The Nightfly (studio album) by Donald Fagen

Sophisty-pop
Lyrics about post war / gold era of mainstream USA (50's) memories

From rockinsteve 05/11/2019 04:56

Just picked up the CD of this one at my local Barnes and Noble for under 5 bucks! I've listened to just the first five songs so far, but I love this album already! The cuts "I.G.Y." and "New Frontier" are just fantastic. They're easily as good as the best of any Steely Dan songs. What a nice surprise this disc turned out to be!

From planetneutral 03/01/2018 14:12

I might like this album more than it deserves to be liked.

From Sandrof1969 02/11/2018 14:02

"IL" disco perfetto: come suono, produzione, arrangiamenti, scaletta, scrittura...

From Yann 05/29/2017 17:40

Beautiful Hi Fi sound, nice Beatlesque melodies, clever lyrics (on the theme: the future seen from the 50's).
Arguably better than any Steely Dan album.
Perhaps, the last two songs are not as emotional as the rest. I wish he ended the album with a slower, nostalgic song like the first one.

A record that looks back at the lifestyles and the dreams of individuals that lived during the late 50's to 1961.

This comment is beneath your viewing threshold.

Picking up where, gaucho, left off, the nightfly, is another piece of late night super smooth jazz pop. In fact, it almost feels like a sequel. It's a lovely album. Alright, it does sound a little dated in places and the CD could really do with a remastering job, but the LP is the ultimate late night album in a heat wave. Some nice tracks in, I.G.Y., new frontier, and the title track, make, the nightfly, an excellent record.

In some aspects, it's like just another Steely Dan album (and that's meant as a compliment) but in other ways this sounds like something only Fagen could accomplish on his own, mostly because of the lyrical consistency. Steely Dan albums generally strove for a connecting sound but never bothered with an overarching story. Fagen's got a story to tell here and it's a compelling one, harkening back to the mythical era of American expansionism, prior to the assassination of John Kennedy. This isn't to say that the music is a throwback. No, it displays the same sophistication that marked Fagen's time in Steely Dan. Almost in keeping with the notion of a "New Frontier", Fagen eschewed analogue recording and used nascent digital technology. Even today, the album remains a touchstone for sound engineers. But don't let that take away from the music. Every song here is rewarding. This is music everybody should have in their collection.

From calsper 04/06/2015 22:41

The sneakiest masterpiece in pop music. Fagen took a huge risk in clashing with the monopoly of analogue recording when he created what would become the very reference album in terms of production and execution.

Being the ever early bird to be entirely digitally recorded, Fagen showed the courage, the wit and ever-determined will to produce this stellar pop record.

With a legendary personnel including Abraham Laboriel, Larry Carlton, Marcus Miller, Greg Phillinganes and legendary Toto drummer Jeff Porcaro, this record is ruthless in its precision and effortless execution.

The lyrical themes are sophisticated autobiographical, and drawn from Fagen's fantasies from his time in the late 50's when he was fantasizing about his future days, as described in the booklet of the LP.

The liner notes of the record denotes 31 session musicians included in the album, a typical example of Fagen's extreme perfectionist approach to the recording process - this tendency apparently didn't end with Steely Dan's Gaucho in '80 but continued into his debut solo album that truly is fantastic in the daring exploration in perfect sound and sophistication.