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This represents the pinnacle of Steely Dan's gradual transition from rock band to their own brand of jazz-influenced white soul. Guitars were replaced by keyboards, and saxophones became more common. Walter Becker and Donald Fagen were only interested in spending time in the recording studios, while the fans pined and waited. The result set new standards in recorded excellence, and is regularly used as a hi-fi shop demonstration. The ambitious title track was deemed too difficult for radio play and only the two overtly accessible tracks `Josie' and `Peg', gave them valuable exposure.
Additional personnel includes: Larry Carlton, Lee Ritenour, Dean Parks (guitar); Tom Scott (tenor saxophone, lyricon); Wayne Shorter, Pete Christlieb (tenor saxophone); Plas Johnson (horns); Victor Feldman (keyboards, vibraphone, percussion); Joe Sample, Michael Omartian (keyboards); Chuck Rainey (bass); Paul Humphrey, Bernard Purdie, Steve Gadd (drums); Tim Schmit, Clydie King, Michael McDonald (background vocals).
All tracks have been digitally remastered.
Recorded at Village Recorders, Los Angeles, California; Producer's Workshop, Warner Brothers North Hollywood Recording Studios, ABC Recording Studios, Sound Labs, Hollywood, California; A&R Studios, New York, New York. Includes liner notes by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen.
Engineers include: Roger Nichols, Elliot Scheiner, Bill Schnee.
Steely Dan: Donald Fagen (vocals, keyboards); Walter Becker (guitar).
Rolling Stone (8/30/01, p.128) - 5 stars out of 5 - "...Exquisite...music so technically demanding its creators had to call in A-list session players to realize the sounds they heard in their heads but could not play....AJA [is the]frustration and failure at the heart of the party." Q (6/00, p.131) - 5 stars out of 5 - "...Sleek, smart, deliciously cynical...Lyrically opaque and using the best musical back-up in the business, this was the Steely Dan album that effectively ring-fenced jazz-funk forevermore....what rich entertainment still."
Aja - a mysterious clasic Aja was the first Dan album I listened to.
My CD collection is very eclectic, and initially I got it just for the collection really. I had heard a few of their songs such as "Riki Don't Lose That Number". Little did I know the masterpiece I was about to add to my collection.
Aja is obviously superb. Technically it is, in my view, one of the best contemporary albums ever. The strange thing is, I am usually a bit alienated by technically polished works such as this. I tend to find them hard to relate to on an emotional level.
Aja is certainly emotionally distant at times, but then that's a reflection of it's subject matter. Songs like "Deacon Blues" and "Black Cow" paint a landscape of alternate sadness, joy, and loneliness that have not been equalled anywhere.
Haunting and mysterious, Aja is a beautiful work.
If you don't have this album you need to get it. I am now a definite Dan fan! Submitted by a reviewer (Brisbane, Australia) Was This Review Helpful? YesNo 5 of 5 found this helpful.
Yummy This album was very good, enjoyed the drumming immensely. Looking forward to getting the DVD about this album Submitted by Kevin (East Coast USA) Was This Review Helpful? YesNo 4 of 4 found this helpful.
Smooth Jazz-Rock from the 70's From the first bar of Black Cow to the last of Josie this album is perfection.With Michael Mcdonald from the Doobie's , Larry Carlton on guitar and bringing brass in to their arrangments this was a turning point with there distinctive sound.I love this album and hope Donald and Walter find the lost Masters to BLACK COW and AJA so they can reproduce the album in SACD OR DVD-Audio formats. Submitted by whitespark (Coffs Harbour , NSW, AUSTRALIA) Was This Review Helpful? YesNo 1 of 1 found this helpful.
Historical! I have owned thousands of records and worked as a jazz, rock, pop, and dance radio jock; yet, take it from me, next to argueably, Stevie's 'Songs In The Key of Life', or EWF's 'All 'n All', this is the best pop or rock or soul record ever recorded! There's nothing missing: the songs, the lyrics, the artwork, Tom Scott, Wayne Shorter, Steve Gadd & Larry Carlton, all at their best in that great musical year of '77. 'Ya gotta luv da Dan, man!" Submitted by St.Dvy (Windham, Me.) Was This Review Helpful? YesNo
NEVER STOPPED PLAYING THIS MASTERPIECE I've gone through 3 albums, 2 casettes, and now on my 2nd cd of AJA, I have listened to this gem at least once a week for the last 20 years there are only 2 work of music ( in my opinion )that can be classified as pure perfection, one is SONGS IN THE KEY OF LIFE by Stevie Wonder, the other is AJA
To coin an old saying "THEY JUST DON'T MAKE MUSIC LIKE THIS ANYMORE" Submitted by paint4face (music lover) Was This Review Helpful? YesNo
Aja - a mysterious clasic
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