Pretzel Logic

album : 52/ 1102 (apparently it's gone up?) Songs known going in : 0 favourite song : East St.Louis Toodle-Oo rating : 4/5 notes: first steely dan album so chill i've been needing this while working OOOOOOO now wait a minute what is this melody East St.Louis Toodle-oo is insane Some really good stand out tracks but overall just loving the chill vibes

Not my favorite Steely Dan but still a hell of an album.

Not a lot wrong with this album and it made a morning in Croydon a lot better than it could have been!

The opening Horace Silver quote makes clear the inspiration for this album. But jazz is only ever used as a delicate spice to season the brilliant songs, which are firmly planted in pop territory. If that wasn't enough, the guitar work is a masterclass. Fuck it, yacht rock or not, I've just talked myself into a 5. 5*

YEAH BABY LETS GOOOOO, STEELY DAN, I AM A FAN, PRETZEL LOGIC BABYYYYYYYY, STRAIGHT INTO MY VEINS

hell yeah steely dan

#286 Heard Before? Yes, oh yes. Notes: - production so clear and lovely it makes angels cry into their mixing boards. - some nifty choices here and there: the chord changes on "Rikki", the horns on the title track, etc. - it's almost a relief that "East St Louis" is so ugly, goofy and embarrassing. - what I'm trying to say is that i hated every single second of this record, and I'm reaching hard to find anything of value. Verdict: Journey to the end of taste. Listen Again? Please lord, never again.

Pretzel Logic is my kinda logic! Steely Dan produces nothing but five star work. The album is brilliant, and fabulous, and never ceases to be engaging! The title song is a clever take on the follies of history and nostalgia...daydreaming about Napoleon gave me quite a smile. "Rikki Don't Lose that Number" and "Any Major Dude Will Tell You" are obviously classic songs, but "East St. Louis Toodle-Oo," their cover of a Duke Ellington tune, takes the cake! New favorite Steely Dan song!!!

Funky with different genres on different tracks. Fun and interesting. 4/5

The variety of sounds make this so enjoyable to hear, the meticulous production, and the kind of liminal subject matter is quite singular

Who knew i was a steely dan fan this album just made me smile yhe whole way to work

No private session used for Spotify. I grew up with Steely Dan on the radio, a lot, and then in college went into a deep dive of their work. Jazz influenced rock, while still being accessible and fun. I love it.

Another truly excellent album by Steely Dan. Just one of 7 truly excellent Steely Dan albums from 1972-1980 that should all be in the book. A few more dues paid to folk and trad jazz n bebop heroes like Duke Ellerz, Peter Parker and Bob Dildo here. The run of songs on Side 1 + Parker’s Band are extra special. An easy 5 by any logic whether it be normal logic, reverse logic, pretzel logic, donut logic, dream logic, lizard logic, badger logic etc. “I’m not one to look behind I know that times must change. But over there in Badgertown they do things very strange. And though you’re not my enemy I like things how they used to be And though you’d like some company I’m standing by myself Go play with someone else I can see by your big furry tadger You come from Badgertown”

i feel like an oompa loompa listening to this (like 1.5/5)

Steely Dan is one of those bands that I know I have heard before but I cannot for the life of me remember any of their songs. This album was pretty decent but I've already forgotten all the songs on it.

Pretzel Logic has shorter songs, less improvisations and much more less jam sessions. Steely Dan considered this one, their third studio album as a try of completing a wide range of three minutes pop songs successfully. The music of this record in particular it's influenced by harmonies countermelodies bop phrases, and catchy sketches. "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" it's probably a great example of this going from a blues to a jazz chorus ending in a pop melody. "Parker's Band" on the other hand it's a homage to the Jazz musician, Charlie Parker to the point the way of playing the guitar from Jeff Baxter it's heavily influenced by Doo-wop, ragtime, jazz and classic rock and roll. The solos are functional, progressive, sections of violins, trumpets and even lyrics like "Charlie Freak" that tells us a story of a drug addict that sells his most beloved possession, a gold ring to buy his last dosis, the one that will end up killing him. The truth it's this album has everything and it peaked #8 in Billboard 200 which was of course, a blessing to the band after the bad reception from critics and fans to their previous album Countdown to Ecstasy. The album also employs Funk in "Night by Night" and "Monkey in your Soul" and Shuffle in the track that gives name to the album. Regardless of this variety of influences and sounds, probably without this record we might not be able to understand what jazz rock means and why Steely Dan was the key to the Adult Oriented Rock as Genre to the Soft Rock and the Adult Contemporary as we know it today.

intéressant

i kind of enjoyed it more than Aja. ive bought in to the steely dan hype. it's just very fun, carefree, high energy. like, including East St. Louis Toodle-Oo in an album is such a weird choice but here it's played off with style. favorite song is With A Gun. soft 4

Nice music. Really like the difference between the songs. Fine album.

Bland and inoffensive

Extremely well made easy listening. Would listen again.

Not really my thing. Slight Elton John vibe to it. Only 1 familiar song.

Steely Dan is a tough band to pin down into a genre. Are they yacht rock, easy listening, psychedelic funk, rock n roll? I wouldn’t say this is their best album, but there are some interesting songs.

Great production as expected with any Steely Dan record. My opinion is that this record is just a bit beige and safe for my liking. (I guess we are spoiled by hindsight because at time, I think this was the band going in a newish direction) The band has a plenty great albums to go around, this one just doesn’t really have anything that sticks out for me. It’s a really groovy chill album. The hits are sick. Favs Rikki Night by night Pretzel logic Monkey in your soul

This is some classy steely. They aren’t breaking out they are by the book here and I can appreciate all the styles that they incorporate here. Rock and roll steely just doesn’t feel right but it’s cool to hear it’s interesting to compare to themselves. The stones were so powerful that even steely dan did it lol. East St. Louis toodle loo is the highlight for me. This is a truly beautiful tune and more of a story of how Dan just does it cause they can. This is truly modernizing and showing the listener that they can do. I am fascinated by this whole piece and I can’t wait to hear the other Dan stuff with these songs as context. Songs like Parker’s band try to make an explanation for why they play this song doesn’t need this beautiful. The things around this are just not as engaging but I finished the record loving what I heard and I can’t wait.

It was fine I guess. Steely Dan just doesn't do anything for me.

Very nice album, good instrumentation Top 3 songs: Pretzel Logic, Barrytown, Parker's Band

eh, it's alright, nothing bad but also nothing to write home about

What can I say? something I've learned from this list is that I love Steely Dan :)

I liked it

Steely Dan just kinda sounds like a very well produced okay band with okay songs. Nothing really to go crazy for but also nothing to hate either.

Old school rock. It's okay

One last unc gem for the road This is a great album that has so much going for it. Starting off with Rikki Don’t Lose That Number sets the tone; it sounds so different than what’s on their other albums but it’s a super catchy song. I really love Barrytown and is honestly my favorite track on the album; it’s simple but I think no other song shows just what’s so appealing about Steely Dan. The title track surprised me, I wasn’t expecting it to be so blues-ey but it sounds amazing and I’m always a sucker for blues/southern rock. As always with Steely Dan musical execution is clean and near impeccable and Fagen’s vocals are great I don’t think it’s quite as consistently good as Can’t Buy a Thrill, and there’s definitely a couple tracks that I’d say are on the forgettable side, but I feel like that’s being pretty selective I’m bummed that we already burned through all 4 Steely Dan albums already and we’re not even at album 300. In order, I’d rank them 1. Can’t Buy a Thrill 2. Pretzel Logic 3. Aja 4. Countdown to Ecstasy. They’re cemented as absolutely one of my favorite bands

I love me some Steely Dan, but this one was just a little more plain than the others. Rikki don't lose that number is iconic, but the other tracks just don't grip me as much as their other works. The most devious thing this band ever did was play highly technical music and trick everyone into thinking it's basic.

Again, offensively dull and bland. However, annoyingly found myself nodding along to a couple of tracks.

Gah, Steamy Dan, what is it about The Steamy Dan Band that gets folks so excited? Rikki Don't Lose That Number is where the cream begins; it's the first track, so every Dan Dork can toss it on when trying to convince a civilized person that the Steamy Dan Band is amazing. I don't get it; I never will. I tell you they're not mind kind, and they tell me I don't know my mind; that sounds like the hi-fi system of my dreams.

Fine

1 - Rikki Don’t Lose That Number - 👍 2 - Night By Night - 👏 3 - Any Major Dude Will Tell You - 🤷🏻‍♂️ 4 - Barrytown - 👏 5 - East St. Louis Toodle-Oo - 🤷🏻‍♂️ 6 - Parker’s Band - 👍 7 - Through With The Buzz - 🤷🏻‍♂️ 8 - Pretzel Logic - 👏 9 - With A Gun - 👍 10 - Charlie Freak - 🤷🏻‍♂️ 11 - Monkey in Your Soul - 🤷🏻‍♂️ 2/5

Surprised to find this in this list. Steely Dan have great albums after that Aja, Royal Scam, Katy Lied and before this one Can’t buy me a thrill. This is an awkward mid-phase LP.

Cosy grooves but ultimately faded into the background

Technically competent. I briefly had guitar lessons in the early 90s and Steely Dan was one of the bands highlighted by my teacher as such. I enjoyed Pretzel Logic even though it meanders at times.

This is a great all rounder of an album. Their hits are catchy and will have you coming back, but there’s not a lot of filler on there. Good one for the background or to get you moving.

Not bad

Love Steely Dan and only like some of these tracks

I still kind of don't understand the artists who have multiple albums on this list. Pick 1 album that embodies a particular artist and that should be it. I don't dislike Steely Dan at all, but this is the 3rd album I've had by them. I don't deny that Steely Dan should have an album on this list, but put just one and add two other deserving artists/albums.

Steely Dan is the definition of Dad Rock. Even though I’m not a dad, I’ve got to admit, I’ve grown to like them. I didn’t really pay attention to Steely Dan until I stumbled upon one of their albums through the 1001 generator. Since then, I’ve dug into more of their albums, and I’ve found that they’re mostly a laid back, mid tempo band that just flows effortlessly. It’s easy music to listen to and enjoy.

these guys, I just can't its all so pretty and empty a brand new casket

This was such an enjoyable listen. Funny how I’ve never heard of them before

Toll! Hat mir sehr gut gefallen! Echte Musik, echte Menschen, nicht alles vorhersehbar, viel zu entdecken aber geht auch gut nebenbei!

Look, you get to a certain age and you have a kid and the Dan just slaps harder than you ever thought! It's biology, its physics, its meta and its true.

★★★★☆ This was a really fun album to revisit, and I think I enjoyed it even more this time around. I've always liked Steely Dan, but *Pretzel Logic* might be my favorite album of theirs so far. The biggest difference between this and *Aja* is the energy. *Aja* is a great album, but it's more of a vibe. I have to be in the mood for that smooth, polished jazz-rock sound. *Pretzel Logic*, on the other hand, is an album I could throw on anytime. It's got more guitar, more energy, and a great mix of rock, funk, jazz, and even a little country. “Night by Night” is a fantastic funky rocker, and the title track was even better than I remembered. But my favorite is actually “With a Gun,” which is a short, punchy country-rock song that I absolutely love. Even the oddball Duke Ellington instrumental “East St. Louis Toodle-Oo” works surprisingly well. There's a lot of variety here, but somehow none of it feels out of place. What really impressed me was the consistency. “Barrytown” was probably my least favorite track, and even that earned a 6/10. There isn't a single song I'd consider bad, and at around 34 minutes, the album never overstays its welcome. Even the slightly goofy closer “Monkey in Your Soul” fits the personality of the record. My individual track ratings averaged 7.32, but this is a perfect example of an album being better than the sum of its parts. The sequencing, variety, energy, and replayability all elevate the experience. I gave *Aja* a 7.5, but this one earns the higher score. **8/10. 4 stars.**

Dober 👍🏼

Not my favorite Steely Dan album but worth a listen.

-Tracks longer than 3:59: A couple -Long tracks interesting or special: They work because the bridges are solid. The musically unrelated intro to Ricki Don’t Loose That Number is an example of adding something to a song that doesn’t add anything to the song. -Album shorter than 58 minutes: Yes -Will listen to album again: Not in its entirety. Overall: Like all Steely Dan albums, save Aja, there are tracks I really, really like and some I don’t ever need to listen to again. (East St. Louis Toodle-Oo? No thanks.) I did enjoyed the variety of sounds between songs. Even with its short comings I’m giving it… 4/5

Honestly i enjoyed that, it was kind of a vibe. There were some pretty good grooves to this and I feel like it would go hard when I’m super happy (drunk) there were some nice horns and strings too. But overall it’s not really something I would return to, it’s a bit too happy for me to listen to regularly. But I’m still glad I listened, 3.899/5

I’m just not a big Steely Dan fan.

Production: 4 - love the guitar in Night by night Songwriting: 4 Enjoyability: 3.5 Cohesion: 3.5 Songs liked: 5/11 Reminds me of Jon batiste at times Sorta album I could put in the background and just vibe but wouldn’t like be a first pick does have the potential to grow on me though

Fuck, I really like Steely Dan… Their music gets me moving like a white dad in crocs

Hitler POV in jazz-rock format? Not today, thanks.

Steely Dan jälle oskusliku pillimängude ja muusikaga, mida armastavad peamiselt muusikanohikud. 3.8/5

Totally ok, nothing amazing.

I liked this. Maybe with a few more plays it would hit a 4

A couple good songs but otherwise average

Short album

I hate this band. This music just does not connect with me at all. And I have tried. I don’t know. I’ll try again today I guess. Or maybe not. I didn’t get past one, but not because I turned it off in whore. Didn’t have the time to vote to listen to it through. I will save that whilst listening to Rikki don’t lose that number I did notice an interesting baseline in a weird cord resolution so I don’t know man maybe that’s what people are talking about when they talk about the Dan.

Unmemorable. Not awful but not great.

Yeah enjoyable enough if you like steely Dan.

Steely Dan is the most OVERRATED fucking band on this planet thanks to all the boomer critics. We have to stop pretending like Donald Fagen is a good singer. All those session guys who had chops and yet all that resulted in extremely uninspiring music.

i like this album

"I mean its alright" this is the worst of the OG Steely Dan albums. When I was first listening to non Yacht Rock Dan stuff, I probably thought more highly of this album and I always thought the album cover was cool and interesting. Nonetheless, this album has some stinkers on it. Fucking carnival music and mediocre shit from the catalogue. It goes to show how I've barely listened to this whole album that many times. Obviously, there are 3-4 bangers on here, but just like CBAT, there are some stinkers on there. I used to consider that album worse, but I'd say this is at the bottom of the OG stuff.

Tough one for me to rate. I really don’t like Donald Fagen’s voice, and the sound carries some old 70s baggage, but I enjoy the more purely musical parts and, oddly, the harmony vocals. Listened on my ipad, so probably not the fairest test.

First Steely Danon here? And this is one I wasn't familiar with, so it was nice to discover. Donald Fagen is truly a master of composition. Every piece of of instrumentation perfectly finds its place in the mix and is executed with accuracy and delicious musicality. The master is PRISTINE, and it's from 1974. No one else has any excuses. The lyrics are always compelling, often tongue-in-cheek with interesting, sometimes historical, storytelling. even if you don't love his singing voice, I think anyone could agree that those layered vocals are super clean, which also speaks to the level of accuracy he sings with, whether or not you like the tone of his voice. I'm feeling a light 5 for this one

Steely Dan are an excellent example of one of my prime music-rating tests (say it with me): if I don't like the singer(s), I'm not gonna love the band. Having said that, I'll concede that I've come to appreciate the music of SD somewhat more, over the decades -- the musicianship, the songcraft, the variety, the lyrics (somewhat - although I tend to not pay a ton of attention to lyrics). "Rikki Don't Lose" I knew from the radio back in the 70s (and after), of course, and am still fairly fond of. The only other tracks that were familiar to me are "Any Major Dude" and the title track. I think where I come down with this album is: a 4 (low 4, probably) for the music, but lowering the final grade to a 3 because of the singing, which I find off-putting. Hard to describe what I don't like about the singing. Somehow, even when he's hitting the notes, it sounds like he's not, or that he slides around sloppily sort of approximating the note; anyway, just hits my ears in an unpleasant way. Don't love the vocal harmonies, either, for essentially the same reasons, and also because SD vocal harmonies all sort of sound the same to me (slick, jazzy, yet somehow striking my ears as tuneless, clunky, glib, and a little unpleasant).

solid musicianship, solid grooves the singer's voice doesn't appeal to me, kinda like Bob Dylan seems just so-so to me. Not as good as their other albums

very good album, not one of my favorite Steely Dan albums. Some songs are great, others so so. This is starting to go in the Aja direction and some of the songs seem very different relative to the Steely Dan vibe of this and earlier albums. I do own this and listen to it, still only 3 stars

Schön anzu hören. Sehr 70er

Good stuff.

Bit of a vibe this one. Interesting chord progressions and modulations, and the harmonies!

Jeg har aldri blitt helt overbevist av den AOR-aktige pseudo-jazzrocken Steely Dan spiller, men det har i det minste vært åpenbart at gutta kan spille. De spiller ikke noe dårligere her, bare kjedeligere. Sporene man tidligere kunne finne av progga jazzrock er nå helt byttet ut med Steely Dan-lydende pop-låter. Det er ikke veldig spennende. Blir noen hakk mer spennende på B-siden, men det er for sent for å prøve å overbevise meg om at Steely Dan er bedre som band enn som dildo.

Good easy rock amazing production

I love the first song and then there were other ones!

Steely's Dan sound has been growing on me a lot since I became obsessed with the song Hey Nineteen a few weeks ago. So I went into this one positively, excited to hear more from the band. Pretzel logic is a great album name by the way; big fan. This is one seems like a summer feel good album. Glad to have heard this in the sun. Not a big fan of the random instrumental song on the album - should have been cut out! "Parkers band" has dreamy moments. A lot of different sounds throughout. Playing with different genres…eg, Strings on "through with buzz" …. I have a soft spot for steely dan songs about agining. Pretzel logic song is about this. However, song didn’t grab me. I do appreciate its brevity. A lot of the songs are short and sweet. However, Steely Dan has done longer albums which are stronger than this. Monkey in your soul had a nice guitar solo. Song itself I wasn’t keen on. That intro of bass and drum in rikki don't lose your number sounds familiar; it's been sampled by a hip hop artist I think. Familiar. Overall, I enjoyed discovering new awesome Steely Dan songs. Namely, Night by Night and Any Major Dude Will Tell you. If I'm honest, the rest of the album, whilst it had its moments, left me feeling mostly neutral. I didn't take to Rikki Don't Lose that number as much as I was hoping. This is good but it isn't can't buy a thrill….(a very difficult album to top). One could easily make the argument we didn't need this in the 1001 albums list…and I say this as someone who likes the band a lot!

Can confirm that this is pretty lame. Nothing to get excited about (but not totally awful) ....... What did you say? Another 3 Steely Dan albums on this list? FFS

solid album but probably my least favorite from Steely Dan

That was fun

I like the vibe. I can imagine listening to this in the future while I study.

6/10

Zo worden ze niet meer gemaakt. Gelikte jarenzeventigpop verwent de oortjes als honing op een verse boterham met veel boter. Geen nootje staat verkeerd en toch straalt het heel veel warmte uit. Samenzang, gelikte solo's, een hitje ertussen, dit kun je blijven draaien.

Ik maak hieronder maar weinig woorden vuil aan Steely Dan. En dat ben ik nu ook niet van plan. Het is wederom kwalitatief prima, maar ontzettend saai. Ten opzichte van de andere albums van Steely Dan focust dit zich nog meer op harmonie. Dat is knap, maar maakt dit album zeer vergeetbaar.

Als ik inmiddels de naam van Steely Dan zie, dan heb ik al zin in het albumpje. Want ik heb ze al 2x met een 5 beloond en 1x met een 4. De zoetgevooisde yachtrock, al noemen ze het zelf niet zo, gaat er bij mij in als zoete koek. En met name de ritmesectie en de harmonieen zijn van topniveau. Zo doet Timothy B Schmitt als sessiemuzikant mee op dit album en die levert de hoge stem in de harmonieen van de Eagles. Ook op dit album krijgen we het typische Steely Dan geluid te horen, al is het allemaal net wat minder bekend. Ik ken eigenlijk alleen "Rikki dont lose that number". En laten we eerlijk zijn, er staan dus al 3 andere albums van ze in de lijst, dus dit is misschien een klein beetje overbodig. Ik luister met veel plezier, maar dit album zou je weg kunnen laten.

Some classic Steely Dan, with basic tracks between

Slightly disappointed overall. I normally look forward to listening to Steely Dan. Still a decent album though.

Nicht unangenehm, aber plätschert halt so vor sich hin ohne wirkliche Highlights. Jedenfalls: deutlich besser als das jazzige Yacht Rock Zeug, das sie später produziert haben. 2.5/5 - okay

Ugh more of this crap. The ONE saving grace from this album is that Warren Haynes did a cover of "Pretzel Logic" on his Live At the Moody Theater album. It's far superior and well worth your time. In fact, just skip this POS album and just go listen to that album instead. And as always with this horrific band, I’ll let Steve Albini's 2023 tweets provide my feelings on this album and all the other Steely Dan albums 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)

brilliant, witty, musically sophisticated, and slightly uneven. Steely Dan at the moment when complexity became effortless.

Pure ‘70s vibes, musically interesting, lyrically unique, but hard as I try, Steely Dan is just not for me, outside of the hit singles everyone knows.

6. oktobar 2026. 22.12h ovo je bio moj prosli rivju steely dan albuma: its okej, fanki ali nije bas moj cup of tea and i stand by that also svaki put kad cujem ovaj bend pomislim kako je to omiljeni bend john mulaney-ja best: night by night

Started quite promisingly but faded a bit as it went on. A good listen but not particularly inspired by anything hugely radical or innovative about it.

this was pretty good

1. 4.5 2. 4 3. 3.5 4. 3 5. 4 1. 3 2. 2.5 3. 3 4. 4 5. 3 6. 3.5