Sunken Condos is the fourth and most recent solo album from Steely Dan co-founder Donald Fagen, released in October 2012 through Reprise Records.[1] It contains eight new songs and a cover of Isaac Hayes' "Out of the Ghetto".[2] Fagen began recording the album in 2010 and described it as having a lighter feel than his earlier work, rather than being a continuation of his Nightfly trilogy.[3]

Sunken Condos
Studio album by
ReleasedOctober 16, 2012
Recorded2010–2012
StudioCandyland
Hirsch Studios
Sear Sound
Avatar Studios
Audio Paint
Stratosphere Recording
Pat Dillett's Studio (all in New York City)
Genre
Length44:07
LabelReprise
Producer
Donald Fagen chronology
Morph the Cat
(2006)
Sunken Condos
(2012)

On September 17, Rolling Stone posted a full-length preview of the song "I'm Not the Same Without You".[4] The song charted at number 28 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 in October 2012.[5] The album reached number 23 on the official UK album chart on October 21 and number 12 on the Billboard 200, becoming his highest charting solo album since 1993.[6][7]

Critical response

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Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.6/10[8]
Metacritic82/100[9]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [10]
The Independent     [11]
The Irish Times     [12]
Mojo     [13]
MSN Music (Expert Witness)A−[14]
Q     [15]
Rolling Stone     [16]
Slant Magazine     [17]
Uncut9/10[18]
USA Today    [19]

The album was listed at No. 25 on Rolling Stone's list of the top 50 albums of 2012. The magazine stated that "the music is deceitfully lush, a snazzy cascade of rock, R&B and swing, with production as costly as a Santa Monica beach house."[20] They also named the song "Weather in My Head" the 21st best song of 2012.[21]

Fagen appeared on Late Show with David Letterman and performed "Weather in My Head" to promote the album.[22]

Track listing

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All songs written by Donald Fagen, except where noted

No.TitleLength
1."Slinky Thing"5:12
2."I'm Not the Same Without You"4:31
3."Memorabilia"4:14
4."Weather in My Head"5:29
5."The New Breed"4:35
6."Out of the Ghetto" (Isaac Hayes)4:54
7."Miss Marlene"4:43
8."Good Stuff"4:54
9."Planet D'Rhonda"5:35

Personnel

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Musicians[23]

Production[23]

  • Donald Fagen – rhythm arrangements, vocal arrangements, horn arrangements, mixing
  • Michael Leonhart – vocal and horn arrangements, engineer, mixing
  • Charles Martinez – engineer
  • Normyn – assistant engineer
  • David Schoenwetter – assistant engineer
  • Ted Tuthill – assistant engineer
  • Pat Dillett – mixing, additional engineering
  • Elliot Scheiner – additional engineering
  • Amanda Hirsch – additional Pro Tools engineering
  • Jon Silverman – assistant mix engineer
  • Scott Hull – mastering

Charts

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Chart performance for Sunken Condos
Chart (2021) Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[26] 69
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[27] 22
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[28] 99
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[29] 36
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[30] 13
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[31] 46
French Albums (SNEP)[32] 85
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[33] 29
Irish Albums (IRMA)[34] 27
Italian Albums (FIMI)[35] 22
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[36] 5
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[37] 10
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[38] 53
UK Albums (OCC)[39] 23
US Billboard 200[40] 12

References

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  1. ^ "Donald Fagen to Release Sunken Condos, October 16 on Reprise Records". Broadcast Newsroom. Archived from the original on 2012-10-14. Retrieved 2012-08-13.
  2. ^ "Steely Dan's Donald Fagen Set to Release Fourth Solo Album, Sunken Condos". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
  3. ^ "After Steely Dan tour, Donald Fagen eyes another solo album next year". Northeast Ohio. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
  4. ^ "Song Premiere: Donald Fagen, 'I'm Not the Same Without You'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2012-09-18.
  5. ^ "Japan Billboard Hot 100" (in Japanese). Billboard Japan. October 24, 2012. Archived from the original on November 9, 2012. Retrieved October 24, 2012.
  6. ^ "Official UK Albums Top 100". officialcharts.com.
  7. ^ "Billboard Chart - Donald Fagen". Billboard. Retrieved 2011-09-22.
  8. ^ "Sunken Condos by Donald Fagen reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
  9. ^ "Reviews for Sunken Condos by Donald Fagen". Metacritic. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  10. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Sunken Condos – Donald Fagen". AllMusic. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  11. ^ Gill, Andy (October 13, 2012). "Album: Donald Fagen, Sunken Condos (Reprise)". The Independent. Archived from the original on October 11, 2014. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  12. ^ Breen, Joe (October 19, 2012). "Donald Fagen". The Irish Times. Retrieved September 4, 2017.
  13. ^ "Donald Fagen: Sunken Condos". Mojo (229): 89. December 2012.
  14. ^ Christgau, Robert (November 13, 2012). "Taylor Swift/Donald Fagen". MSN Music. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  15. ^ "Donald Fagen: Sunken Condos". Q (317): 104. December 2012.
  16. ^ Hermes, Will (October 16, 2012). "Sunken Condos". Rolling Stone. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  17. ^ Lanthier, Joseph Jon (October 15, 2012). "Donald Fagen: Sunken Condos". Slant Magazine. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  18. ^ Scoppa, Bud (October 23, 2012). "Donald Fagen – Sunken Condos". Uncut. Archived from the original on June 2, 2017. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  19. ^ Gardner, Elysa (October 15, 2012). "Donald Fagen feels at home in 'Sunken Condos'". USA Today. Retrieved September 4, 2017.
  20. ^ "50 Best Albums of 2012: Donald Fagen, Sunken Condos". Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 30, 2012.
  21. ^ "50 Best Songs of 2012: Donald Fagen, "Weather in My Head"". Retrieved December 30, 2012.
  22. ^ Video on YouTube
  23. ^ a b Sunken Condos (booklet). Reprise. 2012.
  24. ^ Ragogna, Mike. "Sunken Condos: A Conversation with Donald Fagen & Michael Leonhart". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2012-11-16.
  25. ^ Smith, Joan K. "Once Again, Donald Fagen Delivers". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2012-11-10.
  26. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Donald Fagen – Sunken Condos" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  27. ^ "Ultratop.be – Donald Fagen – Sunken Condos" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  28. ^ "Ultratop.be – Donald Fagen – Sunken Condos" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  29. ^ "Danishcharts.dk – Donald Fagen – Sunken Condos". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  30. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Donald Fagen – Sunken Condos" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  31. ^ "Donald Fagen: Sunken Condos" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  32. ^ "Lescharts.com – Donald Fagen – Sunken Condos". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  33. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Donald Fagen – Sunken Condos" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  34. ^ "Irish-charts.com – Discography Donald Fagen". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  35. ^ "Italiancharts.com – Donald Fagen – Sunken Condos". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  36. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Donald Fagen – Sunken Condos". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  37. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Donald Fagen – Sunken Condos". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  38. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Donald Fagen – Sunken Condos". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  39. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  40. ^ "Donald Fagen Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved September 29, 2021.