0520. Steely Dan
Aja

From song one I find some of my favorite samples (or rather samples used in some of my favorite songs - like Peg - used in De La Soul's Eye Know, among other songs). That, however, makes it kinda difficult to listen to this album with fresh ears.

But this is something different than Fagens solo stuff. The thirty-five or so guest- and session musicians are expertly fitted into the songs and it's obvious that there's a plan with the music. But still, the title track shows the problem of this " named after a giant dildo"-duo: it's too calculated. The album is overworked thus creating a distance to the meaning of the words sung.

I'd say that the main reason this deserves a spot on the list is it being a heavily sampled album - everyone from MF Grimm to Beyoncé's recorded tracks with bits of Aja in them.