Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

It really does seem convenient, doesn't it - getting all of an artist's work in one nice neat package, with a cute booklet thrown in. And make no mistake about it, everything that's on here is worth owning. The problem is, this particular package was flawed from the very beginning. Lets start with the fact that, had the cheapskate record company been willing to stretch to five discs (and we all know how much a blank cd costs by now), they could have presented each of the albums without interruption (Katy Lied + The Royal Scam fit on one disc), instead of rudely cutting off three of them (mid-side no less). An even bigger problem is that, as Messrs. Fagen and Becker have ruefully recounted many times in the years since, MCA didn't bother locating the master tapes for this... they used the same weak transfers that were done in the 80's and had someone tweak them a little bit. Adding insult to injury, they then reissued the individual albums with a sticker proclaiming them to be "Newly Remastered by the Artist". And you wonder why these guys record for a different label now. Sheesh. Anyway, the story does have a happy ending. In 1999, Don + Walt presided over a _real_ remastering of the albums, with the help of Roger Nichols, who'd engineered the original albums. Those cds, available today, sound spectacular and feature groovy liner notes that tell a lot more about the band than this booklet does. Do yourself a favor - get the albums individually. Even the untrained ear will marvel at the immaculate sound, and there's barely any price difference anyway. Enjoy!