I warned you there would be ties. Choosing five beloved albums for a former FM jock is like asking a mother to pick her favorite child. The two records in third place couldn’t be more different yet both are especially relevant this year for different reasons.
Of course, Aja is sadly notable due to the passing of Walter Becker. Along with co-founder Donald Fagan, he was Steely Dan’s most essential component. They hired the best sidemen and demanded perfection, no matter how many tries it took. Mark Knopfler, Dire Straits’ guitarist extraordinaire is rumored not to have measured up. Although they eschewed the classification jazz-rock, it is the most apt description of their sound to the layman.
And what a sound it was. Steely Dan’s work just sounded cleaner than anyone else’s; their pristine tracks came alive for audiophiles like no others, especially on high end systems. The musicianship was impeccable, Fagan’s vocals were sharp, although most of the lyrics were inscrutable. There are websites devoted to speculating on their songs’ meaning and to whom they were specifically referring. Reputedly, heavy drugs were a factor.
Deacon Blues — I want a name when I lose. Aja — now that my dime dancing is through. Drink your Big Black Cow and get out of here. These lines will resonate forever. The horn charts on Home At Last have immense funk and soul. Whatever state the bandleaders were in when they presented Aja, they created a sonic masterpiece.
Contrast their ambiguous lyrics with Bruce Springsteen’s Born to Run, a textured pure rock album created out of desperation. The Boss had signed a three record deal with Columbia, and although his first two efforts were well received, they didn’t sell up to the label’s expectations. Bruce’s dream of rock stardom was riding on this one, and he came through big time.
It is hard to chose a favorite Springsteen album. Darkness on the Edge of Town, The River and Born in the USA were classics in their own right, but how can you beat an LP that contains Jungleland, Thunder Road, Backstreets and the title track? Night may be a raucous throwaway and Meeting across the River, a moody jazz piece that perhaps belonged on one of his first two records, but Tenth Avenue Freezeout and She’s the One are still vibrant and heavily requested in concert.
Had Born to Run not been so wonderful, would Springsteen be where he is today, selling out shows on Broadway as one of the most revered American artists of all time? Or would he still be playing bars on the Jersey shore? Actually, he still does and that’s one of the things that makes him great.
