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This is from the collection of found Becker and Fagen Studio tapes but there is a twist... all of the tracks have accompaniment instruments added to the original demos which in some cases radically change the sound of the song. There are other collections out there with the exact same tracks as this and in many cases more in fact the other editions are the exact same songs and order but without the background instruments. That said reviewing this album for what it is.
Android Warehouse is somewhat spooky (not that the original demo wasn't plenty spooky already) with the added orchestra particularly the synthesizer, the drums add a hypnotic sound to the arrangement.
A horse in town sounds even more country rock with the additional percussion and the organ (It was a pretty strong song even in demo form, but the organ was a nice touch). Kind of in some ways has a feel like the Can't buy a thrill tracks or Dallas.
More to Come sounds very bouncy cheery sound, the synthesizer going a bit overboard at times.
Parker's Band Is a completely different sound from the Pretzel Logic track having some crazy organ work going on while the percusion is pretty static, not a bad sound but not something that is gonna appeal to polish.
Ida Lee has a lot of additions that seem to be making it more rock organ sounding,
Sun Mountain (this isn't the Donald Fagen Vocal Version btw) accompaniment makes it have such a sound that almost makes it seem like its missing from an inspirational christian rock and roll album from the 70s.
I could do song by song for every track but it really comes down to this, these songs were demos to begin with, the additions added do not make them fit the sound steely dan evolved into, but in some ways they don't sound so far off from the can't buy a thrill days, that said the added instruments are not adhering to the perfectionism demanded of the groups core members so don't go in expecting gaucho. This is definitely not for everybody, steely dan fans looking for just a complete set of demos would probably do better just looking for Catalyst or Android Warehouse, if you want something different it can be interesting.
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So it's not CURRENTLY authorized. What the other reviewer forgets is that long ago, the Dan worked for money and sold their souls (and tunes) to willing buyers. This disc represents some of those early efforts, legally bought and sold and now reissued, much to Becker and Fagen's chagrin, as not all of them are up to the Dan snuff. But there's some interesting stuff here, especially for musicians. Most of these cuts are demos and the musicianship and production, while crude, still ring with the inimitable Dan potential. For fans only, of course.
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So it's not CURRENTLY authorized. What the other reviewer forgets is that long ago, the Dan worked for money and sold their souls (and tunes) to willing buyers. This disc represents some of those early efforts, legally bought and sold and now reissued, much to Becker and Fagen's chagrin, as not all of them are up to the Dan snuff. But there's some interesting stuff here, especially for musicians. Most of these cuts are demos and the musicianship and production, while crude, still ring with the inimitable Dan potential. For fans only, of course.
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