Search - Becker & Fagen :: Android Warehouse

Finding "Sun Mountain"

allemande | Columbia, MO USA | 07/24/2003

(3 out of 5 stars)

"'Android Warehouse' collects most of the extant demo or pre-Steely Dan recordings made by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, along with other musicians on some of the tracks. These recordings have proven essential for fans of Walter and Donald.
I said in the previous paragraph that "most" of the early recordings are here. There is a version of "Sun Mountain" in this collection, but two versions actually exist. The one represented here is skeletal, with Donald Fagen straining at the difficult vocal part and accompanying himself at the piano. The second, more finished version (not included) utilizes a quartet: Becker and Fagen play bass and piano, respectively, a drummer completes the rhythm section, and there is a vocalist who can handle the nearly two-octave melodic range of the song.
You must hear the alternate version of "Sun Mountain" to appreciate this lovely song. It is available on a collection called 'Catalyst: The Original Recordings (1968-71)'. 'Catalyst' costs more than 'Android Warehouse' and contains all the same music, but adds the second recording of "Sun Mountain".
A fanatic will probably need to have the 'Catalyst' release."

This is the only recordings I have of Steely Dan!

Casey L. Van Tieghem | San Diego | 03/25/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I pretty much kept a distance from Steely Dan in thier heyday, I thought they were too commercial, but they did have some good songwriting, and an occasional guitar solo that rips. I saw these tapes in the store that are essentially the same recordings. The tapes were very cheap, and it was obvious that someone got a hold of pre-Steely Dan demos and released them probably without permission from Becker and Fagen. I wasn't expecting much, but I was interested in hearing how they developed thier song writing. I was pleasantly surprised to hear songs that sounded familiar although I probably never heard most of the music. The familiarity was just because the song writing quality was excellent. Lyrically each song tells an interesting story, mostly about underground lifestyles. My favorites were 'Brooklyn' and 'Roaring of the Lamb'. I listened to those tapes over and over, and I don't have a single Steely dan record in my collection.

I think the arrangement of Brooklyn is better on these tapes than on the album, I think it's a different singer, and the album version has almost an Eagles like sound. I think I like the raw side of the recordings, and SD tends to be too polished on record, probably an under-statement. So if you think Steely Dan is too polished, this is for you. You won't find the great studio musicians here, it's mostly just piano and vocals with maybe a litle bass and drums. The emphasis is on the songwriting. I think if I were to play cover tunes I would want to play Brooklyn and do a version that's even more laid back and jazzier like (Herbie Hancock maiden voyage?) than this version. I also like the lyrics to 'Roaring of the Lamb' it seems to have a more positive message perhaps?

I probably will never buy Steely Dan CD's too worldly and too polished but these recordings seem to be essential to my collection, so I looked this up."