Steely Dan

This is Donald Fagen's favorite Dan album but it didn't click with the public. Perhaps that was because it's a strong album without any knockout singles on the level of "Do It Again." Still, with songs as sublime as "Gold Teeth" and "My Old School," the public was clearly wrong.

Steely Dan 1972. Five jaded guys from Gotham City going west to find the American Dream,
only to find Los Angeles, where, as they say, you can't buy a thrill. Lo and behold, what do
they find there in the promised land but two smash singles, a gold album and (drum roll)
Success. Steely Dan 1973. Countdown To Ecstasy is upon us with another dose of
mainstream rock & roll, restating the basic themes of Can't Buy a Thrill, but this ti... More >

With the replacement of lead singer David Palmer (who fit in like a cheerleader at a crap game) by composer-pianist-conversationalist Donald Fagen (who looks like he just got dressed to go out for the paper), they achieve a deceptively agreeable studio slickness--perfect licks that crackle and buzz when you listen hard, Grass Roots harmonies applied to words that are usually twisted. Not only does "Bodhisattva" come on like a jazzed-up "Rock Around the Clock"--it shines like China and sparkles like Japan. But somehow I don't think Fagen really intends to hold hands with an Enlightened One, not even out of base curiosity. (Grade - A)