10 Artists That Destroyed Their Own Album

Steely Dan have always made a name for themselves as being some of the most eclectic production duos in the business. More than just a band, the aura of Steely Dan seems to be about a mindset first and foremost, which sent jazz rock albums like The Royal Scam and Aja to the top of the charts. Then again, sometimes the innovation tends to be too much for its own good.

During the sessions for Katy Lied, Donald Fagen and Walter Becker decided to use some new recording software which would make for a cleaner tone for every one of the instruments. It's not like this was a weird left field choice either, considering Steely Dan's albums were always about making some of the most pristine records ever assembled. Though the plan was to make an even cleaner sounding record, things turned haywire in the final stages.

While the dbx noise reduction system they used has become customary with pop acts nowadays, the touchups that they did in post apparently killed the first version of this record, instead making the tracks sound less jammy and more sterile as a result. As much as some Steely Dan albums sound like perfection from the moment you hear them, both Becker and Fagen wouldn't bring themselves to actually listen to this mix of the record for years.