Can't Buy A Thrill

If you want an example of why this list of 1001 albums is biased toward white, male rock stars you just have to see that there are four Steely Dan albums on here (and a crappy Donald Fagan solo effort) and only two from Dolly Parton. How many middle of the road yacht rock albums by bands named after steam powered dildoes do you need in your life? Sod this, I'm listening to The Grass is Blue instead.

I think I’ll let Steve Albini's 2023 tweets provide my feelings on this album and any other Steely Dan album… (this was taken from my Aja review). I will always be the kind of punk that shits on Steely Dan Christ the amount of human effort wasted to sound like an SNL band warm up. "They spent three weeks on the guitar solo..." Three weeks of watching guitar players give it their all while doing bumps and hitting the talkback, "More *Egyptian* but keep it in the pocket..." "Their engineer invented a machine to play the bass drum..." Did he now. And yet it sounds like this. Look at yourselves. Calling them "the Dan." Go trim your beard. Two types of perfectionist: One will prepare, revise and rehearse carefully, with intent, honing an idea to a keen edge, ready to cut the cloth of execution. The other makes other people responsible by saying, "do it again," until by chance they are satisfied, then take credit. There's some video where they talk about every song on an album, and each one begins with the not-bald one saying, "this song is based on my deep love of the blues, just a very bluesy blues. Deep blues." Then lays his jazz dork hands on the fucking electric piano... Music made for the sole purpose of letting the wedding band stretch out a little. All you "I used to hate them" people, pleading their case like it's a natural infirmity. "I need readers now, take pills for my prostate. Get winded on the stairs. And oh, I like that cocaine shit music now. (and it's 1 star only because I can't give it a negative number. FUCK THIS BAND)

They can be mad about it all they want, they are still Yacht rock in my mind. I don't care if they have more complex lyrics or themes to their music, it still screams Yacht Rock -- that isn't necessarily a bad thing -- but it isn't necessarily a good thing either.....

No, Steely Dan, you can't buy a thrill, but I wish you fucking could, because this has all the excitement of a developing flu. Somehow, every flavour of instrument comes together to form a great big slog of greywater. Am I being too harsh? Probably. But the album cover was promising, the average rating was promising, and the genres listed were promising, and this album was just a thousand broken promises.

One hit wonder plane surfer straight rock music.

Incredibly bland

Tak to je opäť niečo, čo vlezie jedným uchom dnu a druhým vylezie von. Nič, čo by ma zaujalo...

Just absolutely not my type of music. Felt like I need to be in a stables on a farm chewing wheat to fully appreciate this.

This is my 3rd Steely Dan album, how on earth they make it at all in the 1001 albums is completely beyond me. They are talented but it's bland and safe

Not for me. 1/5

niepodobasa - ustalone wspólnie po 30min odebrali - termin do ortopedy za pół roku

Not really my thing.

Not for me which disappoints as for first time hearing an album by Steely Dan which are held in high regards by some. Liked the opening track which is a big tune from then, but sorry, the on, it was very middle of the road and beige. Struggled to get through it. 1/5.

Nope honestly two songs are worth listening to and then the rest is painful and boring

too hippie for me,too much of the za

Not for me

With that name and cover, that's not the music I was expecting - how harmlessly competent

Early 70's middle-of-the-road vanilla rock I heard nothing exceptional here, just lots of bland Not for me

Yo que sé, too much, muy psicodélico para mi.

wasn't really my vibe

It really is as bad as I always think Steely Dan sounds like. For pluses, its easy to ignore, and backlash to stuff like this gave us punk

Not for me, didn’t finish

The band that named themselves after a steam-powered dildo. Honestly, I'd rather spend 40 minutes being dry-rogered by a strap-on steaming hot dildo than to ever have to listen to this pompous FM radio rock ever again. Absolutely excruciating.

I don’t know why I have such an aversion to this band and this style of music. Maybe it feels too 70s in a bad way? I just simply don’t want to hear this ever again. 1/5

In the immortal words of Deputy Garcia, “Isn’t Steely Dan just elevator music for cocaine dealers?”

No

Just don’t get Steely Dan at all

So boring. Just generic and bleh. 1/5 stars.

vampires.

They describe their sound as "adjusted and refined to take into account the new musical environment in which we found ourselves operating, and also to reflect our belated understanding of the aesthetic shortcomings of some of our less-than-accessible, more doggedly surrealist effort." I'll settle for "boring and pretentious."

I don’t want to ‘do that again’

Not on Amazon Music.

Not many goodies

First time listening to this band. Not my cup of tea qto be honest but I listened anyways. 2/10 I might try again through my headphones later

I’m never going to have time for this.

Definitely can't buy a thrill with this album!

Second Steely Dan album, can safely say not my thing

What the hell is going on with the cover art for this, I'm in two minds as to whether it's just base level awful or it's brilliantly captured the unsettling pain of this album. I'm going for the first one because the picture isn't dull. I apparently picked up on some prog bits I liked on the previous steely Dan album we had but they weren't on show here. I recognised the first track which was okay but it just got worse from there.

i like the beat but I did not like the beginning and the end was weird. i dont like the second song it is boring. i dont like this song but the beat is pretty good i do not recomend this album.

I don't like this song its not something I don't listen to this type of music and its not a song the second song I also don't like it its not a song I would listen too the third song I also don't like its not a song I like to listen too

the first song was alr the lyrics were fine ig and yeah it was okay the second song is better than the first song bc like the background music was good. the last song is okay its actually not that bad

Meaningless music for Boomers to put on in the background of their party to yell-talk at each other over.

Fuck rating albums. Just let me listen.

Shit

A little less flighty in this one but I still don't understand the fascination. 1.5 stars

didnt listen

I'm a dad, but not a dad-rock dad. Still, wise enough to never say never, pop-cultured enough to say NOT TODAY.

Wow. This album has really made me rethink my negative feelings towards this band. Perhaps third time's a charm. And this album certainly has plenty of charms. More rocking than subsequent releases. The hooks are bigger. The emotional air has not been expelled from every pore. Is it possible to back to basics on album #1. Ah...no...f*#k that. And f*#k Steely Dan. Do It Again earns one star and I hate them even more for luring me in. The album is like year one of a plague. There was still time to get it under control. But we as a culture were too weak to resist. Give me three 80s era Billy Joel album instead of this...on second thought maybe don't give me the BJ albums but cause I don't really want those either. But you get me meaning.

Can't Give A Fuck.

Наверное настроение не под такую музыку, вообще не зашло

Not a Steely Dan fan. Never have been, never will be. However, I do like "Dirty Work".

I can't stand for yacht rock. For me it's just mid 70's music for people who say that after the 70's music is dead Dropped.

I was hip to Steely Dan, listening to this made me realize I do not like Steely Dan

All sounds the same. Not for me.

No thanks

Steely Dan reminds me of my love life. Dull, disappointing and depressing to think about. Fuck Steely Dan!

Ploddy, pedestrian rock. No redeeming features whatsoever.

awful

I definitely didn’t enjoy this album, it just felt like everything of the same and it’s really not my type of music, I wouldn’t recommend.

No Thrills Here I was listening to this album, and only listening to this album, literally doing nothing else, and I forgot that I was listening. That's how ignorable and background these songs are. I almost gave it 1 star, but that last song ruined any good credit this album was holding on to. Zero stars Yeah, I don't like Steely Dan and this did nothing to win me over. When am I gonna get something actually interesting? Inxs? Beck? Kanye? Fugazi? Quicksand? Goldie? Faith No More? A Tribe Called Quest? Kylie?

Nous revoilà plongés dans les méandres de cette liste biblique, ce totem de bon (et parfois de très mauvais) goût qu'est le "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die". Parfois, on en ressort grandi, ébloui par une pépite insoupçonnée. D'autres fois, on en sort avec l'envie furieuse de se faire greffer de nouvelles oreilles, ou de postuler pour un job de gardien de phare en Antarctique, histoire d'être sûr de ne plus jamais croiser une chaîne hi-fi. Aujourd'hui, c'est la deuxième catégorie qui nous occupe. Et le coupable s'appelle Steely Dan. Encore eux. Souvenez-vous, il n'y a pas si longtemps, je m'étais coltiné leur album "Aja". Une expérience étrange. Je n'avais pas été transporté, loin de là, mais j'avais dû, la mort dans l'âme, reconnaître une forme de génie. Un génie froid, clinique, désincarné. Une musique de chirurgien, une production d'orfèvre maniaque qui polissait chaque note jusqu'à en effacer la moindre trace de vie. C'était beau comme une équation mathématique, impressionnant comme une prouesse technique, mais aussi chaleureux qu'une poignée de main avec un cyborg. Alors, quand j'ai vu que la liste me renvoyait dans leurs pattes, mais cette fois avec leur tout premier album, "Can't Buy A Thrill", une lueur d'espoir a pointé le bout de son nez. La genèse ! Le point de départ ! J'allais peut-être y trouver la sève, l'énergie brute, le truc moins calculé, moins cérébral qui manquait tant à "Aja". J'allais peut-être, enfin, comprendre le pourquoi du comment de ce groupe. Quelle erreur. Quelle monumentale, abyssale, colossale erreur. J'ai 55 balais. J'ai passé ma vie le nez dans les bacs à vinyles, j'ai usé des kilomètres de bande magnétique à la radio, j'ai vu des modes naître et mourir, j'ai défendu des artistes indéfendables et j'ai descendu en flammes des vaches sacrées. Je pensais avoir une certaine endurance. Je pensais pouvoir tout encaisser. Il m'a fallu trois putains de tentatives pour arriver au bout de ce disque. Trois. La première fois, j'ai tenu jusqu'au quatrième morceau avant de sentir une anesthésie générale s'emparer de mon corps. Mes paupières pesaient une tonne, mon cerveau s'était mis en veille, et j'avais l'impression d'écouter la bande-son d'un séminaire d'entreprise sur l'optimisation des process en milieu tertiaire. La deuxième fois, je me suis mieux préparé. Café noir, fenêtres ouvertes, volume à onze. Peine perdue. Au bout de vingt minutes, je fixais le mur en me demandant si la peinture séchait plus vite que le rythme de leurs morceaux. C'est propre, c'est pro, c'est joué à la perfection. Chaque note est à sa place. Chaque harmonie est calculée. Et c'est précisément ça, le problème. C'est une musique qui a peur de se salir, qui refuse de transpirer, qui porte des gants blancs pour ne pas laisser d'empreintes. On est en 1972, merde ! Bowie sort "Ziggy Stardust", Lou Reed nous balance "Transformer", T. Rex est au sommet de son glam décadent, et pendant ce temps-là, en Californie, des mecs surdoués mais visiblement sous anxiolytiques nous enregistrent la bande-son parfaite pour une salle d'attente de dentiste de luxe. On imagine les mecs en studio, le regard vide, le cheveu propre, jouant des partitions d'une complexité folle mais avec l'âme d'un expert-comptable qui boucle ses bilans. Alors oui, pour être tout à fait honnête, il y a deux ou trois moments où on se dit "tiens, il se passe quelque chose". "Do It Again" et son rythme chaloupé, presque exotique, sort un peu du lot. "Reelin' in the Years" a un solo de guitare qui a le mérite de réveiller. Ce sont deux oasis. Deux petites gourdes d'eau fraîche au milieu du désert de Gobi de l'ennui. Mais elles ne suffisent pas à étancher la soif d'un mec qui cherche le frisson, la fameuse décharge, ce fameux "effet kisscool" qui fait qu'un album reste gravé. Ici, l'effet est plutôt celui d'un somnifère. La troisième écoute fut un calvaire, un chemin de croix discographique. Je l'ai subie, comme on subit une punition. Chaque morceau me semblait durer une éternité. Je n'y ai trouvé aucune passion, aucune urgence, aucune folie. Juste une maîtrise technique absolue au service de... rien. Du vide. Un vide impeccablement arrangé, mais un vide quand même. Alors, la question qui tue : mais que fout ce disque dans la liste des "1001 albums à écouter avant de mourir" ? Pour mourir d'ennui, peut-être ? Est-ce un test ? Une épreuve pour voir si on est capable de supporter le pire pour mieux apprécier le meilleur ? Si c'est le cas, alors mission accomplie. Je suis dur, je suis acerbe, mais je suis surtout déçu. Déçu d'avoir perdu mon temps avec une musique si anémique, si dépourvue de tripes. C'est une musique de tête, pour des gens qui aiment analyser les structures harmoniques complexes en sirotant un vin blanc hors de prix. Moi, je suis un mec de coeur, de bide, de sueur. Et sur ce disque, il n'y a rien de tout ça. C'est un disque que je ne conseille à personne, et le verdict est sans appel car il est le reflet de mon expérience, de ma douleur. Note finale : 1/5 Et je crois que je suis encore généreux. Allez, au suivant, en espérant tomber sur un truc qui saigne un peu. N'importe quoi, mais un truc vivant. S'il vous plaît.

Ok

Not for me. Really dull and uninteresting.

Again, more meh...

Um dos álbuns mais irritantes que eu já ouvi Fav tracks: Do It Again Least fav track: Reelin' In The Years

Eww. I’ve never liked Steely Dan but I thought I’d give the album a fair listen. The musicianship is far better than the singing or the lyrics. Too bad such fine musicians put out such boring music.

Steely Dan sucks

Gefällt mir nicht.

They're like some of the worst pop rock combined with some of the worst of jazz

I have heared this album, it's nice, and I like it.

DNF- got kind of bored???

I swear every other song on this album had bongos in it.

Hate steely dan

Vähän liian nasevaa leikkisää musiikkia

LoL fuck Steely Dan! Minus 5 stars!

EFFING HATE STEALY DAN. WON'T LISTEN!

God I hate steely Dan.

This is the best Steely Dan record. And it still sucks.

Meh. I tend to like music like this, but the album just couldn’t keep my attention. Maybe one day I’ll revisit it.

Bang average 70’s.

No. Just no. It's Diet Eagles, and they were awful as well. File under insipid.

70

Possibly the worst band of all time

Nothing grabbed me - finished the album without even realising!

can't stand Steely Dan

quite all right, nice for chill music (pero?)

Never really got into Steely Dan before this. Very catchy band. Very solid album, not a bad song on the record. 9/10.

Super great!

Awful.

Sounds good