Steely Dan Aja

Steely Dan Aja on UHQR 200g 45rpm Clarity Vinyl 2LP: Mastered by Bernie Grundman from an Analog, Non-EQ'd Quarter-Inch 15ips Tape Copy and Pressed at Quality Record Pressings

The culmination of everything Fagen and Becker aspired to accomplish in their storied careers, 1977's platinum-selling jazz-rock masterwork Aja yielded the three hit singles "Deacon Blues," Peg" and "Josie" plus the elegant title cut. The tight arrangements, inspired playing by the West Coast's best session players, and countless lyrical and musical hooks were immediately accessible and unforgettably cool. And then there's the "sound." Deservedly winning the 1978 Grammy Award for non-classical engineering, Roger "The Immortal" Nichols was helped by a who's-who of the top audio guys in the industry: Bill Schnee, Al Schmitt and Elliot Scheiner. The meticulous recording is almost fetishistic in its attention to detail. Every note of even the densest track can be clearly heard, with every instrument perfectly placed. This is a record where the studio becomes not only part of the process, but an instrument in and of itself.

Mastered by Bernie Grundman from an analog, non-EQ'd, tape copy (there's no evidence the original tapes containing the flat mixes of Aja were delivered to the record label and it's presumed the tapes no longer exist), this 45RPM UHQR version is pressed at Quality Record Pressings on 200-gram Clarity Vinyl and packaged in a deluxe box with a booklet detailing the entire process of making a UHQR along with a certificate of inspection. Each UHQR is pressed with attention paid to every single detail of every single record.From the lead-in groove to the run-out groove, there is no pitch to the profile, allowing the customer's stylus to play truly perpendicular to the grooves from edge to center.