The Nightfly

"The Funky Metronome," everyone called him. Little did they realize he took it as a sign of encouragement.

I feel like I’m in a hotel bar in the 80’s or a wedding.

Yea yknow background music

Not offensive but it’s not for me.

Right... more Steely Dan. This was bland. Perfect background music for a restaurant or elevator or something. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great either. 2.5/5

Kinda meh...

Fun instrumentation choices but boring vocals and beat on track 1, while also having some crucial lyrics I really honed in on. Strange juxtapositions. Could do to be more up tempo. Quickly afterwards, track after travk, ot becomes less remarkable. Until New Frontier hits and my mind starts seeing the weird future vision being painted again. This one is a conundrum as an album, I want to like it more than I do but mostly just want it to be over too.

Why did every 60s/70s artist fall for the 80s trend of electronic overproduced music. Ugh. This is definitely not bad. Some of the songs are good even. Just filled with too much 80s cliches. It makes the record a bit boring.

This is some seriously dorky shit. This album answers the question "What if Billy Joel wasn't even edgy enough to call himself a downtown man?"

Just couldn't get into this one.

A bit too smooth,like the adult contempo radio station on Grand Theft Auto Vice City.

Boring.....

My Steely Dan education continues... Definitely falls into the 'troublesome 80s production' category - this is ridiculously smooth - though I can find value here. IGY overcomes the initial aversion to the sound, gently dragging me in by just being good for 6 minutes. The next two don't manage this. Green Flower Street, is it quite a song? What key is it in? I'm so confused. The Nightfly is also good, just can't shake the Smooooth, MOR 80s film soundtrack vibe for most of the album sadly.

Otro pasable. Música de fondo que se deja escuchar para mi gusto. Poco más. Y mira que es famoso.

Supremely mid

Mediocre at best. Bring back the Dan, man

Boring beautifully recorded elevator music. 1.5 🌟

just not my shit

Did not enjoy that much since its boring. It's well made but didn't stop me from snoozing.

Cool album cover, that’s where the coolness of this album ends.

Michael MacDonald Fagan?

eh

It was okay

Not for me.

Really nice mixing and instrumentals, but the vocals sound a bit dated.

Very chill, smooth jazz kind of record. Not my normal cuppa tea but I did appreciate this

no

Apparently this album is notable because audiophiles use it to test equipment. I'm glad to learn that it has a purpose, because I was struggling to come up with a reason that you would choose to listen to this. Unnecessarily weird. Best track: New Frontier

Ei kyl oikein lähde… kauttaaltaan jotenkin löysä olematta erityisen kiinnostava. 2/5

Tää oli lähinnä keskinkertainen/huono Steely Dan -levy. Eka biisi ainoa, joka jäi mieleen.

Just too clever clogs for me. I know it is not peak jazz-bo Steely Dan, but it is pretty clever clogs, and very smooth and polished and just not a thing for me. I don;t really get the obsession with Steely Dan, and understand the inclusion of this solo album on the 1001 list even less. This seems like completely inessential listening. More power to ya, if this floats your boat, but I don't know why _I_ have to listen to it.

I was initially excited for some jazzy pop, but unfortunately it’s not the good jazzy. It’s the bad 80s smooth jazzy. Pass

Saattais tällekin levylle olla joku paremmin toimiva hetki, mutta torstai toimistolla jätti kylmäksi. Ei silti mitään megapaskaa vaikka kultainen keskiluokka jää saavuttamatta.

Meni jotenkin huomaamatta ohi kuunnellessa. Ei häirinnyt, mut eipä paljoon kerrottavaakaan jäänyt

10th March 2022 Listened in the office before heading down to Peckham to watch the Batman with Gareth. Not for me, saw it described as yacht rock which is perfect. And everything that goes with it.

At first this is a somewhat fresh take for the 80s, still reveling in horribly-dated synths but keeping things scaled back production-wise as opposed to an all-out assault on the ears. Even this quirk isn’t enough to save the album from droll repetition, though, as crooning can only get you so far when all the backing tracks sound the same.

Great sound but music I don't appreciate

I'm not on enough coke for this.

I think it's neat. But also sort of dated. I think it's almost got these sweet drinking in a speak easy. But just sorta misses the mark.

2/5 not particularly interesting.

Donald Fagen is a white-bread name for a white-bread artist making an overproduced soft rock album that’s overall uninspired but decent.

Fine. Forgettable.

Steely Dan is a 5, so it makes sense that half of Steely Dan is a 2.5. Nothing at all memorable on this album. In fact, I was a little bored. I tried to give it a chance, but there is nothing on this album I'd ever care to hear again. Not offensive or bad, just forgetful. Donald definitely needed Walter Becker.

Meh

I really wanted to like this. I really did, but I didn’t. It just kept hitting like a guy trying really hard to copy too many one hit wonder R and B singers from the era. It came off as cheap and whiny and something my childhood dentist would have played in the waiting room. No bueno

I don't know what this album is. It is early 80s but not full blown 80s music. It has hints of disco and jazz. I did not care for it.

Quite dull.

well, i made it. 38:52 of the whitest music i ever thought i'd hear. so white it mocks you. it never deviates from the beat, it never swings, it's somehow always on the 1 and 3, even when it's on the 2 and 4 - i don't know how this music manages that, honestly. i get that it's technically fantastic, but where is its soul? i don't necessarily mean soul like soul music, just...like there's no THERE there, it's just diminished ninths and super clean cymbal hits. i imagine this album is a studio engineer's dream, but lordy, i wasn't sure i was gonna make it through this one. #neveragain #whitestkidsuknow #survivor

Not sure it's that different from many other albums / artists in this genre.

Just not my bad at all

Fagan promised me 90 minutes from New York to Paris, and I've never quite forgiven him. My main feeling is disappointment, since I've always heard such amazing things about Fagan's solo debut (something about it being an audiophile's wet dream), and I'm a Steely Dan Stan (I may give as many as 3 of their albums 5's when they show up here). A suitable comparison would involve the solo output from Paul McCartney and John Lennon. Some of it's good, but it sure as hell isn't the Beatles. There are echoes of the Dan here, but it veers more in the dreaded Yacht Rock direction Steely Dan avoided for the most part. This leans a little too much in the Christopher Cross direction for my taste. It turns out Donald Fagan needed Walter Becker, because this thing for the most part is a snooze.

Sounds like late 70s/early 80s porn music. Not up my strasse.

Slow and calm, but not in a good way. 1RS

It was smooth sailing.

This sounds like a collection of tunes that you'd find programmed into a Casio keyboard. Or like a sampler CD you'd get with a copy of windows 3.1.

Ok but songs are too long

Not really my thing. I liked "The Goodbye Look", but pretty bland imo otherwise

Lesser than steely dan

I just couldn’t get on board with this. As it started I thought, “oh this has a deliciously 80s synth sound to it” but as it moved along at a snails pace there was nothing more to whet the appetite. The chorus hooks, regularly displaying that dissonant held note that is so unpleasant to the ears. This album is just so 80s. And I mean that pejoratively.

Lite jazz dusted pop with none of the free flowing “where next?” of jazz, and none of the emotive oomph of pop. To be fair, two bits did jump out to me - the chorus of the title track (though I can’t now remember how it went), and the song about going between(?) the raindrops - that latter seemed like a pleasant memory, reconstituted into music. Anyway, what I’m saying is, it wasn’t for me.

Pretty bad ngl 2/5

boring, background tunes. don't like Toast to Freedom

Whilst I found these tracks groovy with a good amount of soul & funk, none of them left a noticeable impression on me. Perhaps I’m hard to please but I find so many albums I’ve rated like this one, to be the same level of non offensiveness background music. I went back a few times to listen again & make sure I’m not missing something...I wasn’t. I’m not excited by anything here and certainly nowhere near the point of ordering a copy online for myself. 2 Stars!

Where the fuck are they finding these albums? (I know it's from that book). Robert Plant's favourite from this is Ruby Baby. He likes fucking babies...even ruby ones.

I know absolutely nothing about Donald Fagen and knowing nothing about Donald Fagen, I am struggling to put this album into context. Is it meant to be taken seriously or was it meant as a tongue-in-cheek pastiche? I mean look at that album cover! Either way, it is pretty poor.

Really interesting to read about this album being one of the first digitally-recorded albums and also the legacy in terms of how it resonates with audiophiles and sound engineers. Not totally my vibe, but enjoyed it. 5/10 ⚽ Euro player: Xabi Alonso. Wouldn't top your list of best players of all time, but is highly technically proficient and admired by his peers.

2.2 - Cringey white soul of the late 70s/early 80s.

It's hard to believe that in a few short years I went from hunting down all Steeleye Dan albums to being unaware that Donald Fagen had put out a solo album. I guess my musical landscape had changed & artists like the Talking Heads & The B52s were occupying my time. This sounds like a more pop-oriented Steeleye Dan, as could be expected since the producer and many musicians are the same, save Walter Becker. The arrangements are similar but with less edge, and the lyrics don't seem as clever, though I didn't do a deep dive. It's like Steeleye Dan lite. The Ruby Baby cover is a low point, IMO.

3.5

The first song IGY is pleasant enough, Steely Dan lite. But I wasn't engaged for the rest of the album because all the songs sounded the same to me.

0:05 - Hmmm no esperaba ese sonido teclado ochentero por la portada 0:30 - Hmmm rock pop jazzeado... me recuerda a Steely Dan 2:12 - Que bien producido y nivelado está todo... todo se oye impecable... hmm si la voz suena hasta parecida supongo fue una manera muy de moda de cantar 5:10 - Pinche canción larga... bueno y a todo esto ¿qué hay de este disco? /Wikipedia... No... Noooo NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Un disco más de Steely Dan, ahora solo con medio Steely Dan. No hay diferencia alguna realmente, tiene los mismos pros que mencioné en Pretzel Logic; producción muy buena, excelente mezcla, una combinación de ritmos en manera que usualmente no se hace (aunque era mucho más novedosa en el otro disco, 8 años antes... quizá para estas fechas era ya mucho menos apantallante) y un resultado de música de studio con una calidad inmejorable y tremendamente aburridaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa... es ABURRIDISIMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. No creo que pueda decir mucho más que no hubiera mencionado ya en Steely Dan. Lo único que puedo agregar es que en esta ocasión las letras me parecen ligeramente mejores, en algunos casos llegan a ser bastante buenas en cuanto al humor medio negro y crítica que pueden hacer... lástima del pareo de flojera con esa música que llevan.

¿Sólo me pasó a mi o algunas canciones se escuchan más bajitas que otras? ¿Es culpa de Spotify? En fin, los 80s se notan a más no poder: "Tengo dinero y te lo puedo dar, Maxine", "Estudiar fuera, que gran momento de estar vivo", "Violencia por todos lados". Básicamente es como hoy, pero en ese momento se veía como un gran prospecto de mundo. La música es lo más rescatable, entre 80era y jazz muy suave. Creo que ahí radica el problema, no suena mal. Suena agradable, como música de fondo (Excepto la canción que le da nombre al disco, me pareció terrible). Son canciones para un señor americano de 40 años, 2 niños, vive en los suburbios, etc. 1.5 estrellas que voy a dejar en 2 porque realmente no lo odié, pero me parece completamente olvidable.

Not good

Honestly couldn't get through it all. Not something I HATE but absolutely not my jam.

Like Steely Dan without the interesting songwriting. Oh boy. There were some good moments, so it's not a 1, but I was not thrilled overall.

Olipas hajuton ja mauton levy. Easylistening-höttöä ilman mitään mieleen jäävää. Ruotsinlaivalla tämä menisi taustamusiikkina.

Sounded like elevator music for boomers.

Ganska trött avslagen jazz-pop från Steely Dan-snubben. Ungefär 1/5 så bra som omslaget.

I vote no more Steely Dan or Steely Dan-adjacent albums.

Really didn't like this.

Aburrido

Nope.

Horrible music.

Bland, twee and boring. Good musicianship but didn't like the content of the songs at all.

I counted up the number of Steely Dan albums that I'd need to ensure and was disappointed, then I discovered the hidden levels and was distraught. Don't bother with this triple, it's pointless, dated, and has no value in today's world.

Every early 80s post punk or UK pop record is met with a chorus of bleats from Americans on here about it hurting their ears or being obscure. But America, if this is the best of the dross you were serving up what do you expect?

Reminds me of the old guideline for crafting a public speech: Tell them what you’re going tell them; tell them; tell them what you told them. I’m going to hate listening to this; I hate listening to this; I hated listening to this.

I hate Steely Dan and I hate this too.

i’ll stick to steely dan thanks

Langweilig und eintönig

Absolutely awful, another dodgy 80s album

This is just dull. ‘Ruby Baby’ does even get close to being the best sing to repeat the name Ruby. This album is frankly tedious and dated.

Had no idea what this was, thought it was a cool album cover, and then IMMEDIATELY caught the stink of Steely Dan when the tunes started. Godammit!

The album cover promises a darker vibe that the music itself never attempts to deliver. It’s jazz pop songs that have a feel like cheap plastic. Out of a misplaced sense of duty to this project I listened to this album twice through.

Piss off w this 3rd rate jazz cocktail wankfest

I really fucking hated this. Like it felt like they went around and got the 12 most boring musicians and just let them be as mediocre as humanly possible with the record light on. IGY is an abomination of a song. Its either a cynical look back at the post-war optimism in America and how everything actually sucks, OR its a celebration of that post-war optimism. Either way, in 1982 the political landscape was absolutely fucking everything up and I was 6 years from even being alive. And now I have to hear this stupid shitty song anytime I'm waiting for the Walgreens associate to come unlock the deodorant. What a beautiful time to be free indeed. I might've been in the wrong mood for this.

Disliked this very intensely. Kept trying to find excuses to stop listening. 1.5

This was awful. Everything about exemplified everything I hate about music. So, it's yacht rock apparently. Apparently yacht rock is my least favourite genre. Really, it was awful from start to finish. I rag on bands like Dire Straits being bands that made music bad, but it has to go to this guy. 0 stars!

The only thing worse than steely Dan is half of steely Dan! (Or half of Burroughs’s steely Dan strap on dildo!) Like there's nothing technically wrong with it— “impeccably crafted,” per Apple Music— yet it still sucks! It’s griege music for gray-and-beige people. like it's made to be as inoffensive as possible, which always offends me. The combination of elevator jazz and R&B was the worst of 80’s pop.

I did not enjoy this. I dislike Steely Dan, so, of course, I wouldn’t enjoy this. This is definitely not my style of music.

Album 45/1001. Listened 6/29/2026. Definitely not a favorite; came across very dated, even for prog-rock. Won't spin again.

Not for me, dreary and downbeat

Just no.

Steely Dan light. I wanted it over by song 3.

Never coming back to this.

Oh God, this is not for me. It is smooth Jazz. I feel like it's getting a free pass because it's Steely Dan related. Technically very well recorded. But why was it recorded? This is not an album I needed to listen to.

Good God I hate this. It's like the musical equivalent of chemical castration. Couldn't finish this one fast enough.

Awful. I can’t imagine being proud of something this boring.

I do really enjoy 80s music. For the most part. But if you took all of the stuff I hate about 80s music, with none of the good stuff, the result would be this train wreck of an album.

1980s take on twee easy listening swing-pop.

Not for me. 1/5

Boring, boring dad rock

I had to call out the lyrics in the first track because they really didn't age well at all: "A just machine to make big decisions" "Programmed by fellows with compassion and vision" The rest of the lyrics sounded like they were written by a cringey 18 year old boy. I've since discovered Fagen was also in Steely Dan. No wonder I hated it. Fucking dreck.

This is probably what's playing on the elevator on the way down to hell. It makes me think of a department store full of recirculated perfume-scented air and fluorescent lighting. Ugh, it's boring, cheesy dreck in audio format. At first I was thinking this is an easy 2 star album because, ok, theres a couple nice guitar pieces and some instrumentation but I don't like it. By the time I got through "The Nightfly" and "The Goodbye Look" I knew I hated this. It's just so offensively nothing and stupid I think I have to take it down to a 1. I don't want any part of this. I was never here. I'll deny everything.

Ok, so you know when a bad song comes on Beavis & Butthead and Beavis does a spit take before they start roasting the artist - you know that face? Ya - that was the image that kept coming across my mind the more I got into this. And it surprised me how much worse this got the more you made your way into it. It’s not just yacht rock - it’s bad yacht rock. 1/5

The only interesting thing I could find in this is the fact his name rhymes with Ronald Reagan.

Genre-defining easy listening? A dull listen interspersed by the occasional “what is this?” Only the shortness of the album saved it.

What in the Kentucky fried fuck is this garbage? Album I need to listen to before I die my ass

80's, jazzy, funky. not my thing - too light

What a horrible record this is. Yacht Rock - as its called these days - in the most inane vapid way.I imagine this is played post lobotomy so as not to excite anyone.

Disgustingly slick. This is why perfectionism is bad kids.

Hogwash.

Anger inducing.

Langweilig!

Ugh, I kept expecting him to breaking into Quando, Quando, Quando and to tell me not to go changing. This is lounge music/soft rock in a form that I found uninteresting and tedious

No notes

Sorry, simply couldn’t tolerate this one, the entire thing grated on me. I can hear the Steely Dan influence but there was nothing catchy about any of the songs on this album. (1)

Extremely not my cup of tea. I know that now. Genuinely irritated. Concerned for my algorithm.

This album takes everything I could possibly hate about music and distils it down into a concentrated and vile concoction of smooth jazz/ pop cheese. I found each track painful to listen to, and I will never revisit. One star.

1 Star (2/15)

Favorite songs: None

This is so bad. Seriously, so very bad. It's one redeeming feature was that I found myself laughing at how bad it was through most of the second half. Surely someone has been paid a large sum to put this on the list and get it played by unsuspecting fools like me. There is so much good 80s crap that could have been here that would have been much more fun. So bad. Oh, and can someone put in a welfare check on Ruby, I'm worried for her safety.

Glänzend produzierte Langeweile.

Patrick Bateman would have this on repeat

Unbearable

Too high of a voice for my liking

55

Tämä oli aivan liian hissuttelua ja jatsahtavaa AOR:ää 80-luvulta. Ei jäänyt mitään mieleen.

I'd rather eat styrofoam peanuts than listen to this. There should be a zero star option.

From the first notes of this album it was easy to recognize that this guy is part of Steely Dan. This is harmless pop music, that don't raise too much feelings to any direction. I'm tempted to give this album 2 stars instead of one, because at times the overproduction and slickness of It feels like it’s from a comedy show and it makes me laugh

This sounds like a poor man's version of a 80's Sting. So, not good.

Easy listening elevator music. The fact that it is one of the first fully digitally recorded things doesn't mean much to me. Exceptional studio musicians can make beautiful sounding exceptionally mediocre music.

I'm all for trying something different, but this was really boring for me.

Not my thing

I wanted to like this. It starts strong with “I.G.Y.” An interesting story concept and a great song, if it all caught me like that track it would be a 3-4. But, I didn’t like any other song.

Who is this even for it sucks

Dull

Just when I thought the torture of Steely Dan albums was over…I get served a freaking solo album. This is worse than the band albums. Wuss rock at it’s finest.

Yacht rock (or jazz) at its finest : annoyingly clean, bland, derivative, and as exciting as gossiping about the neighbor’s latest affair while sipping on a watered-down Margarita. This is music for people who have no musical preferences, and will just listen to anything that’s playing in the background – as long as it’s polite and inoffensive enough to be immediately forgotten. I was sooo not surprised to see that Donald Fagen is one of the guys from Steely Dan... Because of course he is. These guys apparently come from an alternate reality where the quality of music is judged by its ability to lull people to sleep. And Donald is the best there is : with the musical personality of a paperclip, he can take any instrument, any musical style, and turn them into something so boring and emotionless that you’ll think Brian Eno’s "Music For Airports" is a punk album. I’m sorry, I just can’t. Soft rock needs to stay buried. 0/10

Not my jazz

It’s a pretty generic 80s jazz-pop album. Some solos, some little tunes, nothing Jonasz would be jealous of. The jazzy stuff might be fine, but the rest is just okay. The sound is too slick overproduced, no warmth, no bass rumble, no real drum depth.

Genuinely horrific. I was concerned when it showed that some of the tracks appeared on the playlist ‘yacht rock essentials’ but what followed exceeded this concern. It was like the Pina Colada song stretched out for an album. When it said 1001 albums to listen to before you die, I don’t think the intention was for the list to push you towards your demise but the inclusion of this album is making me question that. At least it was mercifully short.

Steely Dan by any other name is still Steely Dan.

1/1

I enjoy some vanilla but this is aggressive

I feel like im meant to like it but I really didnt.

What a vanilla jazzy pop album - yuck! Or perhaps it’s because it came right after black sabbath? Lol

Eu acho incrível como essas coisas "easy listening" e "soft rock" me ofendem profundamente. Acho que nada é mais doloroso do que algo seguro demais e por isso eu não tenha gostado desse disco nem tudo aquilo que já ouvi de Steely Dan. É tão preocupado em ser agradável que parece que não tem corpo.

So dated and ridiculous. 1980s fluff.

I was not expecting there to be something as bad as Steely Dan on this list, but this succeeded in being much worse.

There is never any excuse for dinner jazz. Never. The musical equivalent of beige. Pale beige, I mean. Not any of that vivid mid-beige stuff. Instantly forgettable. So desperately inoffensive that it offended me. Like Richard Cheese lost his sense of humour.

Bland lyrics, bland music, bland voice. No redeeming features.

This album makes me feel physically ill and angry at the same time. It’s the musical equivalent of taking a fish to a cheese grater. There’s something inherently wrong here. I can’t put my finger on it exactly but this extra soft poop that passes for music is one of the least favorite things I’ve heard so far on this list. Music is about life, soul, passion, heartache, defeat, victory, bliss, blues, depression. This isn’t any of that. It’s music for cat videos and old folks homes. It’s like the most blandest vanilla ice cream you’ve ever tasted, and it’s so bland that it’s offensive on how inoffensive it was trying to be.

Too smooth. Not for me

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." - Wiki Masterpiece? Robert J. Toth has a favourite colour and it is beige. There is nothing technically wrong here but this is soulless music and will be the first 1 I hand out. 1/5.

80s jazz-pop hell. Apparently the first album to be recorded entirely digitally. Sounds completely sterile.

Not for me 1/5

Soft music makes soft people

Boring. Maybe the initial synth and computer generated sounding stuff was original at the time but this ain’t it for me.

Bad

If music was a colour, this would be beige....but a particularly dull version of beige. I'm sure it has an audience, but it certainly isn't me!

I think I like most genres of music but I really struggle with country and this kind of 80s rock(?) I'm hoping to find some stuff that might change my mind from this list BUT this album really doesn't help. There were some moments that I thought sounded good but they were very short lived. About 30 albums in and this is my first 1. 2/10

This album is so dull, it makes Microsoft Excel look exciting.

I.G.Y is the most 80s song imaginable...and I'm realizing that the crappy 80s pop song is basically all Steely Dan's fault. This is like if Huey Lewis and News lost their edge, which is really saying something. The synth on this is overwhelming...this is like if 80s Stevie Wonder was a middle aged white man. Rock critics, even when it's just one guy, they can't keep their boner down for Steely Dan. This is just a Steely Dan album without Walter Becker, sounds the same, same vibe. It was the 80s because the music has a Michael Jackson feel as well. This is awful, this album makes Steely Dan look like the Rolling Stones. Thankfully this album is less than 40 minutes long. Maxine is one of the worst songs I've ever heard. If someone told me this was a joke album I would believe it. This is like Randy Newman with synthesizers. The Goodbye Look sounds like the marimba setting on a keyboard. Seriously, Walk Between Raindrops has a preset melody from a keyboard too. I bet Donald Fagen programmed all of them. This is aggressively white music.

Smooth jazz. So smooth that it falls right out after you hear it, and you can't remember a note.

This was ghastly.

Booooooring

One of the iconic album covers that was in every record shop in the 80s. Meh ... Dreary rubbish

Wow. Generic sexy-time music. Boring!

als cover en songs mijlenver uit elkaar liggen... gepolijst tot er echt geen enkele braam meer aanhangt... soort mannelijke celine dion terwijl de cover iets meer tom waits (koning van bramen, blutsen en builen) suggereerde

Started off as inoffensive easy listening, but the further into the album it just became awkward. Lyrics crowbarred in a jazzy style over the cheapest bontempi organ in town.

I shall paint a vignette of a scene in the making of the album. 'There they all are, Donald's curated set of professional musicans in the studio, sitting in a circle, smiling at each other in that knowing way, encouraging each other, and all deep in that vibe only musicians can get into, feeling that they are lovingly crafting a masterpiece for the ages. In the other room, behind the glass is sitting the sound engineers, he's not feeling it at all. He is questioning why he signed up for this gig. Aghast at what he his seeing and hearing, he had forgot to press record on the new fangled digital recording device, he gets up and walks out muttering someing like ' fucking pretentious musos'. When Donald and his merry crew go to check out the fruits of their labours, they are shocked to discover the empty room and nothing recorded. Unfortunately, they were never able to recreate that wanky vibe in all its hideous technicolour. Such a shame.

It's like someone bought 8 keyboards and pressed the demo button on each and was like, hey here's an idea!

Nightfly Shitefly. Dreadful. music for people who've given up on listening to anything challenging or interesting or fun. The antithesis of music that I like, but at least it contributed to the catalysis of music that I do like.

This style of music fascinates me in a way that ancient Egypt fascinated people before the Rosetta stone. Absolutely nothing about this music speaks to me. It's almost in a foreign language, yet it was somehow popular, even played on the radio?! And still is to a section of the population. Pop culture really hit a weird twist with yacht rock. And this album is the yachtiest of yacht rock. I feel like this is music for people who thought Billy Joel was too "ethnic". I will never understand this and I will judge people who do. Completely fascinating though.

Nope. The dentist ruined this one for sure. In the early 80's, Donald Fagan got played in all the dentist offices and his voice conjures memories... I'm probably 9 and anxiously sitting in the Dr. Spencer's waiting room to for my name to be called so I could get my teeth drilled. No thank you.

Somehow even more nothing-like (or: less something-like) than Steely Dan. Glad I generously gave that one 2—now this one fits on the Dan curve.

So bad

It was okay. Perfect for the time it was made, but not something I’d choose to listen to now

So vapid. Admittedly, there are some hits on this album; I just don't need to hear them ever again.

Kurwa jaki nudny album. Had to start learning polish to entertain myself somehow

This sound wore out very quickly for me. Boring lounge music with no soul..

disliked songs: Ruby Baby, New Frontier Holy drum machine, Batman. Displeasing vocals. How can an album with so many interesting chords be so boring? 1.25

I've really enjoyed reviewing three Steely Dan albums so far, so I've really been looking forward to this album. I have pretty high hopes for this album, and I'm excited to fire it up! Well, those high hopes were dashed. I thought this album was a complete snooze. I was so bored by it, I had to go back and listen to Pretzel Logic to make sure I wasn't an idiot for enjoying Steely Dan (Pretzel Logic still kicks ass, whew). This album is just absolutely bland from start to finish. I think I could listen to it a dozen times in a row and not be able to recognize a single song a week later. I appreciate the 'Nightfly' theme, but everything here has been smoothed out so much that it lacks any texture and depth. The arrangements weren't particularly interesting, and only the opening and title tracks really came close to being anything of substance. I'll take some Steely Dan any day, but this album was a dud.

Wishy washy pap

could i write poetry to this? N

I hate this shit so much!

I'm struck by how many superficial similarities this has with Herbie Hancock's Head Hunters - jazz/funk fusion, exploration of electric keys with horns and guitar. Superficial similarities; because if listening to Head Hunters is like the best sex you ever had, listening to this is like sitting through a junior college lecture about intercourse. Head Hunters is heart, soul and libido, this comes across as applied theory and and fear of misstep. Donald Fagan definitely belongs in any conversation of artists who made a living draining a musical style of everything that makes it great: Lawrence Welk, Pat Boone, Kenny G. So polished; so awful.

In a nutshell: jazz rock. How groundbreaking 🙄 Fagen's solo album sounds like any other Steely Dan album (ie well produced and backed by a tight band)...which is exactly its problem. The level of self indulgence and mediocrity was sickening here. And that's just me. Overall: 2/19

This is exactly the kind boring music my dad would try to convince me is actually really good and interesting. I am genuinely surprised this album isn't in his LP collection.

Baffling choice.

Cool. Something I hate more than Steely Dan.

There's a reason you see so many copies of this album for cheap at Goodwills, flea markets and less discerning used record stores - it's complete garbage.

I’d usually put my 3 highlight songs on the album, but in this case every song is so painfully boring, and they all blend into each other (and not in the cool Queen II/Dark Side Of The Moon way.) Bad music doesn’t sound awful, it sounds boring. This sounds like it was made to make everyone happy and therefore doesn’t match the taste of everyone quite right, so in actual fact, no one is quite satisfied.

I really hated this. Didn’t even make it through a full song. “Let’s make jazz, but instead of instruments, let’s synthesize them” 1 star

Ugh

Korruptoi ihmisiä ajattelemaan, että jazzille ominainen letkeys kuuluu normaaliin musiikkiin. Ensimmäisessä biisissä on jotain toimivaa.

This is bad even for the supermarket playlist

Yawn. Dry & tight.

Oof

Hmmmm, jazz? Never heard of this guy let's see what the Wiki says before I even start listening. Singer-songwritter...Don't have much hope for this one. Luckily it's only 38 min. Yeah this album sucks lol I rarely give 1 star but this one is getting it. :/ I need some Ministry to cleanse my ears after that! lol

This is some wacky sounding white-boy jazz

Still so funny to me that hip millennials have convinced themselves that Steely Dan is good.

Nice try, this is still some bullshit Steely Dan, you ain't fooling nobody, fuck this guy!

someone else on here described this as yacht rock. I can't bettter that description.

If you weren't really into music in the 80's, this is the story of thing you would listen to. And I hope that sentence is taken as the insult it's meant to be.

Steely Dan vibes, but not good

Ick yacht rock

1/5. And I thought AC/DC deserved the award for having every song sound exactly the same. Donald FAGen I think has them beat!!

The production is great and the quality of the recording is superb.... But, it's just so bland..... If this record had colour, it would be grey.

How did this make the list?

Relentlessly boring. I just don't understand how anyone willingly listens to this music.

Dull as dishwater. Doesn't deserve to be played in even the shittest hotels. Fave track: I.G.Y.

family-friendly sitcom soundtrack that is so dated, it is actually just annoying to listen to maxene had some interesting jazzy modulations on the vocals but then came back to shlockcom. Significant 30/90 Liked 14/90 Added 4/90 NNN

Notable Songs: IGY

1 star. Unlistenable.

気持ち悪い。聴いていて悪寒が走る

I hated the Steely Dan album we had to listen to, and this is only slightly more endurable.

Now, this is the 80s music that I don’t like. 2/10

And I need to listen to this why exactly?

Wow, not at all my style of music! I am stunned that this horrible album is on ANY list. How did this album warrant a spot?!?

I.G.Y isn’t good enough to rescue this album for me. Hard pass on this one.

1,5/5 Es könnte ja fun sein wenn sie sich nicht so ernst nehmen würden. Was bleibt ist entkernter Jazzypop

Jumalauta nordnet pitää rahoja saatana ei tilille tule.. 2 päivää vähintään.. pankkipäiviä odottaa rahoja.. 3. Moos. 19:13.. neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning. Aamulla pitäis rahat olla.. ei ole.. Musiikista.. ensimmäinen biisi sen verran pop paskaa ei armoa..

The epitome of everything that was wrong with the 80s. About as much substance as a balloon.

Probably deserves 2 stars because it's inoffensive and I didn't HATE it... but I did feel lied to by the album cover, so I'm docking it a point for that. Also, the heart sinking feeling when I opened it up on Spotify and saw that the similar playlists were "Yacht Rock" and "Soft Rock"

Oef, zoet

Lekker met lage cijfers aan het strooien vandaag; dit is er ook weer zo een die ik totaal niet ken en helemaal niks aan mis.

boring jazz

Steely Dan light. I was never a big Steely Dan fan, although I liked some of their stuff. This album does nothing for me apart from make me drowsy.

Nice try assholes

Holy hell this shit sucks.

Huey Lewis called - you have his schtick

Not a fan of this. It almost felt like it was some sort of spoof album of an entire genre.

It's really boring. I don't understand why it's here. I guess it earned some accolades when it was new but it's quite forgettable now. I don't know if it's really 1 star bad but it isn't very long and I still was in the "why isn't this over yet?" Mode. So a 1 it is. Seriously this is only for Steely Dan fan boys or people who don't their rock to actually rock.

Generic 80’s crap. Not sure how so many of these got on the list.

Æsj.

Sounds like a poundshop Sting making pretentious yacht rock for a bunch of 80s insurance salesmen. Absolute wank.

1.5

Just because you can record an album doesn't mean you should. This was easy listening hell. Hated it.

Cheesy, dated and a drag overall

80s pop music at it's worst

Not really my genre.

3 songs. I made it 3 songs. It was like having nails driven into my skull. What sadistic monster put this album on the list?

Combining my least favorite things in music: Steely Dan and smooth Jazz. I know my biases are personal, so I'll rate this as to its being on this list which is 3/5. Yeah, never mind. I tried to be fair. This is just shit. Music isn't supposed to make you hostile. 1.5/5.

Synthetic sounds, plastic production, and wooden writing. Nobody needs this album. There's nothing remarkable to experience here.

No idea why it's an album to listen to before you die

Devoid of anything if interest. Ruby baby was sheer agony. At some point there was a cow bell keeping beat. 38 minutes was too much. I never ever want to experience this again.

it sucks

PUuukyyy schmaltz for middle aged white people. Seriously what the hell!?

Muzak indeed. Waste of time.

What the actual? Cruise ship band

Competent at what it does, only what it does is tacky synth-pop-‘jazz’. I’ve never heard the name Donald Fagen before, but I’ve heard many of these songs before, on the intercom at CVS. HARD pass.

Issa pooper.

Couldn’t finish it. Absolute tripe.

What a load of nosh. My doll hand has more power in it than this

Easy listening but not particularly my thing

I had never heard of this album, which was weird given its release date and popularity. I like Steely Dan, and the album cover was even cool, so I was interested to listen. Unfortunately it really just sounded like generic "classic rock bandleader goes solo" in the vein of Michael McDonald. It was really forgettable and had no standout tracks.

No mamen esto es peor que la música de Loca Academia de Policía. Qué clase de basura reaccionaria es esta. Me reí mucho escuchando esto, los arreglos son ridículos, suena de la shit. Lo vi mentado tantas veces en muchos lados, y por la portada pensaba que era new wave o algo así. Pero no. Otra selección que no entiendo porque está aquí. Bueno sí lo entiendo, por el culto a esa infame banda, Steely Dan. Ojalá no salga Steely Dan pronto. Lo pondría cero estrellas pero no se puede.

This has no right to be here. Andy Sinton

Next.

Halvslapp pop-jazz fra 80-tallet?

Couldn't even get through 1 song

Barf

Nah

Tan ochentero, tan pianito electrico Casio y voces en coro y guitarra limpia. De plano no me causó emoción alguna. Por la sugerencia de Víctor leí un poco de la historia y ok, de lo primerito en el mundo grabado de manera totalmente digital y no niego que le da una calidad muy muy grande a nivel producción: se puede oír cada aburrido isntrumento y cada detalle. La portada me hacía esperar un tanto cuanto más, pero luego leí el origen del serñor Fagen y pues ya sabía a dónde iba esto.

I don’t have a car

Very nice