Steely Dan - Gaucho

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Gaucho — Steely Dan's Grammy-winning seventh studio album now on UHQR!

Definitive reissue Ultra High Quality Record, the pinnacle of high-quality vinyl!

45 RPM LP release limited to 20,000 numbered copies

Mastered by Bernie Grundman from a 1980 analog tape copy originally EQ'd by Bob Ludwig

Pressed at Quality Record Pressings using 200-gram Clarity Vinyl®

Purest possible pressing and most visually stunning presentation and packaging!

Tip-on old style gatefold double pocket jackets with film lamination by Stoughton Printing

"...there are things I heard on the original that were always there but I didn't fully pick up on them until I heard the UHQR ... like some very subtle cymbal taps between the 2 minute 9 second and 2 minute 15 second mark in 'Babylon Sisters' - you see it's just these type of details that come out at you in this UHQR that seem a bit more recessed in the original. ... Sonics in the base and the mid and the trebles were all 10s and the imaging and openness and airiness is a 10-plus ... at the end of the day we end up with this 9.9 rating for the new UHQR out of 10 so what else can you say, it doesn't get much better than that." — David Bianco, Safe & Sound Texas Audio Excursion, YouTube video.

In their review of Gaucho, Rolling Stone proclaims, "Steely Dan have perfected the aesthetic of the tease. Their sound is as slippery as their (lyrical) irony."

Gaucho — the iconic seventh studio album by Steely Dan, released in November 1980 — and Grammy-winner for Best Engineered Non-Classical Recording, was also Grammy-nominated for Album of the Year and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. The album represents the band's musical evolution towards a more polished and sleek sound, featuring a collection of meticulously crafted songs that blend jazz, rock, and pop music, while exploring themes of decadence, longing, and disillusionment.

Gaucho opens with the title track, a jazzy instrumental piece that sets the tone for the rest of the album. The standout tracks on the album include "Hey Nineteen," a catchy and upbeat tune that features a memorable saxophone riff and lyrics about an older man's attraction to a young woman, and "Babylon Sisters," a funky and groovy track that showcases the band's impeccable sense of rhythm and melody.

The sessions for Gaucho represented the band's typical penchant for studio perfectionism and obsessive recording technique. To record the album, the band used at least 42 different musicians, spent more than a year in the studio, and far exceeded the original monetary advance given by the record label. Still, the album features multiple layers of instrumentation, carefully crafted arrangements, and the use of top-notch session musicians to create a lush and sophisticated sound that is uniquely Steely Dan.

Despite its critical and commercial success, Gaucho was a challenging album to make. During the two-year span in which the album was recorded, the band was plagued by a number of creative, personal and professional problems. MCA, Warner Bros. and Steely Dan had a three-way legal battle over the rights to release the album. After it was released, jazz musician Keith Jarrett was given a co-writing credit on the title track after threatening legal action over plagiarism of Jarrett's song "'Long As You Know You're Living Yours."

Gaucho marked a significant stylistic change for the band, introducing a more minimal, groove- and atmosphere-based format. The harmonically complex chord changes that were a distinctive mark of earlier Steely Dan songs are less prominent on Gaucho, with the record's songs tending to revolve around a single rhythm or mood, although complex chord progressions were still present particularly in "Babylon Sisters" and "Glamour Profession." Gaucho proved to be Steely Dan's final studio album that Donald Fagen and Walter Becker would make together until the year 2000. 

Gaucho reached No. 9 on the U.S. album chart and was certified platinum-selling. "Hey Nineteen" reached No. 10 on the U.S. Singles Chart and went to No. 1 in Canada. Pitchfork, in its review, describes the almost "pathologically overdetermined production" as elegant, arid and a little forbidding. "Every last tinkling chime sounds like it took 12 days to mix, because chances are, it did." The New York Times deemed Gaucho the best album of 1980, beating out Talking Heads' Remain in Light and Joy Division's Closer.

Founded by core members Walter Becker (bass) and Donald Fagen (vocals, keyboards), Steely Dan's popularity rose throughout the late 1970s on, and their seven albums throughout that period of time blended elements of jazz, rock, funk, R&B, and pop. Steely Dan created a sophisticated, distinctive sound with accessible melodic hooks, complex harmonies and time signatures, and a devotion to the recording studio. Becker and Fagen, with producer Gary Katz, gradually changed Steely Dan from a performing band to a studio project, hiring session musicians to record their compositions. The duo didn't perform live between 1974 and 1993. But their popularity nevertheless grew throughout the '70s as their albums became critical favorites and their singles became staples of Adult Oriented Radio and pop radio stations.

After a brief battle with esophageal cancer, Walter Becker died on September 3, 2017 at the age of 67. Steely Dan has sold more than 40 million albums worldwide and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in March 2001. VH1 ranked Steely Dan at No. 82 on their list of the 100 Greatest Musical Artists of All Time. Rolling Stone ranked them No. 15 on its list of the 20 Greatest Duos of All Time.

This stereo UHQR reissue will be limited to 20,000 copies, with gold foil individually numbered jackets, housed in a premium slipcase with a wooden dowel spine.

Gaucho remains a testament to Steely Dan's enduring musical legacy and their ability to create timeless music that transcends genre and style.

 

Side A Babylon Sisters

Hey Nineteen

Side B Glamour Profession

Side C Gaucho

Time Out Of Mind

Side D My Rival

Third World Man

Customer Reviews (5.00 Stars) 5 person(s) rated this product.

Superb sonics - posted on 04/15/2024 5 Stars Reviewer: Audiotom Chad and Bernie have brought new life to Gaucho The title track, Babylon Sisters etc shine like never before. My Rival is perfect demo quality stuff. I finally GET that song. Thank you

BEAUTIFUL! posted on 04/15/2024 5 Stars Reviewer: Capt. Howell The best pressing of this album BY FAR!

The PERFECT Gaucho posted on 04/14/2024 5 Stars Reviewer: Nick I have listened to so many versions of this album trying to find the best one. I have the 1980 RL, 2008 Back to Black, MFSL CD, 2023 Geffen, and the 2023 Hi-Res. This new UHQR beats them all. I'm hearing details and dynamics I've never heard before. I keep playing this over and over and it sounds like I'm hearing the album for the first time all over again.

Worth the wait posted on 04/13/2024 5 Stars Reviewer: Joel What a beautiful record. I purchased the original Gaucho the day it was released in 1980 and it was a fantastic sounding record. Steely Dan was so specifically unique that no band of that era was close to their sound. This new disc enhances the elements of their sound that is so unique; skilled musicians, beautiful backgrounds, unusual time elements, and an atmosphere that is theirs alone. It was worth the 44 year wait to hear all the elements of Steel Dan enhanced to a new level of listening pleasure on this UHQR 45. Thank you.

A Must Have! posted on 04/13/2024 5 Stars Reviewer: Mike If you have all the others of Steely Dan UHQR collection Then why stop! Another excellent Pressing! Sounds great through my Focal Kanta 2

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