Steely Dan - Two Against Nature
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Free Music Notes for Two Against Nature
Free Music Review: music for adults, by adults
Hit: 5 Stars
While touches and extensions of ideas presented in Gaucho, The Nightfly, Kamakiriad, and to a much lesser extent Aja, Royal Scam, and Katy Lied are present, Two Against Nature actually resembles a better engineered Alive in America in form and style. Anyone who has seen the PBS special has heard how easily these songs translate into a live set. The core of the album was recorded live with of course oodles (for months and months) of tweaking afterwards - thus it sounds a lot tighter than Aja or Gaucho. Unlike Steely Dan's first incarnation where West-cast jazz influences were as strong as their cool jazz and bop roots, which were hidden behind Gary Katz ear candy shield, this time around the stuff they love is up front: Miles Davis, Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, Horace Silver, a *heavy* dose of funk, blues, and even Henry Mancini and Burt Bacharach. There's virtually little rock at all except on Cousin Dupree and to a lesser extent Jack of Speed and What a Shame About Me. IMHO, this is a strong statement - not a weak cut here. Almost Gothic, Negative Girl, West of Hollywood, and Janie Runaway are my favorites. I'm puzzled by those claiming lack of melody. All I can say is finger these on a keyboard or guitar and compare them against Peg, Rikki. etc. Perhaps it's that these melodies, as does the album, reflect more of the 50s and 40s then the garbage that has been stuffed down the consumers' throats over the last 20 years!Free Music Review: Becker joins Fagan for more fun . . .
Hit: 5 Stars
Two Against Nature does sound a lot like Donald Fagan's solo efforts, which is great news for those of us who loved that work. For those who would have this album harken back to the days of "Can't Buy a Thrill", don't buy it! There is no hard rock here. Personally, I have always thought it was Steely Dan's jazzy/funky edge that made them special, and they have grown with my tastes which tend toward jazz now that I am older (as they are). The lyrics in these songs are as evocative and catchy as Fagan's solo work, and each song tells a story. Most of the stories are so well crafted you feel you have read a long novel about the characters' lives by the time you're through. As usual, his songs are about interesting people with interesting lives that look nothing like mine, which is why I love them. No, there is no "Chained Lightning" or "Reelin' In the Years" here, but if you digged Fagan's solo work you'll love this album too. If you didn't like Fagan's "Night Fly" and his other solo albums then you didn't escape the time warp. Like it or not they moved on and this is where their (his) music went. This is what happens to cool beat dudes who get older and cooler. It is a very cool album and it stayed in my CD player for weeks when I bought it. Listen to it at least ten times before you pass judgment - you just might get converted to the slick catchy beats. If you do dig it, go out and get all Fagan's solo albums too!Free Music Review: Right Where They Left Off??
Hit: 5 Stars
I have read a number of reviews of Steely Dan's first album release in two decades. The thematic sentiment is that somehow they have transported themselves to a time just subsequent to the release of Gaucho, their last album prior to this release, and have picked up where they left off. And, the reviewers seem to believe that this is a good thing. I have listened to Two Against Nature, and listened and listened. This album is as far away from Gaucho as Aja is from Can't Buy A Thrill. It has, by far, the most jazz, blues and funk sounds of any previous Dan album. Becker and Fagen's jazz chops and Becker's blues chops have developed to such a degree to create almost the unthinkable -- a new Steely Dan sound. And, most would ask why they would want to do that.
Two Against Nature is a work of sophistication that amazes me, the most ardent fan. My first reaction was that of wonderment. What kind of sound is this,? I asked myself. I put the album away after the first listen and brought it out several months later. Since its resurrection in my car CD player, not a day has passed that I have not listened to it. I am most taken by the pure Blues that eminates from Becker's guitar solos. Some who do not understand the blues, might find the solos, "simple." but it is classic blues playing in the order of B.B. King.
All in all, this is a great album, absolutely worthy of the Grammy awards it garnished and it occupy's the first slot in my CD deck.
Free Music Review: Great Jazz Music
Hit: 5 Stars
You certainly need to give this more than 2 listens (see a previous reviewer!) before passing judgement, but as the plays go by I find some truths to be self-evident. The lyrics are among the best the dynamic duo have produced, the production is just fine and the sound is unmistakeably Steely Dan. Critics point to 'lack of heart', 'glossy' , 'cynical' and ho hum where have we heard this before... in the reviews for Aja, Gaucho etc etc. I was around in those days and I can remember.... Suddenly in the Noo Millennium everyone wants to be a fan but seem to want SD to be something other than what they are. I think the passage of time will reveal 'Almost Gothic' and 'Jack of Speed' at least to be bona fide SD classics to rank alongside 'Rikky', 'Peg' and the rest. 'Janie Runaway' and 'Cousin Dupree' complete a snortin' middle section that show WB and DF have lost none of their talents for a witty lyric, a snazzy chord change and a catchy hook. The longer tunes might have benefited from some other soloists... Walter's guitar style gets a bit repetitive over all 9 tracks and I can't really see the point of Chris Potter's 'look how fast I can play' 4 minute blow on 'West of Hollywood' but what the hell.. Any other bunch of musicians working today would have given their right-arms to have made this record and it's great jazz music. So just enjoy it and stop worrying.Free Music Review: Raise up your glass to good king don.
Hit: 5 Stars
I just can't understand the many people who rave about Gaucho. In my opinion it's by far the weakest Dan album, it sounds tired, desperate and had I been listening to music at the time ( I was 2) their subsequent breakup wouldn't have surprised me. Aja kind of worked as a re-invention after their purple patch incorporating Katy Lied and the Royal Scam, but by Gaucho the tunes were running thin, and 'third world man' sounds like Fagen's about to hang up his gloves.
This however is a Steely Dan album worthy of the name, which really is remarkable given the circumstances (and Everything Must Go is even stronger). It's a grower - at first listen other than the standout tracks 'Jack of Speed' and 'almost Gothic' which I tkink bear favourable comparison to anything the duo have done before, I thought the album sounded a bit samey. But it slowly releases it's magic, and becomes more addictive with every repeat listen. Lyrically it's up there with 'The Nightfly', with wry and sometimes hilariously self deprecatory tracks such as 'Shame About Me' and 'Cousin Depree', musically it's a smooth as they come, with brass and controlled guitar licks pasted perfectly over jazzy melodies and frameworks.
If you're a fan of Dan from the 70s you've got to get this album. Ditto if you've never heard them before in your life.