Aja (album)
| Aja | ||||
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| Studio album by Steely Dan | ||||
| Released | September 23, 1977 | |||
| Recorded | January to July 1977; at the Village Recorder, West Los Angeles, California; Producer's Workshop, Hollywood; Warner Bros studios, Burbank; ABC recording studios, N.Y.C.; Sound Labs, Hollywood; A&R studios, Manhattan |
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| Genre | Jazz rock | |||
| Length | 39:58 | |||
| Label | ABC | |||
| Producer | Gary Katz | |||
| Steely Dan chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Aja | ||||
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| Music sample | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   |
| BBC Music | (positive) |
| Robert Christgau | B+ |
| Drowned in Sound | 10/10 |
| Q | |
| Rolling Stone | (favorable) |
| Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music |  |
Aja (/ˈeɪʒə/, pronounced like Asia) is the sixth album by the jazz rock band Steely Dan. Originally released in 1977 on ABC Records, it became the group's best-selling album. Peaking at No. 3 on the U.S. charts and No. 5 in the United Kingdom, it was the band's first platinum album, eventually selling over 5 million copies. In July 1978, the album won the Grammy Award for Best Engineered Non-Classical Recording. In 2003, the album was ranked number 145 on Rolling Stone's "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list. It is widely regarded as a good test recording for audiophiles because of its high production standards.
Donald Fagen has said the album was named for a Korean woman who married the brother of one of his high-school friends. The cover photo by Hideki Fujii features Japanese model and actress Sayoko Yamaguchi.
The album features several leading session musicians. The eight-minute-long title track features jazz-based changes and a solo by saxophonist Wayne Shorter.
When DTS attempted to make a 5.1 version, it was discovered that the multitrack masters for both "Black Cow" and the title track were missing. For this same reason, a multichannel SACD version was cancelled by Universal Music. Donald Fagen has offered a $600 reward for the missing masters or any information that leads to their recovery.
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Wikipedia