After all that the recent cultural revival of Steely Dan has given the world — including, but not limited to wonderfully gaudy sweatpants, dedicated fan Twitter accounts, and a wealth of shares for that Sopranos clip — the music of the acclaimed American outfit will now be reissued in exceptionally audiophilic fashion.
Today, it was announced that Steely Dan's first seven studio albums will see rerelease in vinyl and CD formats, over the course of a year-long reissue campaign personally overseen by founding member Donald Fagen.
Steely Dan's studio catalogue — which has only become tougher to come by in recent years in either format — will be repressed in standard 33 1/3 RPM, 180-gram black vinyl editions via Geffen/UMe, and in limited edition, 45 RPM versions on Ultra High-Quality Vinyl (UHQR) from Analogue Productions, who will also treat the albums to new Super Audio CD (SACD) versions.
Some more sonic details for the audio obsessives: all the albums will be "meticulously remastered" by esteemed engineer Bernie Grundman from the original analog tapes — save for the celebrated Aja, which will be "mastered from an analog, non-EQ'd, tape copy," and follow-up Gaucho, which is "sourced from a 1980 analog tape copy originally EQ'd by Bob Ludwig." This is because the original master tapes for these albums are presumed to no longer exist.
For the standard vinyl reissues, lacquers will be cut by Alex Abrash at AA Mastering from high-resolution digital files of Grundman's new masters, and will be pressed at Precision Record Pressing. They will be housed in reproductions of the original artwork.
Conversely, the UHQR editions — arriving at $150 USD a pop — will be pressed at Quality Record Pressings on 200-gram Clarity Vinyl, and will come packaged in a deluxe box with booklet detailing the UHQR process and a certificate of inspection.
The first of these reissues to arrive will be 1972's Can't Buy a Thrill, which will celebrate its 50th anniversary in November. That title is now available for pre-order.
Keep your eyes peeled for more Steely Dan celebration on Exclaim.ca soon.
Today, it was announced that Steely Dan's first seven studio albums will see rerelease in vinyl and CD formats, over the course of a year-long reissue campaign personally overseen by founding member Donald Fagen.
Steely Dan's studio catalogue — which has only become tougher to come by in recent years in either format — will be repressed in standard 33 1/3 RPM, 180-gram black vinyl editions via Geffen/UMe, and in limited edition, 45 RPM versions on Ultra High-Quality Vinyl (UHQR) from Analogue Productions, who will also treat the albums to new Super Audio CD (SACD) versions.
Some more sonic details for the audio obsessives: all the albums will be "meticulously remastered" by esteemed engineer Bernie Grundman from the original analog tapes — save for the celebrated Aja, which will be "mastered from an analog, non-EQ'd, tape copy," and follow-up Gaucho, which is "sourced from a 1980 analog tape copy originally EQ'd by Bob Ludwig." This is because the original master tapes for these albums are presumed to no longer exist.
For the standard vinyl reissues, lacquers will be cut by Alex Abrash at AA Mastering from high-resolution digital files of Grundman's new masters, and will be pressed at Precision Record Pressing. They will be housed in reproductions of the original artwork.
Conversely, the UHQR editions — arriving at $150 USD a pop — will be pressed at Quality Record Pressings on 200-gram Clarity Vinyl, and will come packaged in a deluxe box with booklet detailing the UHQR process and a certificate of inspection.
The first of these reissues to arrive will be 1972's Can't Buy a Thrill, which will celebrate its 50th anniversary in November. That title is now available for pre-order.
Keep your eyes peeled for more Steely Dan celebration on Exclaim.ca soon.
