HiRez Poll Steely Dan - TWO AGAINST NATURE [DVD-A]

[key_wiz]

I wonder if they own their back catalogue multi track masters and are open to quad or re-mixed 5.1 for SACD release...???

I doubt they own it themselves. MCA/Universal has controlled it forever.

As far as the multi-track masters go? Maybe they hold them or some of them? It seems they may have escaped the infamous fire at Universal that reportedly took a lot of the old ABC masters as it has long been rumored that Scheiner had already mixed “Pretzel Logic” into 5.1. But supposedly the multis for ‘Black Cow’ and ‘Aja’ from the “Aja” album have been missing at least up until the time of the “Classic Albums” video released many years ago. Maybe they’ve turned up since then.

But unfortunately someone from here tried to start a petition to get Universal to release these albums in 5.1 and was met with a “we’re not interested”. IIRC.

 

[humprof]

But unfortunately someone from here tried to start a petition to get Universal to release these albums in 5.1 and was met with a “we’re not interested”. IIRC.

A little more complicated than that, though the upshot is still the same. We contacted a band insider who was initially willing to approach someone in a position of power at Universal thought to be sympathetic to the idea of reviving the abandoned mix (and possibly even greenlighting some others). But then an agent got involved and decided it wasn't worth making the pitch after all. So that's where things stand.

Meanwhile, another 125 people have found and signed the petition in the time since we stopped publicizing it. Who knows? Maybe if we got to 1000, some minds could be changed...

 

[marpow]

I voted 9 on this Steely Dan- Two Against Nature. Great surround, certainly discrete from my point of view. I save my 10's for the best. This DVD-A 24/96, 5.1 is a little too much Steely Dan for me. Of course it is, but there is more unfamiliar tracks for me. It sounds great, glad I have it.

 

[humprof]

Don't try to reach me today; I'll be having a plush TV jazz-rock party in sensuous surround sound...



(Two Against Nature released Leap Day, February 29, 2000--on CD & vinyl, anyway. The DVD-A came two years later. )

 

[humprof]

Man. I have a hard time being objective about Steely Dan, so take my tens-across-the-board with a large grain of salt if you like. But this album has everything I love about "late-period" Steely Dan: the old wicked wit behind head-bobbing grooves; hip, intricate horn charts; and not just Becker's accents and licks and fills but also (at last!) his understated soloing. Plus, three of the best songs in their entire catalog: "What a Shame About Me," "Janie Runaway," "Cousin Dupree." (Okay, the title track and "Gaslighting Abbie" are pretty damn good, too.) And Chris Potter's jaw-dropping solo to close the album. Add Scheiner's subtle, balanced, pinpoint mix and you've got perfection.

 

[HugoPhyrst]

Finally bought this album to fill in the void - in my Dan catalog and in my life! I am familiar with the album so I know the songs. But another excellent and (to my ears) beautifully clean and discrete mix by ES. It's not my favorite album by the group but certainly enjoyable with some great performances. Would give it a 8.5 if I could. I'll stick with 8, but a strong 8.

 

[edisonbaggins]

Finally bought this album to fill in the void - in my Dan catalog and in my life! I am familiar with the album so I know the songs. But another excellent and (to my ears) beautifully clean and discrete mix by ES. It's not my favorite album by the group but certainly enjoyable with some great performances. Would give it a 8.5 if I could. I'll stick with 8, but a strong 8.

I like this a bit better than Everything Must Go. And not as much as the DVD Concert of (nearly) the same title.

 

[HugoPhyrst]

I like this a bit better than Everything Must Go. And not as much as the DVD Concert of (nearly) the same title.

Now I'll need to get the DVD-Video! Available pretty cheap.

 

[gvl_guy]

I'm a big Steely Dan fan, but almost all is their earlier stuff, Can't Buy a Thrill, Aja, Gaucho, etc., and my favorite, Royal Scam. I'm not really familiar with anything of theirs after Gaucho in 1980. (I tend to judge artists by how often I heard their material on the radio since I worked in radio for 40 years.) But when I saw this, I thought, "how bad could it be?" Immediately when I pressed play, I could tell it was SD. That soft rock-ish, jazz-ish sound. And lyrics that seem deeper than most pop music. The surround is very pleasent. It was nice to relax to. I gave it a solid 9.

 

[fizzywiggs41]

Ok,I'll finally rate my DVDA.i've had it since 2000, btw.

I read a lot of comments and some of those tunes mentioned are aok with me ,but I think the 2 jewels on this surround epic are "Jack Of Speed" and "Cousin Dupree".

Love that uniform horn solo at the end of "Jack Of Speed" which comes to a crescendo type style. And the vocal chorus is top notch in my opinion.

All in all a great comeback album for the Dan ,regardless of the tame collection songs...........an instant NINE ! ❤


Late vote but great listen.

Fizzy.

 

[Scottie-boy]

I've had this one for a while but hadn't voted. As with every other Steely Dan or Donald Fagan the mix is absolutely superb. A 10 through and through. So balanced, seamless and discrete. Love the music.

 

[humprof]

Don't try to reach me today; I'll be having a plush TV jazz-rock party in sensuous surround sound...

View attachment 46836

(Two Against Nature released Leap Day, February 29, 2000--on CD & vinyl, anyway. The DVD-A came two years later. )

Man. I have a hard time being objective about Steely Dan, so take my tens-across-the-board with a large grain of salt if you like. But this album has everything I love about "late-period" Steely Dan: the old wicked wit behind head-bobbing grooves; hip, intricate horn charts; and not just Becker's accents and licks and fills but also (at last!) his understated soloing. Plus, three of the best songs in their entire catalog: "What a Shame About Me," "Janie Runaway," "Cousin Dupree." (Okay, the title track and "Gaslighting Abbie" are pretty damn good, too.) And Chris Potter's jaw-dropping solo to close the album. Add Scheiner's subtle, balanced, pinpoint mix and you've got perfection.

2VN@25: Where does the time go?

Elliot Scheiner and New Yorker music writer Amanda Petrusich were on WNYC's All Of It the other day for a "Silver Liner Notes" (get it?) segment. Worth a listen for Scheiner alone, though you have to be willing to forgive both the dopey program host and, inexplicably, Petrusich, for referring to the band's 1997 album as "Ah-zhah."

https://www.wnyc.org/story/steely-dans-two-against-nature-at-25-silver-liner-notes/

And yesterday, Jake Malooley devoted his Expanding Dan Substack to the great British writer Barney Hoskyns, who averred (in "Librarians on Acid," his review of Two Against Nature for The Guardian) that Becker & Fagen's great comeback was "at least partly about the struggle of two middle-aged rock boffins to compete in a world of midriff display.” He also quoted Becker drolly glossing the album's title as “the songwriters’ invocation of their own powers to overcome the natural and supernatural forces that are arrayed against them in this stage of life . . . trying to reassure themselves and help their audience prevail in the face of all sorts of mysterious, frightening, powerful beings and characters and situations--pestilences and plagues and unexplained terrifying disruptions of domestic tranquility.” ("Twenty-five years later," remarks Malooley, "that offer of help feels especially poignant as we try to collectively prevail in the face of all manner of mysterious, frightening, powerful beings.")

So I'll be taking whatever strength and comfort I can today from a deep listen to our heroes' evergreen millennial clash. And after that, even though it's not in surround--dammit--I'll be acting natural, like I don't care, and giving another spin to Katy Lied, which was released (wait for it) 50 years ago on March 1st. I think you know what I mean.