Steely Dan - Aja | 
 enlarge | Actor: Steely Dan
Studio: Eagle Rock Ent
Category: DVD
List Price: $11.98
Buy New: $6.54
You Save: $5.44 (45%)
New (34) Used (7) from $6.54
Rating:  58 reviews
Sales Rank: 14034
Format: Color, Dolby, Dvd-video, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 60 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: EV30168-9
UPC: 801213016891
EAN: 0801213016891
ASIN: B000I5XD06
Theatrical Release Date: March 28, 2000
Release Date: October 3, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Pioneering pop/jazz band Steely Dan formed by Donald Fagen and Walter Becker in the early 70 s had already secured five U.S Top 40 albums before the release of Aja in 1977. Aja however was to prove to be the biggest selling album of Steely Dan s illustrious career reaching Number 3 in the U.S. Billboard chart spending a year in the Top 40 there and also reaching number 5 in the U.K.Aja was the first British Top 10 hit for Steely Dan and was also the first album by Becker and Fagen as a duo. Becker and Fagen renowned for their relentless perfectionism in the recording studio recall the history of an album that was a year in the making but rewarded by a prestigious Grammy Award and three major hit singles Peg Deacon Blues and Josie. Michael McDonald later of the Doobie Brothers who did guest backing vocals on Aja the late British musician Ian Dury record producer Gary Katz and the legendary session musicians who worked on Aja also contribute to this fascinating documentary.Steely Dan s Aja has proved to be one of the most outstanding jazz-rock albums in the history of popular music. This is a vivid portrait of a 70 s record that is still as fresh and as memorable more than two decades after its release a true Classic Album.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: MUSIC DVD/CONCERTS Rating: NR UPC: 801213016891 Manufacturer No: EV30168-9
Amazon.com
This profile of Steely Dan's elegant 1977 masterpiece, Aja, is a feast for Dan fans, a thoughtful, satisfyingly detailed assessment of the album and its bejeweled fusion of jazz, R&B, rock, and pop. Better yet, the documentary's producers elicit atypically straightforward, revealing interviews from the group's stealthy principals, songwriters Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, who jettison enough of their signature sarcasm to touch on the autobiographical threads, cultural anomie, and serious musical ambition audible in their work. In that respect, the production rivals any extant interviews with this proudly cerebral, occasionally evasive musical team. The duo, along with producer Gary Katz, engineer Roger Nichols, and a generous cross-section of the crack New York and Los Angeles musicians featured on the sessions, dissect the sleek layers of the songs both musically and lyrically, both in modern performances featuring the original players and in control-room playbacks of the original multitrack master tapes. Becker and Fagen prove articulate, self-aware, and dryly funny subjects, and the subtlety and richness of the music offer an ample canvas for discovery. --Sam Sutherland
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| Customer Reviews:
 Insider Look at Aja October 31, 2008
musicfan28if
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
After watching a few other classic rock album documentaries, I wasn't expecting much from this Aja documentary. It turned out to be a surprisingly good review of the recording of Aja. Firstly, it was mostly the Steely Dan musicians Fagen and Becker along with studio musicians that provided commentary on the album, unlike other album documentaries that have mainly outside commentary from music critics. Also, there's alot of footage of a reunion of sorts where they play the music. The bassist Chuck Rainey, who made a major contribution to the rhythmic feel of the album, plays some of his bass lines solo. Fagen and Becker also comment on the instrumentation and performance of Aja while seated at a studio control panel making adjustments to hear the music parts in isolation. This is the best classic rock documentary I've seen on DVD.
Show Biz Kids April 3, 2008
Mr. Richard D. Coreno (Berea, Ohio USA)
Some 30 years after it was released - which is several lifetimes in pop culture - The pristine production and technically-pleasing performances on Aja continue to stand the test of time.
Walter Becker and Donald Fagan take the viewer through the long and oftentimes quite complicated creation of the classic album, which reached the lofty top five status in the U.S. and England, with the cool jazz-fusion delivering the signature numbers - Deacon Blues, Peg and Josie - while selling more 20 million copies worldwide.
Initially airing as part of the VH-1 Classic Albums series, the insight of Becker and Fagan is bolstered by interviews with producer Gary Katz and a several of the musicians who performed in the sessions.
In 1978, the album won the Grammy Award for Best Engineered Non-Classical Recording. There is no better way to find out what makes Aja so perfect.
A whole new meaning to "Fastidious" February 19, 2008
Owen Coughlan (Montreal, Quebec Canada)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Musically and commercially the Steely Dan story really peaked with Aja. The recording studio gave them acess to a level of perfection they could never attain on the road, and they stayed there for many years -- considering the turn some of their post-Aja material took, maybe too many.
But that obsession with perfection paid off, as the segment of multiple guitar solo takes demonstrates. The DVD is completely entertaining: Becker and Fagan are even smarter than I imagined, and it's easy to see how they command the respect of some of the biggest talents (and egos) in the world of LA session music. AJA is a masterpiece, and the DVD is a long overdue companion piece.
This is a great documentary and I give it four stars because it could easily have been an hour longer and just as good.
And if you're REALLY into it, the 33 1/3 Book is really cool.
 Below Average December 28, 2007
T. Dixon (Dayton, OH)
0 out of 3 found this review helpful
If you enjoy watching two aging musicians who are clearly uncomfortable being in the same room with each other plough through the master tape of one of their albums, this is the movie for you.
 For the hardcore fans only. November 26, 2007
S. Kosloske (Milwaukee, WI USA)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I'd put this one in the "rent" catagory, unless you're a real hard-core Steely Dan fan. Only a small percentage of this is music, the bulk is filled with interviews and coverage of the making of the album. Not that it's a bad thing, but not great, either.
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