(from a Rhino press release)

LOS ANGELES - Donald Fagen and Walter Becker - AKA Steely Dan - carved out a unique space in popular music scoring hits with tightly arranged songs that combined literate, ironic lyrics, their own eccentric musical idiom and sophisticated production. As a solo artist, Fagen recorded a trio of peerless albums spread out over 25 years including The Nightfly, Kamakiriad (both Grammy-nominated for Album of the Year) and Morph The Cat, which earned a 2006 Grammy for Best Surround Sound. Rhino presents all three in a special MVI (Music Video Interactive) boxed set that includes each as a DTS 5.1, Dolby 5.1 and PCM Stereo mix along with bonus audio and video. Each disc will also feature the UrTone application, which is a brand-new technology that allows customers to select any track or any portion of a track they want as their ringtone by using a simple drag bar. THE NIGHTFLY TRILOGY will be available June 5 at regular retail outlets and http://www.rhino.com for a suggested price of $59.98.

The MVI (Music Video Interactive) disc is a DVD loaded with exciting new features. Superior sound quality plus a wide range of video and interactive content combine to bring you closer to the artists and their music. It plays in all standard DVD players, computers and game consoles with DVD drives. Digital music files are compatible with all MP3 devices.

The boxed set takes its name from Fagen's 1982 solo debut. A note from the original The Nightfly album sleeve explains the concept: "The songs on this album represent certain fantasies that might have been entertained by a young man growing up in the remote suburbs of a northeastern city during the late fifties and early sixties, i.e., one of my general height, weight and build."

The MVI album contains all eight original album cuts including the hit "I.G.Y.," "New Frontier" and the title track, a collective portrait of the late-night radio personalities Fagen grew up listening to. The bonus material features "Century's End," a song composed for the film Bright Lights Big City, "True Companion," which was written for the animated movie Heavy Metal, plus a live version of The Nightfly song "Green Flower Street", originally released on Fagen's Live at the Beacon: The NY Rock & Soul Revue. The disc also contains videos for "New Frontier" and "Century's End."


Explaining the 11-year gap between The Nightfly and its follow-up Kamakiriad, Fagen writes in the boxed set's liner notes: "During the final mix down of [The Nightfly], I started to feel kind of funny, and that feeling turned into an even weirder feeling that had to do with work and love and the past and mortality and so forth. I wouldn't complete another CD until 1993. So I'm glad I made The Nightfly before a lot of the kid-ness was beat the hell out of me, as happens to us all."

His second solo effort, Kamakiriad, centers around a journey in a futuristic car, a Kamakiri Steam Power 10. Produced by Walter Becker, the MVI album contains all eight original songs including the album opener, "Trans-Island Skyway", "Snowbound" (co-written with Becker) and the single "Tomorrow's Girls." The bonus tracks include the instrumentals "Shanghai Confidential" and "Blue Lou", a composition written for tenor man Lou Marini. Also included are demo versions of "Confide In Me" and "Big Noise New York", a song originally written for Spike Lee. The bonus videos feature "Tomorrow's Girls" and "Snowbound" as well as a behind-the-scenes documentary.

Winner of the Grammy for Best Surround Sound, Morph The Cat was released in 2006. In the boxed set's liner notes, Fagen writes about the album's origins: "September 10, 2001: My mother turned 76. September 11, 2001: You know about that one. January 9, 2003: My mother died of Alzheimer's disease. January 10, 2003: I turned 55. All these numbers somehow add up to this album, the last in this series." The album's original nine songs are presented on the MVI album featuring the title track, "Brite Nitegown" and "Security Joan," a song about a romance sparked when the narrator is wanded during a tedious airport security check by an enchanting female officer. The bonus tracks include previously unreleased live versions of "Hank's Pad" and "Viva Rock And Roll" along with "Rhymes" (an Al Green song originally intended to promote a review that never came off) and an interview originally aired on NPR's World Cafe program.

Taken together, the three albums present a rich and wry musical portrait of a the artist and his times.


THE NIGHTFLY
Track Listing

1. "I.G.Y."
2. "Green Flower Street"
3. "Ruby Baby"
4. "Maxine"
5. "New Frontier"
6. "The Nightfly"
7. "The Goodbye Look"
8. "Walk Between Raindrops"

Bonus Audio:
1. "True Companion"
2. "Green Flower Street" (Live)
3. "Century's End"

Bonus Video:
1. "New Frontier"
2. "Century's End"


KAMAKIRIAD
Track Listing

1. "Trans-Island Skyway"
2. "Countermoon"
3. "Springtime"
4. "Snowbound"
5. "Tomorrow's Girls"
6. "Florida Room"
7. "On The Dunes"
8. "Teahouse On The Tracks"

Bonus Audio:
1. "Big Noise New York"
2. "Confide In Me"
3. "Blue Lou"
4. "Shanghai Confidential"
5. Dean Seay Interview/Reprise Promo (1993)

Bonus Video:
1. "Tomorrow's Girls"
2. "Snowbound"
3. Kamakiriad Behind The Scenes Documentary


MORPH THE CAT
Track Listing

1. "Morph The Cat"
2. "H Gang"
3. "What I Do"
4. "Brite Nitegown"
5. "The Great Pagoda Of Funn"
6. "Security Joan"
7. "The Night Belongs To Mona"
8. "Mary Shut The Garden Door"
9. "Morph The Cat" (Reprise)

Bonus Audio:
1. "Rhymes"
2. "Hank's Pad" (Live)*
3. "Viva Rock And Roll"*
4. World Cafe Interview

*Previously Unreleased



https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000M06SVS/?tag=imwan-20

Added pre-order link and new release date. -- Linda

I guess there will be a lot of guys my age walking around with cell phones ringing "I'm Lester the Nighfly, Hello Baton Rouge."

Awesome set.. cannot wait for this..

I'd been hoping that Fagen would release a version of "Viva Rock & Roll" ever since seeing him perform it a couple of times on his last solo tour. An obscure Chuck Berry number that served as a rollicking encore to the shows.

But no remastured Nightfly cd...?

JoeP...I think one could assume that they will ALL (or at the very least, the first two) be remastered CDs. The question is, by whom? Some contenders: Bill Inglot, Roger Nichols, Darcy Proper.

I would've preferred "Mis'ry And The Blues" over "Viva Rock and Roll", as well as ALL of the original single bonus tracks from the Kamakiriad period (Radio Edits, Bass, Drum and Vocal only versions...)

But of course, I'll buy it. And "Rhymes" is killer!!!

but these are not cds, correct?

Oooh...good catch. Doesn't look that way, does it? That would suck... They should at least do doubles.

Does "PCM Stereo mix" denote regular CDs? If not, what does it mean?

At last!

BUT..I would hate to know that I won't be able to play Shangai Confidential or Confide In Me in my car. No cd, really?

Also, speaking of "CIM" and "Big Noise, NewYork", they mention "demos". Are the versions we all know demos (the tracks are not listed as previously unreleased)?

I got the impressions that these were DVDs with different mixes. I would like to be wrong and some have missed pure cd versions being released.

PCM Stereo doesn't necessarily mean 16-bit/44.1kHz CD audio...it could also be higher resolution audio that would surface on a DVD-A.

Ok, i'm officially confused.

will i be able play all of the music on my CD player? or not?

renny the confused

We're all confused, rjp. The press release is not very forthcoming aside from track listings. Personally, after DVD-A, then DualDisc, do we really need something called an MVI to crash and burn?

Here's my attempt to un-confuse you:

If they are released as CD/MVI sets, you will be able to play the CD in your CD player.

If they are only MVI, which is what the press release seems to be alluding to, then you will NOT be able to play them in your CD player, but only in a DVD player, and one that can hopefully play DVD-A's, otherwise you'll only hear compressed Dolby Digital or DTS audio rather than higher resolution PCM audio.

mmm...I don't think I need 3 more copies of these albums. I already have the DVDA's.

Ditto. I'll pass on this one.

well, i'll buy it. if i can play it! which still remains to be seen/heard!

renny

Okay y'all, here's the (allegedly) finalised release info ~ Renny please note in the description below that this will play on standard DVD players:



Donald Fagen's three solo classics--The Nightfly, Kamikiriad, and Morph The Cat--reissued as groundbreaking MVI Discs in a 3-Disc Music Video Interactive (MVI) box set, produced in collaboration with Donald himself. Each title is on its own MVI disc featuring the entire original album along with DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital and Advanced Resolution PCM Stereo mixes, plus rare and previously unreleased bonus audio tracks and interviews. Each disc also features bonus content including videos, rare footage, complete lyrics, a custom ringtone application, special weblinks, and more. Expanded booklets include liner notes and track-by-track commentary by Donald. Please note: these discs play on standard DVD players and computers with DVD drives. They will not play on CD players.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000M06SVS/?tag=imwan-20

The date has been moved to Aug 7th..

How do these albums compare with the Steely Dan albums? Are the melodies as jazzy and quirky or more conventional?

goog,

i can say with confidence that if you like "the dan" you'll like fagen's solo stuff.

renny

I will 2nd RJp.. There are alot of Dan sounds in Fagens solo material..