Steely Dan - Two Against Nature

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Free Music Notes for Two Against Nature

Free Music Review: Becker and Fagen, Better and Again
Hit: 5 Stars

1975's Katy Lied and 1976's Royal Scam still only took 13 months a piece, with Aja then emerging in 1977 after 18 months of studio work and the group's apparent swansong, Gaucho, being released 39 months after that. Then (barring solo albums) studio silence, until now--when Two Against Nature hits the racks, 19 years and 3 months after its predecessor. Of course, Becker and Fagen didn't spend all of that time in the studio (at least not together), but it's still a fair bet, knowing the perpetrators' reputation, that this album entailed a monumentally long and painstaking detailed recording process, even by today's slowpoke superstar standards.

Fortunately--and amazingly--the results of Becker and Fagen's exertions live up to the expectations that accompany such a lengthy (an unexpectedly arrested) hiatus. Two Against Nature is an instant classic of their canon, building upon the fractured blues boogie of Pretzel Logic, the brooding power of Royal Scam, the jazz-bomb pop of Aja and the decadent post-disco dance fever of Gaucho, creating a timeless sound in the process that's as much at home today as it would have been in 1978. Or 1958 or 1988 for that matter.

The consistency of quality, timbre and tone with Steely Dan discs of yore is all the more remarkable when you consider that Becker, Fagen and stalwart engineer Roger Nichols have dropped almost all of their '70s star sidemen, relying instead on a cast of less-well-known (and presumably younger) session players. This is good news, mind you, in one particular important regard: Walter Becker plays almost all of the guitar and bass on Two Against Nature, after having shucked such responsibilities on many of the group's late '70s songs. Smart move--as the man's every bit as much of a string genius as he is a songwriting savant.

Donald Fagen is in fine form throughout the new album's run as well, his nasal voice largely unchanged and still immediately recognizable from back in the day, his palette of Wurlitzer, Fender Rhodes and clavinet sounds every bit as ingratiating and invigorating as they've ever been. He and Becker have also come up a collection of nine deliriously oblique, maddeningly cryptic, vaguely sinister and no doubt gosh-darn-dirty lyrics to match their new songs strength for strength, hook for hook and weird jazz chord for weird jazz chord.

In short, it's everything a vintage Steely Dan record should be--except that it's new. So here's looking forward to the next one, due in, oh, sometime around 2135 if their current recording pattern holds. Fingers crossed!

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