd he was always the most likely member of the band (with the possible exception of de-facto leader Roger Waters) to release a solo album. 1978's welcome eponymous debut showcased his multi-faceted performing talents.
The album opener "Mihalis" is an ANIMALS period instrumental, which, along with "Raise My Rent," sounds like an outtake from that album. The beautiful "There's No Way Out of Here" begins with a lonely harmonica and, with "No Way" and "I Can't Breathe Anymore," expounds the album's main theme of being trapped in an untenable situation. "Cry From the Streets" is a nod to the blues, while the lovely "So Far Away" harks back to the ballads of OBSCURED BY CLOUDS. Almost a missing mid-period Floyd album, this solo effort is a must-have for all Pink Floyd fans.
By the time of David Gilmour's solo debut, he had not only established himself several times over as an underrated, powerful guitarist in Pink Floyd, but as a remarkably emotional singer, his soothing approach perfectly suited to such songs as "Wish You Were Here." ...
| | Electric Light Orchestra A New World Record - Expanded Edition CD (1976) Bonus Tracks; Remastered
Morph The Cat
$7.59
Also available in a 3-pack with FACE THE MUSIC and DISCOVERY.
1976's A NEW WORLD RECORD is both a classic of commercial '70s pop and an archetypal ELO album. From the outer-space synths and rich orchestrations that open the album to Jeff Lynne's meticulous production and Beatlesque melodies, A NEW WORLD RECORD is magnificent ear candy. Both ambitious enough to appeal to "serious" rock fans and ultra-catchy enough to sound terrific on Top 40 radio (the plaintively gorgeous, McCartney-like "Telephone Line" and the anthemic "Livin' Thing" were well-deserved smashes), ELO was one of the few '70s bands whose appeal covered both the FM and AM spectrums. The album even resurrects "Do Ya," a classic single ...
| | Mumble & Peg This Ungodly Hour CD (1999)
Morph The Cat
$10.85
| | Jellybricks Power This CD (2004)
Morph The Cat
$13.45
While the Jellybricks have always been considered a power pop band, their first two discs didn't immediately recall classic Beatle-isms so much as they sounded like a lot of catchy, guitar-driven indie rock of the late '90s. That all changes on their much-delayed third disc, Power This, which -- despite its title -- is their most sugary "pop" album yet. Producer Cliff Hillis gives Power This the same treatment he's used on his own albums -- the controlled bursts of chiming (but powerful) guitars and pounding drums are mixed up-front, but so are the vocals, lending everything a very clean and bright mix. And while guitarist Bryce Connor's songs are gruff and rocky, the lion's share of tunes -- sung by the band's main vocalist, the sweet-voiced ...
| | Ventures Deluxe Double CD (2005) (Import) Bonus DVD; Japan
Morph The Cat
$58.89
| | Mike G Scales CD (2001)
Morph The Cat
$8.39
"Beautifully layered harmonies over intriguing ...
| | Faintest Ideas What Goes Up Must Calm Down CD (2006)
Morph The Cat
$11.59
Describing the Faintest Ideas as reminiscent of what might happen ...
| | Nube CD (2008)
Morph The Cat
$11.49
| | Wild Knights Reggae Moods CD (2008)
Morph The Cat
$16.45
Wild Knight's was born here in the CAYAMN ISLANDS it's the love for the music that made this possible in the 1900's a group of friends got together to play some music in a garage for the fun of it the people heard us singing in the neighbourhood and hired us to play for private parties but we needed a name so we name the band BLU STEEL ...
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