Your favorite versions of Aja and Katy Lied?

"Aja" song covered by Christian McBride on his SCI-FI album.
He also does a cover of:
Sting
Jaco
Stanley Clarke
.... with respect

MFSL Gaucho kicks butt in my system!

To me, the AJA MFSL CD is MUCH BETTER than the original CD. (As for GAUCHO MFSL CD, the highs sound too over-emphasized, unnatural, or something???????? Anybody else notice that?)

4yanx, where do I look for that marking to denote the Hoffman version of Katy Lied? Thanks!

The original ABC version of Aja sound very good, IMO.

I've owned the MFSL Aja CDs. They were alright. The MFSL Goucho is outstanding. Recently purchased a 2 CD set, Show Biz Kids, essentially a greatest hits compilation. I was surprised at how good these sound. Maybe not MFSL quality but still pretty good. I owned a box set too at one time and thought it could have sounded much better.

The original releases were actually highly regarded in their time. Aja may have been as good sonically as any pop recording ever put out on a major label.

What? No love for the Muzak versions?

I like the Steely Dan versions of each.

As far as Katy Lied goes, there is really no GREAT recording in terms of sonics. The songs, however, are absolutely CLASSIC! The link below is likely old hat for Dan fans but worth a read for those unaware of the issues surrounding the recording of this LP:

Katy Lied

That said, the original vinyl pressing on ABC is still better than the MFSL, or any import, in my opinion.

For CD, I have found the definitive version of Katy to be MCAD 37043 S1E:1 (S1E:1 in the matrix denoting a Steve Hoffman efforts). Also, the recordings of Katy songs on the "Citizen" boxed set are very good.

Same goes for Aja on vinyl, again in my opinion and to my ears. The US MSFL is way too "dark and disturbed" on the bottom end for me and the Japanese pressing is too bright. For CD, the US MSFL is the best I've heard, though I rarely listen to it on this format.

This is an easy one.
I have both the Japanese and US MSFL's and the Japanese mini-LP. Amazingly, the US MSFL is far better then the Japanese MFSL. The Japanese MSFL has bloated bass while the US MSFL has deeper, defined bass that anyone with hearing will notice right away. I think that MSFL held a little redo mix session before going to the UltradiscII on this one.
The new Japanese mini-LP version is closer to the US MSFL but seems thinner whenever any ultra-high frequencies kick in. This makes it a little more laid-back for me and takes away from the live room sounds on the album.