Today we start Steely Dan. Formed in 1972, the core of the band consisted of Walter Becker, guitarist, and Donald Fagen, keyboardist, who together wrote all the songs on Steely Dan albums. Along with a rotating line of musicians, they were a rock band who incorporate jazz and sometimes Latin influences into their music. Because of their unique sound, Rolling Stone magazine dubbed them "the perfect musical antiheroes of the seventies." I'm not exactly sure where we'll stop with the full reviews for the band, but we'll at least go to their sixth studio album Aja. Let's get into them!
Today we have Steely Dan's first studio album Can't Buy a Thrill. Released in 1972, the album was a critical and commercial success at the time of its release and is now generally considered one of the greatest albums of all time. The album title is taken from a lyric in Bob Dylan's "It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry." Since Fagen had stage fright while performing live, three of the songs are sung by David Palmer and Jim Hodder, both of whom were only part of the band for its first two years. Becker played bass on the album and Jeff "Skunk" Baxter played most of the lead guitar.
The nice, soft vocals and harmonies, Baxter's bright guitar, and Fagen's organ all work wonderfully together to juxtapose one thing: the many many tragic lyrics. A criminal who's not worth hanging on "Do It Again," a self-loathing backdoor man on "Dirty Work," and one cruel king replaced by another for the people of Nottingham on "Kings" and that's just the first three songs. In fact, "Midnite Cruiser" was the only song I found to not have an impressive lyric. The jazz and Latin influences work nicely to make a unique and cohesive sound for the album and, in particular, strengthen songs like "Only a Fool Would Say That," "Reelin' in the Years," and "Brooklyn (Owes the Charmer Under Me)," the latter of which even incorporates some country with a pedal steel guitar. And Steely Dan know how to end an album on a high note: "Turn That Heartbeat Over Again" is a nice tale of a heroin addict who prays his heart doesn't stop before he turns his life around. A-
