The Nightfly
Donald Fagen
1982
Album Summary
The Nightfly is the debut solo studio album by American singer-songwriter Donald Fagen. Produced by Gary Katz, it was released October 1, 1982, by Warner Bros. Records. Fagen was previously best known for his work in the group Steely Dan, with whom he enjoyed a successful career in the 1970s. The band separated in 1981, leading Fagen to pursue a solo career. Although The Nightfly includes a number of production staff and musicians who had played on Steely Dan records, it was Fagen's first release without longtime collaborator Walter Becker. Unlike most of Fagen's previous work, The Nightfly is almost blatantly autobiographical. Many of the songs relate to the cautiously optimistic mood of his suburban childhood in the late 1950s and early 1960s and incorporate such topics as late-night jazz disc jockeys, fallout shelters, and tropical vacations. Recorded over eight months at various studios between New York City and Los Angeles, the album is an early example of a fully digital recording in popular music. The nascent technology, as well as the perfectionist nature of its engineers and musicians, made the album difficult to record. The Nightfly was well-received, both critically and commercially. It was certified platinum in both the US and UK and generated two popular singles with the top 40 hit "I.G.Y." and the MTV favorite "New Frontier". Among critics, The Nightfly gained widespread acclaim and received seven nominations at the 1983 Grammy Awards. The relatively low-key but long-lived popularity of The Nightfly led Robert J. Toth of The Wall Street Journal in 2008 to dub the album "one of pop music's sneakiest masterpieces."
WikipediaOver produced, yacht rock that appeals to a very generic, "beige" set of people
Very middle of the road for me. A nice morning listen. The cover is definitely better than the album.
May induce a face-palming epidemic among first-timers in the present day. I get that. It incorporates most of the "oh, that's so 80s" sounds received wisdom says we should avoid: a faux fur bed of cool swing, shamelessly smoothed-out jazz, criminally toothsome hooks, synthesisers, conga(!) But I say this face-palmers: seriously, are those bad things? Especially when they accompany satire so arch you can walk under it without noticing (consider Fagen's sincerity on the opener - "The future looks bright" - or how the line "Ruby Baby, how I want you / Like a ghost I'm gonna haunt you" flips that one into an artlessly creepy song that ends oddly with a super fun coda and fake jazz-club applause). And technical virtuosity that's not only impressive for what it does (like play every modulation known to man) but how accessibly it does it. And the crystalline rhythms that playfully evolve from start to finish without letting a speck of dust settle. And stories about lonely disc jockeys, using your dad's nuclear bunker as a sex den and being ominously stuck in Cuba in guessing). And also remember that received wisdom calls Meatloaf a camp hack but Springsteen a butch genius, immortalises Radiohead and Pink Floyd and celebrates everything that's "oh, so 80s" about Prince.
I love Steely Dan, but had never listened to any of Donald Fagen's solo work without Walter Becker. Can I describe it as "too smooth" or "too upbeat"? I must miss the more biting aspect to the lyrics and music that were Beckers influence. Maybe 3.4/5? Then I listened to it some more, and its really growing on me due to the jazzy music. Solid 4.
A well crafted album with lots of Donald Fagan charms, with his dry, witty, intelligent lyrics and expressive voice. Some nostalgic value for me too - this album slowly became a family favorite starting sometime in my teenage years.
It was initially nice to hear the light rock 80s sound of Steely Dan's Fagen because just about any music from that era takes me back to fuzzy places. However, I quickly realized that the only thing I like about The Nightfly was the album cover.
Comenzó bien y como al segundo 40 ya todo se fue al carajo con el jazz. Es aburrido y tal vez por lo que comenta Vic está en la lista pero fuera de ahí no me aporta nada
Ernsthaft? Dann lieber ne Stunde Helge Schneider Pink Panther Variationen
First time I’ve listened to a solo from either one of the Dan’s. Solid stuff
Brilliant, love this album. Better without Becker IMO. Such a cool retro/futuristic vibe to it
Had me from the hop! Jazzy, poppy, post steely dan yacht rocky. Good vibes all around.
10. Considered a 9, because Donald Fagen really is only half the man Steely Dan is
I really dug this, it sounds amazing and the songs have just the right amount of cheese to balance out how smooth they are
So chill! Great lyrics! 9/10 for the vibes, would want to relisten for a better appreciation
this is a really great album, theres a couple tracks i don't like as much that make it 9/10
The Nightfly and I go a long way together! I remember it from when it was first introduced in Ad Pop by Ehud Manor as a new album. Love it, and regularly listen to it.
The style...the musicianship...the vocals...immaculate. Wondering why this is not on my iPod already.
Real gem this one. Never listened to any Steely Dan, but this solo album was smooth, catchy, full of jazzy tunes and beautiful Rhodes sounds. Really loved it.
Five Stars Standouts: IGY, The Nightfly, New Frontier, Maxine, Green Flower Street
I absolutely LOVE this album. It's Steely Dan-esque with a kinda Frank Zappa vibe?
Opening notes - I knew it was going to be great. Smooth, melodic, lyrically wonderful from end-to-end.
Oh yeah. Funky, smooth, slick...great rhythm, great piano. This is my jam.
One of my favorites. 5/5 I love every song. The extended version has a couple of extras that were included on soundtrack albums (Heavy Metal and Bright Lights Big City).
Fell in love with this album when I got it back in 1982. I loved the sound of the song, IGY and quickly the rest of this album became a classic to me. I am grateful that the extended version contains True Companion from Heavy Metal (Soundtrack) and Century's End from the Bright Lights, Big City Soundtrack were included. I really think these two songs complete the album quite well. This is a rare 5/5 from me.
Steely Dan with less guitar and more saxophone. Brilliant, I love Steely Dan.
This has been one of my favorite albums since it was new and I.G.Y. was on the radio and the video for "New Frontier" was on MTV. Although I was a young teen at the time, I still really connected with the nostalgic themes and optimism for the future. This is an album that shines best as the whole album, as each song is a vignette that continues the theme. This is one of the few in this project that I've listened to so many times over the past 40 years that I can play it in my head (well, the line, "Won't you pour me a Cuban breeze, Gretchen?" is one that I hadn't remembered but love love love.) This is smooth and jazzy and wonderful. One of the best.
With the distinctive voice from Steely Dan, you'd think this would be just another Steely Dan album. It's definitely not. There's some sharp commentary in here, along with some very tasty grooves. I love this album. How are things on Mount Belzoni, by the way?
Fantastic Album that’s known as the benchmark for testing out Hi-Fi Systems due to its incredible production and coordinated, tight arrangements.
come on man. come ON turn me UP don fagen does not disappoint when given total creative control. he has such a clear vision on this record. the steely dan sound has always been a relaxing one to me, but fagen pulls from some different influences here to bring a bit more intensity in spurts. but, in the end, it’s a steely dan album through and through, with more melodica steely dan did green flower street at their phoenix show this year, and it got me to re-listen to the nightfly. i was sold then, and i’m sold now. what a great record, a great musician, and a perfect body of work
it’s so cool hearing the Steely Dan members’ solo stuff you can really hear what charm they can both individually put into the band that create such a perfect sound and yet they both hold up so well on their own it’s incredible - 10/10
I admittedly don't like jazz, but the jazz influence on this album is sick. It also reminds me of Christmas music, a little bit. I think this one is kind of awesome, not something I'd listen to all the time but I'm gonna save it on Spotify for Christmas vibes. Omg, also a little Vulfpeck-ish! Another surprising four star album!!
surprisingly great pop jazz, not a huge fan of the more jazz oriented songs but overall great sound
Big Steely Dan fan. I feel like this is a very natural extension of that sound with alot of the same players. Although I love the character perspectives in Steely Dan songs it is nice to hear something a little more personal.
Lo disfruté y tiene ritmos muy pegajosos (¿beats?). La voz muy bien y puse poca atención a las letras, aunque sí escuché eso de "Mexico City" jaja. Me parece un álbum animado y que te pone feliz, en un humor medio bailador, pero tranquilo, a gusto, chill que se diría. La canción que abre me parece muy bien colocada al principio. Mis favs: "Green Flower Street", "New Frontier" y "The Goodbye Look". 8.5/10
A lovely album to listen to in the sunshine. A cultured performance akin to Deco in his pomp.
Donald Fagen once took a golden shower on my belly and some of it ricocheted into my mouth. Yummy.
Couple of tracks were definitely familiar, I had not heard the rest and dang if it isn't a fine album. Steely Dan-ish, of course.
Ok this first song.... spicy I like this album omg Favorites: I.G.Y Ruby Baby Maxine The Nightfly The Goodbye Look
Obviously similar to Steely Dan, thick harmonic lines, great arrangements.
Had some jazz club vibes to it and made me miss going out to nice bars. The music itself was catchy but the lyrics less so.
80's synth pop/jazz pop(?). Good nighttime cooking/chilling album I'd say. Kind of funky as well.
I never realized that Donald Fagen was the Steely Dan guy... wild. Recognize the 1st song, reminds me of when I was a kid. 70's groove songs.
I'm a big Steely Dan but had never listened to any of Donald's solo stuff, so I was curious what this was sound like. Overall, it was quite pleasing - "I.G.Y" and "The Nightfly" offered a lot of those same great Steely vibes. "Ruby Baby" was kind of annoying, but I can overlook that.
Never get tired of listening to the musical genius of Donald Fagen - very fresh sounding all these years later!
I've heard several tracks from Steely Dan, and I knew enough to recognize Donald Fagen's name as a part of the band. As I listened, I would have thought that this album was from Steely Dan, if I hadn't seen the name of the artist. "I.G.Y." sounded familiar to me, and is a track that I'd probably play again. I'm not sure if I'm familiar with "New Frontier" or if the track just sounds like Donald Fagen's work. I'm not a particular fan of Fagen, but I think I enjoyed this listen. Some albums BARELY squeak into the 3 category. I think this one squeaked into a 4.
I happen to love Steely Dan -- such incredible musicianship, craft, humor, and mind-blowing playing (man, the people they brought in...wow) -- so I also had a couple Donald Fagen albums in my collection at one time, including this one. I think it's great. I think he's a hell of a songwriter, love his dry humor, and even though I don't usually like too much organ playing in songs, it's fine here. Always loved the cover art on this one, too.
pretty sure persona 5 stole concepts from this album And mario sunshine??
From note one you know this dude was Steely Dan. Hell of a song writer. Hell of a musician.
Den poppede udgave af Steeæu Dan. Fedt solo album med lækker lækker lyd. Et genlyt værd
The fact that I have Steely Dan's Black Cow stuck in my head after listening to this says that this is not substantially different from a Steely Dan album. That's not a bad thing, as I love Steely Dan. It does make me wonder a bit what Walter Becker brought to the table. I liked this a lot, glad I listened to it. 4 stars.
I love this album, but it is definitely not something you have to hear before you die. Super smooth.
I confess to hating this album (or at least the singles from it that I heard) upon its release as it fit neither the classic rock mode I was growing out of (but still enjoying and respecting) and the new wave/alt direction I was heading into for college and beyond. Full appreciation for Steely Dan was still quite a few years off, though they were vaguely on the radar, from summer hits heard at the swimming pool. Their breaking up just as I was entering high school didn’t help, but obviously the music is more sophisticated than I could process at the time. I remember hearing about the high-tech recording approach and thinking “yeah, but the music is still lame and wimpy.” I would have guessed the release date of this was later. I can definitely remember hating the annoying, repetitive synths and his strainy-thin-voiced vocal, but now I get their mellowness and love the shapely, unhurried guitar solos over them (“New Frontier”) and the phrasing and dry-martini vocal tone seem one-of-a-kind. The overall mood of this record is just totally up my alley on a snowy Friday afternoon nearly 40 years on. Not only does it hold up well, it’s somehow got a lot better.
Don Fagan, of Steely Dan fame, cutting tracks on his own. The recording style is T I G H T. I.G.Y feels meticulously crafted, with not a beat out of place. This album is very best of this style of sound. There is something so perfect about it, it feels stripped of its spontaneity.
I love Steely Dan so why wouldn't I like this? A couple of big hits surrounded by effortlessly smooth and well produced tracks. All together great for relaxing and pondering intelligent lyrics. I was into the Jam and New order at the time but now I'm older this appeals to my older bones.......it's upbeat but sooooooothing.
This was surprisingly funky. Really thoughtful bass lines with tunes that go places you weren't expecting
Had no idea who this was until he started singing, then I realized he's one half of Steely Dan. A tight set of jazzy numbers, very lively. The almost bossa nova of "The Goodbye Look" is a little jarring. A little yuppie-ish, though I think I'll have the melody from "I.G.Y." stuck in my head for a while. Favorite tracks: "I.G.Y.", "New Frontier"
I read Jazz Pop and then Steely Dan on the Wikipedia page and immediately rolled my eyes thinking I was going to dislike the album. I however was amazed at how much I enjoyed it. Right off the bat "I.G.Y." hits you with this groovy bass driven, borderline funky jam. I can see why this song is so loved by audiophiles and used as a reference song by so many sound engineers. It has so much to digest and I imagine in many more listens I will only continue to appreciate it. The next three songs are nice easy listens and then "New Frontier" is another fun energy boost right in the middle. The titular track is probably my least favorite on the album, but it still isn't a bad track. The final two tracks are a nice calm, but happy way to end an album. This is the first album I have found on this list that I had no exposure to beforehand and I instantly want to get on vinyl. Right now this is a 4 for me but I need to give it a 5 upon a few more listens.
Actually loved this. Hidden gem from an era and genre of music I'm less familiar with