GREATEST HITS

This collection was my induction to the wonderful world of STEELY DAN, so it has a personal value for me. I bought it in the format of double cassette tape, which was issued locally by Beograd Disk label in Yugoslavia in early 1980s through license catalog of ABC Records. The songs that caught my attention immediately were "Do It Again", "Reeling in the Years", "Show Biz Kids" (although I was too young to appreciate it back then), "Doctor Wu", "Haitian Divorce" (amazing wah-wah guitar solo), "The Fez" and "Peg". It is quite representative compilation of first six albums, up to and including "Aja", although many excellent songs were omitted. This is focused more on the shorter, radio-friendly side of the SD so the title "Greatest Hits" seems appropriate in this case. Today the first-time listeners have more and better choice in selecting a proper compilation CD to get a feeling of the SD music, but this old collection was also important for me because it forced me to buy studio albums later on. I will give 4 stars for historical importance of this first official compilation!

PERSONAL RATING: 4/5

P.A. RATING: 4/5

At the time of this release, being a double album it was a great avenue of getting all the hits from the SD catalogue. Good for BBQ groovin, beer swirlin Saturday afternoon fall down sessions! This was a common spin on the turntables in the early 80's. Aside from that there is not much else to add other than one gem Here At The Western World, previously unreleased on studio releases. This compilation includes songs up to Aja. A very complete double album excepting if they had waited one year they could have added Gaucho tracks as well before their long hibernation from further studio work for a long long time.

This CD makes a good introduction to the versitile music of Becker/Fagan/Steely Dan. I remember I bought this back in the day, before I was a fan of the band. It is a combination of their earlier work such as "Do it Again" up to later songs like "Peg" and "Josie". Like all greatest hit compliation albums, much is missing from the career of Steely Dan. I would have liked to see "The Royal Scam" for example. This album seems to be concentrating on the radio/hit friendly side of Steely Dan, which is certainly fine, but we all know they were capable of putting out some great jazz/prog numbers. Use this for Steely Dan newbies, and then dive in to their work with albums such as AJA, THE ROYAL SCAM, and CAN'T BUY A THRILL. You will not be dissapointed. (And check out Donald Fagan's solo work, by the way). 3 stars