With 1977’s Aja, Steely Dan officially transitioned into a two-piece formed by Walter Becker and Donal Fagen. They also quit touring to focus on the recording and embraces jazzier influences to a greater extent than ever before. Aja also found them experimenting with different combinations of session musicians and is regarded as an audiophile masterwork because of its attention to detail and sophisticated self-consciousness. It spawned a couple of successful singles, including “Peg,” a sunny pop song with multi-tracked backup jazz vocals by Michael McDonald.
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