ALBUM RELEASE NEWS

You can see it in their eyes, but is it really any surprise to learn that we are finally getting the much-anticipated 200g 45rpm 2LP UHQR edition of Steely Dan’s rightly acclaimed March 1975 album Katy Lied on January 31, 2025?

Once again, the fine folks at Analogue Productions do right by the SD catalog, just as they’ve done with the five previous releases in the UHQR Series for Can’t Buy a Thrill, Countdown to Ecstasy, Pretzel Logic, Aja, and Gaucho. (Click on each title to read our reviews.)

The UHQR Katy Lied has been mastered directly from the original master tape by engineer nonpareil Bernie Grundman and has been pressed on 200g Clarity Vinyl at Quality Record Pressings (QRP). The going freight for this 2LP 45rpm edition is the expected, typical UQHR Series SRP of $150, and it can be preordered from Acoustic Sounds here, and/or from Music Direct here, and/or via the MD link graphic below ahead of the tracklisting section.

As per usual, the premium UHQR packaging for Katy Lied features tip-on, old-style, gold-foil, individually numbered, double-pocket gatefold jackets with film lamination by Stoughton Printing, as housed in a black slipcase with wooden dowel spine. The Katy Lied UHQR is limited to 20,000 numbered copies.

A companion 180g 33⅓rpm 1LP edition of Katy Lied (seen below) will be released via Geffen/UMe as well on January 31, 2025 — but that version has instead been remastered by Joe Nino-Hernes at Sterling Sound from hi-res digital files, and is being pressed at Precision. This edition goes for $29.99, and it can be preordered here. Naturally, AP will be reviewing both new versions of Katy Lied as close to the release date as possible.

Originally released on ABC and later reissued via MCA, Katy Lied is the first “post-touring” Steely Dan album following the departure of guitarist Jeff “Skunk” Baxter and drummer Jim Hodder, and it reinforces chief SD duo Walter Becker and Donald Fagen’s penchant for utilizing top-shelf studio musicians as their core recording partners.

SD’s fourth LP, Katy Lied also features the notable debuts of Michael McDonald on background vocals (“Bad sneakers and a piña colada my friend,” indeed!) and then-21-year-old Jeff Porcaro on drums for the balance of the album. Needless to say, we here at AP can’t wait to get the Katy Lied UHQR in hand to spin and spin and spin — and review for you, of course! Stay tuned. . .

Update, 03.05.2025: You can read our in-depth, three-man review of the UHQR and Geffen/UMe editions of Katy Lied here.

STEELY DAN
KATY LIED
200g 45rpm 2LP (MCA/Geffen/Analogue Productions)
Note: Official UHQR edition side breaks to come with our full review

1. Black Friday
2. Bad Sneakers
3. Rose Darling
4. Daddy Don’t Live In That New York City No More
5. Doctor Wu
6. Everyone’s Gone To The Movies
7. Your Gold Teeth II
8. Chain Lightning
9. Any World (That I’m Welcome To)
10. Throw Back The Little Ones