Gold
	Produced by Gary Katz
	Released on June 1982
	US CHART POSITION #115 . . . GOLD RECORD (9/7/93) . . . UK CHART POSITION #44
	Find it at GEMM
MCAD-10387 cover [high resolution scan]

N ot the eight (later, dozen) Dan tracks I’d bury in a box, but then one man’s gold… ABC had earlier distilled the band’s best music down to a double-elpee for Greatest Hits, which is where neophytes should start. Gold is the lazy, melting, languid side of their muse: “Babylon Sisters,” “Deacon Blues,” etc. At least that seems to be the rationale behind the selection, since few would choose “Chain Lightning” or “King of the World” on their own merit. Gold’s real attraction at the time was the inclusion of the single “FM,” from the film of the same name. When MCA expanded Gold in 1991, they built off that “bonus” mentality by adding “Here At The Western World” (which debuted on Greatest Hits), the live version of “Bodhisattva,” and a pair of soundtrack numbers from Donald Fagen. Although “Here At The Western World” is well worth hearing, the standout of this supplemental selection is “Century’s End,” a track that belongs with Fagen’s best solo work (“I.G.Y.,” “New Frontier”). Gold doesn’t present the band in their best light, it merely confirms what many long mused: there were no “bad” Steely Dan songs. Any eight-to-twelve tracks are likely to deliver as much pleasure, more or less. I can’t recommend the original issue of Gold simply because it’s stingy and superfluous, but the expanded reissue is a different animal altogether. Half hard-to-find nuggets, half random scanning, it’s a unique slice of Steely Dan that finds its way onto my stereo more often than, say, Gaucho. In that last incarnation, Gold actually serves a purpose, striking a balance between the lost and the found.

TRACK LISTING

1. HEY NINETEEN
2. GREEN EARRINGS
3. DEACON BLUES
4. CHAIN LIGHTNING
5. FM
6. BLACK COW
7. KING OF THE WORLD
8. BABYLON SISTERS
   
   UK bonus 12-inch
   
9. RIKKI DON'T LOSE THAT NUMBER
10. HAITIAN DIVORCE
11. DO IT AGAIN
12. REELIN' IN THE YEARS
    
    CD bonus tracks
    
9. HERE AT THE WESTERN WORLD
10. CENTURY'S END    (Donald Fagen/Timothy Meher)
11. TRUE COMPANION    (Donald Fagen)
12. BODHISATTVA (LIVE)
    
    All songs written by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen unless noted

CREDITS

Credits for tracks 10 and 11:
DONALD FAGEN -- keyboards, piano, vocals
Gary Bargeron -- trombone (10)
Michael Brecker -- tenor sax (10)
Leroy Clouden -- drums (10)
Ronnie Cuber -- baritone sax (10)
Frank Floyd -- backup vocals (10)
Jim Haslip -- bass (10)
Steve Jordon -- drums (11)
Steve Khan -- guitar (11)
Will Lee -- bass (11)
Don Mounsey -- horn arrangement (10)
Rob Mounsey -- horn arrangement (10)
Angela Patrick -- backup vocals (10)
Zack Sanders -- backup vocals, vocals
Lew Soloff -- trumpet (10)
Harold Vick -- tenor sax (10)
Georg Wadenius -- guitar (10)
Elliot Scheiner -- remix (10)
Vartan -- reissue art direction
Wilson Design Group -- reissue design

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