deja vu all over again

"Citizen Steely Dan" is the answer to the question of how to listen to 8 well-worn Steely Dan albums on a 5-disc changer. (Wait a minute, Godai...didn't you say this set contained _7_ albums?) Well, yes...but I am including the "Decade of Steely Dan" anthology, which was for years about the only way to get the smooth "FM" theme. Stick these 4 discs in the machine, and you're in for 3 1/2 hours of pure music from Dan and company, including a few cuts you may never have heard before.

And that is the primary problem with this set. unlike other boxed sets which offer insight into the band's history, and copious amounts of unreleased material to laugh at or enjoy, this set is largely everything you are already familiar with, and nothing else. There are only three new tracks. The live version of Boddishatva is preceded by an overly long and incoherent introduction (who the speaker is is not identified, but he sounds drunk), and shows all of the typical problems with live cuts - loud volume, overpowering audience noise, and mike feedback. The demo cut of "Everyone's Going to the Movies (Now We're Alone at Last) is better, raw but interesting to listen to. The only completely new song is the Royal Scam outtake "Here At the Western World", which IMHO is not one of their better efforts, but is at least something new.

The accompanying booklet by Fa*en (sorry, folks, but Epinions doesn't seem to like the man's full last name...) and Becker is full of typical Dan-cynicism - amusing at first, but ultimately wearing a little thin. Rather little in the way of insight, new pictures, or other memorabilia is provided, and any hopes that the set would offer new insight into the artists or their songs should be left at the door - you would be better off watching the "Making of Aja" DVD for this, or the widely-circulated PBS special from last year.

Is it worth $60 to replace your Steely CD collection with this set? Not in my opinion. Of course, if you can get it for $25 (which I did, through Columbia House's Record Club), that's quite a different story. In the final analysis, Dan completists will have to own this set - get it for as little as possible, because you will not likely be listening to it that often. On the other hand, if your copies of Aja and Countdown are getting ready for replacement anyway, this is an excellent way to do so and get a (very) little bit of bonus material as well.