Perfection on Vinyl, Part One: Aja

Simply put, there isn't a more perfect-sounding album than Steely Dan's Aja (pronounced "Asia.") Nothing sounded like it before its release, and certainly nothing has sounded quite like it since.

If those reasons alone were enough to call it "Perfection on Vinyl," Aja would qualify. But Aja goes far beyond just sounding good. Its intricate marriage of jazz and pop hasn't been equaled. Aja, released in September 1977, was a massive hit and introduced the typical pop/rock music listener to all sorts of complex arrangements, chords that defied easy classification, and some of the most pristine, crisp musicianship ever to come together on a single effort. It made jazz lovers out of people who wouldn't be caught dead buying a jazz album. To that end, it was the most clever album of its time.

Standout tracks are the title song, "Deacon Blues" and the funky, bass-heavy opener, "Black Cow." Oh, and "Peg," of course--the hit single from the album and my first taste of Aja. Well, there are only seven songs on Aja, so I feel comfortable in calling each one of them (with the possible exception of "I Got The News") standout tracks. Most of them clock in between 5 and 7 minutes, which tested the limits of vinyl in those days.

The recently-remastered versions of the Steely Dan catalog on CD are remarkable in their sound, but it's not easy to make something that sounded pretty damned good to begin with sound even better. I love listening to Aja on one of my four vinyl copies of it. It jumps out of the grooves and always makes me happy, like visiting an old friend. A slightly crytpic friend, yeah, but still...one that never, ever lets you down.