Does Steely Dan sound bright to you?

I have never cared much for later Steely Dan (SD), and certainly not for Fagen & Nightfly.  Earlier stuff is to my liking, as they were more of a band.  For me, later SD was not a band, it was a conglomerate.  This is classic Type A listening - listening for the sonics, not as much as the music.

Much the same for the highly and widely aclaimed Beach Boys' Pet Sounds.  The Beach Boys were not a band at the time, they were a ton of session musicians creating a soundscape.

This is why I love LIVE music and LIVE Recordings.  By and Large they are bands playing as bands.  Some did lots of overdubs (Zappa anyone), but these is where music is really made, Live and in person.

If you are into music creating complex soundscapes, whether digital or analog, by overlapping instrumental passages, cool.  There is a place for that.  Hell, who could deny Bitches Brew, Tribute To Jack Johnson, or In A Silent Way.  I own multiple copies of those but Miles did have a BAND that he worked with.

Enough of my Bias! 

I do own a SACD copy of Aja just for testing systems, and I don't find it bright, but it ain't like a good blues band either.

No, all top notch recordings. They were known for that. 

Hey pgaulke60 - ALL SD should is good (mostly great) and should be appreciated.

As far as not being a band, I guess you have never seen them in concert this century. They've had minimal personnel changes in like 20 years and they tour pretty much every year. Listening for the sonics? Are you nuts? How early are you talking? They stopped touring in the early 70s when "they stopped being a band" and restarted around 2000.

They are the best sounding live band anywhere. I've heard critics say they are too perfect. They create the complex soundscapes just fine live in concert. Check out Alive in America (unfortunately only available on CD). Nice disc.

Yes you are biased. Very, just like a friend of mine who doesn't like SD because Sirius has them in heavy rotation on their Yacht Rock channel, just like Boz Scaggs, another favorite of mine. 

Fagen said he only played 40 records growing up - Miles and Trane heavy in the rotation.

I recall a LOT of EQ on SD's early LP's, which could be described as being bright for certain instruments and vocals.

Sometimes the drums sounded like they were replayed through a clock radio and then miked direct to the board.

Also BIG reverb on some of the bass lines as well as keyboards.

Compression on vocals that could be mistaken for tape over saturating...

This said, they are studio albums (never to be mistook for live or open room recordings) and all of this manipulation ended in an award winning sound for the time.

I've never listened to them on CD, just LP and though 

DeKay

Well, I mean, they did go to Bard College ...

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