This is another classic album that's worth re purchasing on SACD. If you love the smooth smooth sounds of Donald Fagan and Walter Becker a.k.a. Steely Dan, well, Gaucho is the only classic Steely Dan album released as of my review on SACD. Their recent Everything Must Go and Fagan's Two Against Nature are both currently available on DVD - Audio as well. Although Gaucho is not my personal favorite (that would be Can't Buy a Thrill), it's an outstanding album. Gaucho contains two FM staples, "Babylon Sisters" and "Hey Nineteen", both of which I still hear on classic rock stations. I think I was 19 or so myself when I first discovered Steely Dan. I had several of their cassettes, and I really enjoyed the jazz infused mellow rock sounds of Steely Dan. I believe their music has stood the test of time. I enjoy listening to them just as much today as a 40 year old man, as I did as a 19 year old kid, who at that time, had no idea who Aretha Franklin was. Steely Dan was one band that I eagerly repurchased on Compact Disc as the albums came out.

So why should you go out and get another copy of Gaucho on SACD? Perhaps you already have the faded LP somewhere, with the Monet like dancing couple on the front, and also bought it on CD. Well, the surround sound mix on the SACD takes all you love about the jazz sounds, smooth vocals and technically precise instrumentation of the band, and improves on it.

Starting with Babylon Sisters, the drum beat and piano come in same as the CD or the LP from the left channel with a little reverb from the right channel. Fagan;s lyrics come from the front right, but as they reach the chorus, "Babylon Sisters", instruments come in from the rear channels. The female vocalists start to chime in about the Santa Ana winds from the rear surrounds, and the sax sounds clear as can be in the right channel, as Fagan starts singing the second verse. The electric piano seems to be placed behind you. The effect is that you are sitting in the middle of their jam sessions. By separating the backing vocals into the rear channels, it expands the whole surround field and also allows each instrument to be heard with increased clarity. I believe that it sounds clearer as well because of the higher quality recording process SACD uses. (I wont go into the details here, but you can HEAR it). When the singers starts singing, "You've got to shake it baby, you've got to shake it", they surprise you by singing right from the center channel!


"Hey Nineteen"s opening just sounds so clear and crisp. It starts with that sudden drum beat and guitar note expanding into full instrumentation in the front stage. Fagan starts to sing his story of the young naive girl from your front right. As the backing vocals sing that "we've got nothing in common we've got nothing at all", they resonate from the whole room. You can hear individual instruments on the SACD that Ive never heard quite so clearly on the CD. Again, it seems that guitars, lead vocals and saxes are in front of you, with percussion and keyboards in back of you. Additional horns and backing vocals surround you. Notes that may have been lost in the stereo mix are beautiful sounding here.

In "Glamour Profession", as the intro bass notes come in, you can hear an individual high hat cymbal from your front right. The piano is sitting right in front of you, and it's clear as day when it starts to play. Again the backing female vocals stand behind you. I never really cared for this song much on CD, but it has a renewed life here. The horn section sits behind you and the story of sports agents and their quarry unfold around you. The expanded sound field really illustrates how precise and careful the orchestration of Steely Dan is. I always liked the band because the music sounded so precise and technically perfect while retaining a great deal of feeling and soul. Details that get buried under the careful percussion and lead guitar and vocals in Gaucho on CD really stand out on the SACD surround mix. The backing vocals and horn sections that add to the background on CD now stand firmly on their own as part of the total sound. I felt like I could hear each individual back up singer!

I will not bore you with a track by track description of the remaining songs, there's not a bad song on the album. (Although I must say, the bass lines of My Rival is punchier than ever on both mixes of the CD, the drums and bass really kick ya!)

Gaucho on SACD has an advanced stereo resolution track (which is excellent), an advanced resolution track (described above) and a regular CD track (which to be honest, is pretty much the same as the CD).

Gaucho contains the songs Babylon Sisters; Hey Nineteen; Glamour Profession; Gaucho; Time Out of Mind; My Rival and Third World Man. The SACD includes a lyric sheet and a story about how Gaucho came to be.

The SACD was evaluated on a Pioneer 563A DVD audio/SACD player with a Kenwood Surround Sound Receiver, and Cambridge Soundworks speaker system. My initial thoughts on Steely Dan were based on memories of my childhood.

If you enjoy the music of Steely Dan, you may want to pick up Donald Fagen's new album Morph the Cat available as a CD/DVD audio package.




Recommend this product?