Steely Dan’s 1977 landmark Aja is to be the next release in Geffen/UMe’s extensive reissue program of the group’s hallowed catalog of releases for ABC and MCA Records. Newly remastered from the analog tapes, it will make its return to vinyl on September 29.
Shop the best of Steely Dan’s discography on vinyl.
Like its forerunners in the series – the debut album Can’t Buy A Thrill last November, Countdown To Ecstasy in May this year, and Pretzel Logic in July – Aja has been remastered by Bernie Grundman from an analog, non-EQ’d, tape copy. It will be pressed on 180 gram black vinyl at 33 1/3 RPM.
As with all the titles in the collection, Aja will also be release as a limited edition premium 45 RPM version on Ultra High-Quality Vinyl (UHQR) from Analogue Productions, the audiophile in-house reissue label of Acoustic Sounds. Analogue Productions is also releasing the album series on Super Audio CD (SACD).
The 45 RPM UHQR versions will be pressed at Analogue Productions’ Quality Record Pressings on 200 gram Clarity Vinyl. They’ll be packaged in a deluxe box, also containing a booklet describing the entire process of making a UHQR, plus a certificate of inspection.
Each UHQR is pressed, using hand-selected vinyl, with attention paid to every single detail of every single record. All of the innovations introduced by QRP that are receiving such incredible critical acclaim are applied to each UHQR. The 200 gram records feature the same flat profile that helped to make the original UHQR so desirable.
Aja was the sixth album in only five years by Steely Dan, taking the band’s masterminds Walter Becker and Donald Fagen to a new plateau of creativity and acclaim. It became their fast seller to date and first platinum record, later rising to double platinum. It spent 60 weeks on the US charts, fueled by the Top 20 hits “Peg” and “Deacon Blues,” as well as the Top 40 “Josie.” The album went on to win a Grammy Award for Best Engineered Recording – Non Classical and was nominated for Album of the Year and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group.
Further titles to roll out over in the reissue program over the next year include 1975’s Katy Lied, 1976’s The Royal Scam, and Steely Dan’s final album for MCA, 1980’s Gaucho.
Pre-order Aja, which is reissued on September 29.
