Steely Dan - Two Against Nature
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Free Music Notes for Two Against Nature
Free Music Review: Fantastic!
Hit: 5 Stars
I remember when I was a sophomore in college in 1973, andSteely Dan's first album, "Can't Buy A Thrill," came out. I really
liked the first song on the album, "Do It Again," and I remember doing
something I tend to do, which is that when I find a song with intense
moments, I play the song, really the prize moments of the song, over
and over and over, 100 times, whatever. It's surprising that I can
still hear at all, but I am still doing this, often using headphones.
It puts me in a state of almost total ecstacy, but it's too bad that
the moments wear thin and I have to come back to "reality."
I think I have all of SD's albums except one that I didn't care
for. They clearly put out some super albums, and had an undeniably
universal appeal. Is there anyone who doesn't like Steely Dan? I
know of no one. I think their best album was the second one,
"Countdown To Ecstacy."
So now it's 28+ years later, and I finally got around to listening
to "Two Against Nature." When I first heard it I felt that some of
the songs were very good, but many were mediocre. Yet after many
listenings I can say that almost every song is great, maybe one or
two not so great, but overall this album is incredible. It's as if
they didn't take almost 20 years off (though Donald Fagen did record
several albums), because the music shows maturity that usually
comes only after recording many albums.
The title song, "Two Against Nature," is maybe the best song they
have ever done, at least for me, a long time listener. It has a Latin beat
with about 4 or 5 other melodies/harmonies going on at the same time. And
yes, there is the intense instrumental part in the middle of the song that I have
played at least two or three hundred times, I think it's in my genes, my
soul, whatever. Wow! And I can still hear! Also great are the song on the
radio, "Cousin Dupree," and the last song, "West of Hollywood," with the
typical Steely Dan modest, ironic lyrics (about stardom), "I'm way
deep into nothing special, riding the crest of a wave breaking just
west of Hollywood."
If per chance you haven't heard this album, get it and listen to
the title song, loud!
Free Music Review: Steely Dan Wakes Up to Middle-Aged Uncertainties
Hit: 5 Stars
Most people said that Steely Dan's reunion tours of the early 90s were some of the most "unlikely" musical events of the decade. So naturally, when "Two Against Nature" was released in 2000, fans and critics were elated with both glee and anxiety; it was their first studio release in twenty years, but after those twenty years, perhaps the odds were not looking kindly on Walter Becker and Donald Fagen. Becker said "I think the audience for Limp Bizkit is probably not going to be interested." Fagen added "Compare the names Steely Dan and Limp Bizkit, you have the answer right there." But a break in the Top Ten and four Grammys proved everyone wrong; "Two Against Nature" won Album of the Year, fortunately beating Eminem for the honor, a feat that's not bad for your first album of new material in twenty years.When one puts the whole thing in perspective, Steely Dan are the perfect "band" (i.e. duo) for this day and age; their self-criticizing cynicism and sardonic outlooks were just aching to address the musical world of the new millenium. The material cynically embraces a slew of characters who fit seamlessly with those created by Becker and Fagen in the 70s; Steely Dan sarcastically charms the self-absorbed girls one might encounter at the local mall ('Almost Gothic,' 'Negative Girl'), the narrators of the songs humorously getting nowhere as they are "hit with cryptic stuff" and "jerked around." Other tracks continue the dismal marches of the male characters one would have found in previous works like 'Midnite Cruiser' or 'Deacon Blues'; 'Jack of Speed' is a sharp example, while 'What a Shame About Me' is lyrically devastating and, as always with Becker and Fagen, musically misleading. Smooth, cool, and addictive music ironically tells the lyrical tales that are unusual and disturbing ('Cousin Dupree'), almost-sincere (almost being the key word) longings for something past (the title track, 'West of Hollywood') and just-out-of-reach romances ('Gaslighting Abbie,' 'Janie Runaway').
As always, the stories from the gutter and the more beautiful gutters are masked behind such sleek, glossy instrumentation, and Steely Dan seem as if they spent those twenty years plotting to address the year 2000. But the truth is, "Two Against Nature" proves that this kind of musical achievement can only come from a duo that knows exactly what to say and when to say it.
Free Music Review: Libations, sensations, that stagger the mind.......
Hit: 5 Stars
You see my rating, and if you are one of the Steely Dan cognoscenti you already own this CD. In the unlikely event that you have never heard Steely Dan, I would advise purchasing this newest work together with Aja and Gaucho and be prepared to receive some hellishly infective memes; and I mean you've got 'em for life.Musically and lyrically there's no room for criticism. Steely Dan is a miracle, and you can't subdivide a miracle.
To understand the disappointment found in some of these reviews one must be long enough in the tooth to remember that hits like "Reelin' in the Years", and "Rikki Don't Lose That Number", while far from being the best songs on their respective albums, nevertheless were gems of energy and sophistication sparkling amidst the dross of the era's pop airwaves. For many, these songs are inextricably linked with fond memories of early experiments in self-medication.
But,just as now, there were many Dan "afficianados" who could not make the transition from Royal Scam to Aja. And later, although hardly a transition, there were many who were "disappointed" with Gaucho, which contains arguably two of the Dan's best in "Babylon Sister" and the title track. Go figure.
When "Nightfly" was released, it seemed to be just another link in the unbroken chain of Steely Dan masterpieces. The fact that it was a solo album by Fagen simply led one to believe that he was the prime creative force behind Steely Dan. Then the release of "Kamakiriad" which, though elegant in its way, was not the equal of its predecessors. The real revelation came with "11 Tracks of Whack" by Becker, released in the early 90's, which made it instantly clear that he was as much the heart and soul of Steely Dan as Fagen. So there you have it: can't buy a thrill and can't subdivide a miracle.
If there is any disappointment with Two Against Nature it is of a superficial nature, namely the title and the cover art. Looking back at the elegant cover art on Goucho and Aja for instance, with their equally elegant and understated one word titles,it would have been nice to see that aspect carried over to the new release.But this is a petty gripe at best.Thankfully the contents are high grade, uncut Steely Dan...
Free Music Review: Same as it ever was, same as it ever was
Hit: 5 Stars
There's just something about these guys. How many times have you cringed at the thought of a band getting back together after a long lay-off. Even when it's one of your favorite bands, the thought of "New Product" can send shivers down your spine. Oh, you always hope for the best, and even tell yourself, and anyone else who will listen that "It could be good." Of course, it rarely is. Then you have to settle for the old "Well, if anyone deserves to make some money on a comeback, it's these guys" or "It's just good to hear them all together again." Well, this is one album that you don't have to make any excuses for. It is what it is. It is Steely Dan, which means perfection for those who get it, and boring jazz-lounge tunes for people who don't. Aja is easily one of the greatest albums ever made. Gaucho is close behind. However, that said, I know that many people would rank Royal Scam higher than both. Like the Beatles, and Stones and Dylan and Springsteen and countless other "GREATS", everyone has a favorite. Which means that somewhere out there, someone may say that this album is their favorite. And you know what, it just might be. It picks up right where Gaucho left off, or Donald Fagen's "Nightfly" But that's the point, Steely Dan always sounded like they just left off...from one album to another, they just grew into the SOUND...and they held on to it. Three albums into their career, they had started to define the smooth pop-jazz sound that they alone created, and from that point on, they slowly refined it, to the point of making it glisten. Very few bands create a new genre . . . but that is what Fagen and Becker did. Other bands change, skating to one genre to the next, but Steely Dan just created a new one. And after more than 15 years apart, they decided to revisit it. This album, like most of their work, has to be heard more than once. On first listen only a few tunes will stand out, Cousin Depree and the title track, but slowly the album's treaures reveal themselves, and you start to see that not only are they returning once again to their little world, but they are doing you a favor by letting you tag along for the ride. Settle in and enjoy the trip. It's been way too long.Free Music Review: sophistication, satire and style
Hit: 5 Stars
The nay-sayers have their day but in the end great work like this rises above the noisome patter that passes for critiques. The people who refer to this as glorified elevator music are free to give Steely Dan a pass next time around. Smooth and sophisticated is not canned. The maturity of the production evident I these tracks fools people who are used to all the sturm und drang that passes for popular music today.
Reading the complaints that all the songs are the same is pretty sad but expected. There are none of the variable wanging riffs and thunderous hooks that beat their sameness set to different rhythms (more of today's excuse for popular music) into poor sounding bass vs. treble mediocrity here.
What is here is a subtle but observantly sharp musical performance at it's best. Becker and Fagen take full advantage of the audio tech heads to bring wit and clarity to their craft.
The first track, Gaslighting Abbie is pop decadence, sweet, potent but also subversive fun.
What a Shame About Me cuts straight to the ego driven life of foundering celebrity, life passing him by as he tries to remain relevant. From a musical perspective the arrangement is spare with obvious but low key hooks acting as a sparse but strangely rich landscape that carries the first person account through it's desperate odyssey.
Those are just the first two tracks and they're not the strongest in the line-up.
In the end a person either gets this stuff or they don't. Some nostalgia heavy fans will dismiss this as not as good as their past work in the seventies. That's too bad because this is as good and in some ways better.
This is music that digs deep and etches itself on your DNA if the listeners give in to it and stop demanding that their expectations be met. In fact this is just like their best work in that it creeps in and takes up residence.
Not everyone is bound to like this. Those who do will carry these musical extravagances with them until they shuffle off their mortal coils.
For what it's worth my two favorite tracks are Almost Gothic and West of Hollywood. These two guys never cease to provide me with a sense of musical wonder.