This has one of Donald’s funniest lyrics, the part when she gives Dupree the shaft : “Maybe it’s the skeevy look in your eyes or that your mind has turned to applesauce ... the dreary architecture of your soul ...” Dupree : “What is it exactly turns you off ?”
Oh Hell yeah! Donald always enjoys stirring the pot. Jack of Speed from this album is also Fantastic. But you guys have unfinished business with The Nightfly. You owe yourselves a complete listen--it stands with The Dan's best works. Love you guys.
The Album of the Year award at the 43rd Annual Grammy Awards held on February 21, 2001, was won by Steely Dan for their album Two Against Nature. The album also won Best Engineered Album, Best Pop Vocal Album, and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals..
I've never understood why some fans hate the reunion albums. They're just as good as the earlier stuff. The lyrics and production quality are some of the best they've done. Even Fagen said Everything Must Go is their best album if he had to pick.
After a 20 year hiatus it was amazing that they just swung back into it like they had just been down to the store for a loaf of bread. The two final albums were every bit as good as the first phase of the band, the sound had just evolved a little as it did throughout their earlier career. I would ask you this, ‘if you had heard that song without knowing who it was would you have guessed the artist?’ Of course you would!. You need to hear some more of the later music before writing their later work off.
Jack of Speed, What a Shame About Me, Janie Runaway. Give it a chance, it won a Grammy. I love the 2003 one, their last. even better. and Everything Must Go, the title song of the album and the last track on the album and their recording career, is a great song to go out on.
Jack of Speed, Janie Runaway, Almost Gothic, Negative Girl, and the EPIC WEst of Hollywood are the definitive tracks from Two Against Nature. What a Shame About Me is solid as well.
In my book, "Two Against Nature" is up there with "Gaucho" and the rest. In my case I had to wait 20 years for it. "Jack of Speed" is up with their best. My only niggle with this record is that the didn't use as many studio guitar players. I like Walter's guitar work, but he would be the first to admit (and has) that he's not up there with the likes of Dean Parks and Larry Carlton. Still, a great record.
That's surreal. I have never heard this cut before ever, but I absolutely loved it, and to me it sounds like classic top-notch Steely Dan for sure. 100%. It's so damn good, and I could listen to that over and over, and it makes me want to hear more from this album. It had a great groove and a smooth pocket, and there were chromatics in it for sure. There were subtle ones in the bass guitar line and on one of the keys, and then the guitar was doing all kinds of Blues chromatics, just sharp little chirps and bends. It's so fun and so groovy. And the lyrics and the singing are absolutely perfect. I even got up and danced to do it a little and it felt good. It's fun. It's almost like we listened to two entirely different songs!
Please note: Cousin Dupree was decreed “the single”….and is a complete confection (except for the deliciously vicious lyrics). The rest of their post 2000 work is as sophisticated as ever.
This album, 2AN, ends with a BANG(er). "West of Hollywood" is an energetic throwback, sounding more like it was penned in the late 70' - between Scam and Aja. It is the highpoint of the album for me and many others, and strongly punctuates the close of the album like "Royal Scam" closes RS. You guys HAVE to go there soon. Always enjoy your takes. Happy listening my friends.
That is a good point, walter did all the solo work on this album, but you are right, what made the Dan great is pulling from multiple musicians to see who add the best to each song. That being said, agree 100% about west of hollywood and that has some of walters best solo guitar work ever.
Guys.... "Two Against Nature" and "West of Hollywood" are the signature pieces from this LP. You gotta do "Everything Must Go" from the LP titled the same.....their final LP. It's got a mean walkin' sax. Always enjoy the energy fellas!
Y'all need to find and watch the PBS In the Spotlight special "Plush TV Jazz-Rock Party". It's a Steely Dan documentary/concert related to the release of this album. I watched it when it came out and then later on purchased a copy of it. My kids, who were around 14/15 yo at the time, watched it with me, and have been serious Steely Dan fans ever since.
The beauty of 70’s music and their offshoots is that groups weren’t ever tied to one particular sound. Musicians were free to explore all of their musical influences. Things never got boring!
I was hoping you guys would get to the 2 reunion albums The excitement we felt hearing the DJ say new from steely Dan after 20 years This was the single release I think you will enjoy the rest of it and the final one. More of what you're used to by them
I love this song. Some might find the lyrics offensive, but that doesn't mean it is not a great lyric and hilarious to boot. It's dark humor--and that is part of Steely Dan.
"Hey 19" isn't about a perv, it's about an aging hipster lothario who feels out of touch, and losing his mojo as he ages out of dating, becomes irrelevant and his old girlfriends have moved on to straight lives.
From Steely Dan,Pink Floyd, Grateful Dead to Z.Z.Top. We just called it Rock. It was all played F.M..F.M. that sounds like it would make a good sound.Humm.
Look, this freaking album won a grammy, and for good reason. Don't judge it by "Cousin Dupree". That was the most commercial piece of music the Dan ever produced. You wanna get an idea of how good that album was and how good Steely Dan was when they put it out? Watch their video, "Plush TV Jazz Rock Party". It was taped at a fairly intimate little club in New York and it absolutely sizzles. They do a lot of "Two" but their renditions of "Black Friday" and "Pretzel Logic" are insane, along with "FM" and "Babylon Sisters". Hell, the whole thing is epic. If you haven't seen it yet you'll be kicking yourself in the ass the rest of your life for not spending more time enjoying it.
I second, third, fourth, and infinity that. Plush TV Jazz Rock Party is my favorite of their live videos--you'll get Becker once you see him play. Also, Fagen tells some great stories.
@@CuriousGeorge1111, they are both so totally themselves. That guy at the end who runs the Steely Dan Club? He is a pure conduit of Dan and I love him.
I’ve always felt that Steely Dan were under appreciated. Are they jazz? Are they pop? Make up your mind! What they were was great! And their lyrics and storytelling are wry, sardonic and superb.
The song that really floats my boat from this album is West of Hollywood but I'd seriously love it if you did Donald Fagen's Kamakiriad album, the most underrated science fiction funk album ever.
Keep listening too this album please don’t give up! It’s one of my favourites! I love What a shame about me, almost gothic .. or just start from beginning and work your way through! It’s a great listen ❤️❤️❤️
As much as you’re into saxophone, I don’t see on your playlist the most outstanding sax solo on any Dan album. That would be Walt Weiskopf on “Everything Must Go” from the Steely Dan album of the same name. Do yourself a favor and give it a listen. I started to listen to Steely Dan when their first album came out. I was in college then and I haven’t stopped. Like your channel.
Great honest reaction - "I was curious, I wanted to hear something off of here" - and you managed to pick the worst song hahaha. Gaslighting Abbie, Negative Girl, West of Hollywood, Janie Runaway....these are the songs you're looking for with those crazy changes, insane musicianship and deep pockets
ABSOLUTELY TRUTH!! I'd add Almost Gothic as the classic, epic tracks from Two Against Nature. West of Hollywood is Aja level and beyond! I never liked Cousin Dupree very much - it sounds like pre-Michael McDonald Doobie Bros. Maybe from Stampede or Vices.
hello fellas hope you are well , on a totally different note, i was wondering if you have watched a performance called ... stomp ? (Stomp is a percussion group, originating in Brighton, England, that uses the body and ordinary objects to create a physical theatre performance using rhythms, acrobatics and pantomime.) very cool to watch well worth reacting to or in your own time if you play drums you will like stomp. all my best to you and yours from Liverpool
interesting take on T,A,N, it has some great tracks in my opinion, I love Almost Gothic and What a shame about me , which is almost too sad and always reminds me of (not in musical terms tho) of Chris Chapin's Taxi, always loved the line from What a shame "I'm thinking of a major Jane Street sunrise And the goddess on the fire escape was you". Always enjoy your videos.
This had the sound of Gaucho and everything that came after it. Some of it was great, like Godwacker, Jack of Speed, Everything Must Go and Two Against Nature. Also most of the Nightfly album. Then there is also a lot of stuff not up to their earlier standards in albums 1-6. Stuff like this.
I would say only Cousin Dupree and The Last Mall and Blues Beach from Everything Must Go aren't up to the standards. Janie Runaway, West of Hollywood, Almost Gothic, Negative Girl, Pixeleen, Greenbook, Lunch with Gina and the tracks you mentioned are at that level, sometimes beyond.
Yous would like this...When The Levee Breaks feat. John Paul Jones | Playing For Change | Song Around The World(feat.derek trucks n susan tedeschi n others)
I hope you don't give up on this album. I really, really hope not. For whatever reason, this song gets credit from old fans and some critics (who I don't feel are in the know), but I don't like it at all. I guess everyone has their own opinion, and I guess Donald and Walter must have liked it, but I just don't get anything out of this song. Songs that I think will blow you away off this album would be...Janie Runaway, Almost Gothic, Gaslighting Abbey, Negative Girl. They are songs of the type that you have to give them a few listens to really appreciate them, but when what's going on in the song starts to click, you realize you just got your mind blown. Very jazzy, experimental song structures, and catchy too. You mention it not sounding the same as the old Steely Dan. This is true. If you follow Donald Fagen's solo work, I think you notice a slow transition to the musical style you find on this album. He wasn't content, or probably able, to stay the same as an artist, so things changed over time.
I agree with Dupree having no appeal for me. I like the songs you suggest from Two Against Nature. I also feel, no Dan song beats Gaslighting Abbey for a killer groove!
OK Fellas. I think it's time to review one if the greatest sings, especially lyrically, of the late 70s. WATCHING THE DETECTIVES. By Elvis Costello. Please, read the lyrics as you do the reaction. I'm the annoying guy who pleaded for HE KNEW by KANSAS. Love you guys.
The black keys are there! But SD is faking the blues here. Flat minor 7ths, flatted 9ths etc. Less ear candy. Having said that, there are about 6 epic tracks on TAN, and the same for EMG.
This song is not bad however it is not one I like enough to seek out to listen to again. Some thoughts I had while listening and reading others comments about it being a single. Say the record company pressed them for a single(not that I know they could be pressured given their success and status). Unhappy about that might Donald and Walter say to each other…okay let’s give them their freaking single….but one that will never get airplay due to its subject matter? To be clear I am not saying this happened…just my imagination going off here….maybe shoveling snow earlier in minus 20 windchill is to blame😂
🤣La had me laughing so hard, and I totally agree with him. They do sound very different from what the "original" SD sounded like, in this song "Cousin Dupree" (Another cringeworthy topic. lol) (IMO) Here's another song from the same album. *"Steely Dan - Janie Runaway" (studio version) (by the channel: Steely Dan)* (IMO) this specific song "Janie Runaway" sounds closer to their older selves. I'm looking forward to hearing what you two think. 🤔
This is indeed part of the post breakup sound. It didn’t always sound this way after Gaucho, but this comparitively straight ahead groove was a feature in the solo albums and the two SD albums. Cousin Dupree shouldn’t necessarily get a star. Not before West of Hollywood, or Negative Girl, or Almost Gothic (among others on 2VN) and not before all sorts of other tracks on Everything Must Go and the solo albums.
The rest of the album doesn't sound like Cousin Dupree. Dupree reminds me of an early Doobie Bros. song more than classic Steely Dan. The rest of the album is more jazz, funk, and R&B.
Cousin Dupree is NOT the star. I always thought it was a throwaway to complete the album Two Against NAture. The record company released Cousin Dupress as the lead single. Donald and Walter wanted Janie Runaway as the lead single instead. Jack of Speed would have been a great single as well or an edited West of Hollywood. Both Janie Runaway and West of Hollywood have killer sax solos by Chris Potter. Almost Gothic and Negative Girl are understated and jazzy. Classic SD tracks. Cousin Dupree, Brooklyn, and Change of the Guard are my least favorite SD tracks. On Everything Must Go, skip The Last Mall and Blues Beach. Godwhacker, Greenbook, Pixeleen, Lunch with Gina, and Everything Must Go are Epic tracks from the last album. I also like Slang of Ages - Walter sings it and its way cool.
This has one of Donald’s funniest lyrics, the part when she gives Dupree the shaft : “Maybe it’s the skeevy look in your eyes or that your mind has turned to applesauce ... the dreary architecture of your soul ...”
Dupree : “What is it exactly turns you off ?”
This has one of Donald and/or Walter’s funniest lyrics.
Love this one… sounds like classic Steely Dan to me…
Oh Hell yeah! Donald always enjoys stirring the pot. Jack of Speed from this album is also Fantastic. But you guys have unfinished business with The Nightfly. You owe yourselves a complete listen--it stands with The Dan's best works. Love you guys.
And then at least a couple of tunes from DF's "Kamakiriad," especially "Tomorrow's Girls" and "Trans-Island Skyway."
Florida Room is my favorite off that album. Great album. Beach vibes 🏖️
"I pretended to read the National Probe while I was watching her wax her skis." The salacious subtext hilarious.
that album won album of the year
The Album of the Year award at the 43rd Annual Grammy Awards held on February 21, 2001, was won by Steely Dan for their album Two Against Nature. The album also won Best Engineered Album, Best Pop Vocal Album, and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals..
No doubt why M&M was nominated, they had to have something to offset the lyrics of the winner.
Always really loved Almost Gothic from this album. Some beautiful chord changes on that one.
"Jack of Speed" is a must - such a groove.
Killer.
Humor definitely belongs music.
"The dreary architecture of your soul" is one of the most cutting lines ever sung.
Single of the Year Grammy in 2000. And a killer groove ...
Excellent Album, this and Everything Must Go, were a great pair of Closing Albums to Steely Dans Rein.
I've never understood why some fans hate the reunion albums. They're just as good as the earlier stuff. The lyrics and production quality are some of the best they've done. Even Fagen said Everything Must Go is their best album if he had to pick.
After a 20 year hiatus it was amazing that they just swung back into it like they had just been down to the store for a loaf of bread. The two final albums were every bit as good as the first phase of the band, the sound had just evolved a little as it did throughout their earlier career. I would ask you this, ‘if you had heard that song without knowing who it was would you have guessed the artist?’ Of course you would!. You need to hear some more of the later music before writing their later work off.
The 2 reunion albums were brilliant, they never lost it!
Jack of Speed, What a Shame About Me, Janie Runaway. Give it a chance, it won a Grammy. I love the 2003 one, their last. even better. and Everything Must Go, the title song of the album and the last track on the album and their recording career, is a great song to go out on.
How amazing is it that they can not make a record for two decades and sound like it's a year later..... Wow
Steely Dan 💯
Best band you've never heard of CLUTCH
"ELECTRIC WORRY"
Such good lyrics. "You're skeevy and have mush for brains." "Ok, so what's the problem?"😂
first time I heard it gave me an incest vibe lol
Walter kicks guitar butt. My faves from TAN are What A Shame About Me and Jack Of Speed.
Jack of Speed, Janie Runaway, Almost Gothic, Negative Girl, and the EPIC WEst of Hollywood are the definitive tracks from Two Against Nature. What a Shame About Me is solid as well.
In my book, "Two Against Nature" is up there with "Gaucho" and the rest. In my case I had to wait 20 years for it. "Jack of Speed" is up with their best. My only niggle with this record is that the didn't use as many studio guitar players. I like Walter's guitar work, but he would be the first to admit (and has) that he's not up there with the likes of Dean Parks and Larry Carlton. Still, a great record.
That's surreal. I have never heard this cut before ever, but I absolutely loved it, and to me it sounds like classic top-notch Steely Dan for sure. 100%. It's so damn good, and I could listen to that over and over, and it makes me want to hear more from this album.
It had a great groove and a smooth pocket, and there were chromatics in it for sure. There were subtle ones in the bass guitar line and on one of the keys, and then the guitar was doing all kinds of Blues chromatics, just sharp little chirps and bends. It's so fun and so groovy. And the lyrics and the singing are absolutely perfect. I even got up and danced to do it a little and it felt good. It's fun.
It's almost like we listened to two entirely different songs!
The song you must hear is the last one on the album entitled “West of Hollywood”. A sax outro of epic proportions.🔥
En fuego. Also, Jack of Speed, Janie Runaway, Almost Gothic, Negative Girl
Damn the engineering on this is craaaaazzzyyyyy. What a mix.
Please note: Cousin Dupree was decreed “the single”….and is a complete confection (except for the deliciously vicious lyrics). The rest of their post 2000 work is as sophisticated as ever.
This is my favorite track from this album. Lyrics are hilarious!
This album, 2AN, ends with a BANG(er). "West of Hollywood" is an energetic throwback, sounding more like it was penned in the late 70' - between Scam and Aja. It is the highpoint of the album for me and many others, and strongly punctuates the close of the album like "Royal Scam" closes RS. You guys HAVE to go there soon. Always enjoy your takes. Happy listening my friends.
That is a good point, walter did all the solo work on this album, but you are right, what made the Dan great is pulling from multiple musicians to see who add the best to each song. That being said, agree 100% about west of hollywood and that has some of walters best solo guitar work ever.
West of Hollywood was from an abandoned 1980s reunion album for Steely Dan. Epic tune and recording.
@@jml-rj5re Can you speak about the reunion album never heard of it.
Guys.... "Two Against Nature" and "West of Hollywood" are the signature pieces from this LP. You gotta do "Everything Must Go" from the LP titled the same.....their final LP. It's got a mean walkin' sax. Always enjoy the energy fellas!
Godwhacker, Greenbook, Pixeleen, Lunch with Gina, and the title track are clear winners from Everything Must Go.
Another vote for Jack Of Speed from this album. And Donald's solo effort with Weather In My Head. Please.
You sir, have good taste.
Yes - Jack of Speed, West of Hollywood, Almost Gothic, Janie Runaway, Negative Girl are classic. What a Shame About Me is solid.
Jack of Speed and West of Hollywood have to be next. This is a Grammy award album!!!!!!
Y'all need to find and watch the PBS In the Spotlight special "Plush TV Jazz-Rock Party". It's a Steely Dan documentary/concert related to the release of this album. I watched it when it came out and then later on purchased a copy of it. My kids, who were around 14/15 yo at the time, watched it with me, and have been serious Steely Dan fans ever since.
I hope you get to Jack of Speed from this album, it's one of my favorites.
A meaning far deeper than face value. Always gotta read between the lines with them! No matter what they do, it's genius.
Love it. Skeevy, great word!
Absolutely. 👍
The Two Against Nature concert dvd is also fantastic. Make sure your subwoofers are up to the task. If they are, your neighbors will HATE you! lol
The beauty of 70’s music and their offshoots is that groups weren’t ever tied to one particular sound. Musicians were free to explore all of their musical influences. Things never got boring!
One helluva interesting song....they do it again
I was hoping you guys would get to the 2 reunion albums
The excitement we felt hearing the DJ say new from steely Dan after 20 years
This was the single release
I think you will enjoy the rest of it and the final one.
More of what you're used to by them
Donald Fagen will always take it back to the rhythm n blues of the 50's...
I love this song. Some might find the lyrics offensive, but that doesn't mean it is not a great lyric and hilarious to boot. It's dark humor--and that is part of Steely Dan.
Well yeah, dark seedy humor is what Steely Dan is all about. It's why we keep coming back for more!!
I liked it,never heard it before thanks for the review.
They sound great, I didn't realize they released anything in 2000! Thanks for doing this.
Donald Fagen released two solo albums before TAN. Walter released one.
I got out of my chair and danced to it!
20 years on hiatus come back with an album and win a Grammy. That’s the Dan .
This song cracks me up.... another pervy protagonist a la Hey 19. The Dan doesn't always have to be serious musicians.
"Hey 19" isn't about a perv, it's about an aging hipster lothario who feels out of touch, and losing his mojo as he ages out of dating, becomes irrelevant and his old girlfriends have moved on to straight lives.
From Steely Dan,Pink Floyd, Grateful Dead to Z.Z.Top. We just called it Rock. It was all played F.M..F.M. that sounds like it would make a good sound.Humm.
Look, this freaking album won a grammy, and for good reason. Don't judge it by "Cousin Dupree". That was the most commercial piece of music the Dan ever produced.
You wanna get an idea of how good that album was and how good Steely Dan was when they put it out? Watch their video, "Plush TV Jazz Rock Party". It was taped at a fairly intimate little club in New York and it absolutely sizzles. They do a lot of "Two" but their renditions of "Black Friday" and "Pretzel Logic" are insane, along with "FM" and "Babylon Sisters". Hell, the whole thing is epic. If you haven't seen it yet you'll be kicking yourself in the ass the rest of your life for not spending more time enjoying it.
I second, third, fourth, and infinity that. Plush TV Jazz Rock Party is my favorite of their live videos--you'll get Becker once you see him play. Also, Fagen tells some great stories.
@@CuriousGeorge1111, they are both so totally themselves. That guy at the end who runs the Steely Dan Club? He is a pure conduit of Dan and I love him.
I’ve always felt that Steely Dan were under appreciated. Are they jazz? Are they pop? Make up your mind! What they were was great! And their lyrics and storytelling are wry, sardonic and superb.
The song that really floats my boat from this album is West of Hollywood but I'd seriously love it if you did Donald Fagen's Kamakiriad album, the most underrated science fiction funk album ever.
Jack of Speed..great track
Dupree is a very funny song if you catch the lyrics. “The dreary architecture of your soul…”. “But what exactly is it turns you off?”
My favorite line in the song.
This is a great album
Keep listening too this album please don’t give up! It’s one of my favourites! I love What a shame about me, almost gothic .. or just start from beginning and work your way through! It’s a great listen ❤️❤️❤️
My autistic side GROOVES with these cats… on point
I agree that this has similar feels to some of their earliest stuff.
Hi guys I think that you will enjoy Jack of Speed from this album. Its a wonderful track Love all of your critiques by the way, Cheers from Australia.
Can't beat this Band
As much as you’re into saxophone, I don’t see on your playlist the most outstanding sax solo on any Dan album. That would be Walt Weiskopf on “Everything Must Go” from the Steely Dan album of the same name. Do yourself a favor and give it a listen. I started to listen to Steely Dan when their first album came out. I was in college then and I haven’t stopped. Like your channel.
Back with the Dan whoop. You have to listen too “Gas Lighting Abbie “ it will blow your mind
Jack of Speed is straight 🔥
Pretty much all SD is great.
Hey guys check out Donald’s last album Sunken Condos
Like others have said: Jack of Speed!
They are touring now I believe.
They went in a more jazz/blues direction. Won Album of the year. Check out Jack of Speed and West of Hollywood (Chris Potter sax!).
🙏❤🌹 Walter 🌹❤🙏
Almost gothic and Negative girl are the ones you should listen too Negative girl is one of their best songs ever 😉
Suggest you watch the Two Against Nature concert.
The moody blues / send me no wine
Grammy winning song.
Great honest reaction - "I was curious, I wanted to hear something off of here" - and you managed to pick the worst song hahaha.
Gaslighting Abbie, Negative Girl, West of Hollywood, Janie Runaway....these are the songs you're looking for with those crazy changes, insane musicianship and deep pockets
ABSOLUTELY TRUTH!! I'd add Almost Gothic as the classic, epic tracks from Two Against Nature. West of Hollywood is Aja level and beyond! I never liked Cousin Dupree very much - it sounds like pre-Michael McDonald Doobie Bros. Maybe from Stampede or Vices.
hello fellas hope you are well , on a totally different note, i was wondering if you have watched a performance called ... stomp ? (Stomp is a percussion group, originating in Brighton, England, that uses the body and ordinary objects to create a physical theatre performance using rhythms, acrobatics and pantomime.)
very cool to watch well worth reacting to or in your own time if you play drums you will like stomp. all my best to you and yours from Liverpool
interesting take on T,A,N, it has some great tracks in my opinion, I love Almost Gothic and What a shame about me , which is almost too sad and always reminds me of (not in musical terms tho) of Chris Chapin's Taxi, always loved the line from What a shame "I'm thinking of a major Jane Street sunrise And the goddess on the fire escape was you". Always enjoy your videos.
This had the sound of Gaucho and everything that came after it. Some of it was great, like Godwacker, Jack of Speed, Everything Must Go and Two Against Nature. Also most of the Nightfly album. Then there is also a lot of stuff not up to their earlier standards in albums 1-6. Stuff like this.
I would say only Cousin Dupree and The Last Mall and Blues Beach from Everything Must Go aren't up to the standards. Janie Runaway, West of Hollywood, Almost Gothic, Negative Girl, Pixeleen, Greenbook, Lunch with Gina and the tracks you mentioned are at that level, sometimes beyond.
Yous would like this...When The Levee Breaks feat. John Paul Jones | Playing For Change | Song Around The World(feat.derek trucks n susan tedeschi n others)
Hey fellas. You really should check out "Almost Gothic" from this album. Peace
Check out Rachel Flowers-Trilogy w/ modular moog-ELP. Its unbelievable
Negative Girl from this album
ZZ Top - Ten Foot Pole
Damn I forgot about that one 😂
You two need to listen to Kamakiriad by Donald from 1993
You guys should react to Dear Mr Fantasy by Traffic. Crosby Stills and Nash do a great version of it too.
👍
I hope you don't give up on this album. I really, really hope not. For whatever reason, this song gets credit from old fans and some critics (who I don't feel are in the know), but I don't like it at all. I guess everyone has their own opinion, and I guess Donald and Walter must have liked it, but I just don't get anything out of this song. Songs that I think will blow you away off this album would be...Janie Runaway, Almost Gothic, Gaslighting Abbey, Negative Girl.
They are songs of the type that you have to give them a few listens to really appreciate them, but when what's going on in the song starts to click, you realize you just got your mind blown. Very jazzy, experimental song structures, and catchy too. You mention it not sounding the same as the old Steely Dan. This is true. If you follow Donald Fagen's solo work, I think you notice a slow transition to the musical style you find on this album. He wasn't content, or probably able, to stay the same as an artist, so things changed over time.
I agree with Dupree having no appeal for me. I like the songs you suggest from Two Against Nature. I also feel, no Dan song beats Gaslighting Abbey for a killer groove!
Like others have said, please don't give up on this album and try Jack of Speed or Two Against Nature.
Negative girl good tune from this album.
I prefer state-of-the-art production from 1976 more than the same from 2000. It's still pretty cool, though.
OK Fellas. I think it's time to review one if the greatest sings, especially lyrically, of the late 70s. WATCHING THE DETECTIVES. By Elvis Costello. Please, read the lyrics as you do the reaction. I'm the annoying guy who pleaded for HE KNEW by KANSAS. Love you guys.
The black keys are there! But SD is faking the blues here. Flat minor 7ths, flatted 9ths etc. Less ear candy. Having said that, there are about 6 epic tracks on TAN, and the same for EMG.
Grammy awards mean Nothing, just like an Oscar or Golden Globe.
This song is not bad however it is not one I like enough to seek out to listen to again. Some thoughts I had while listening and reading others comments about it being a single. Say the record company pressed them for a single(not that I know they could be pressured given their success and status). Unhappy about that might Donald and Walter say to each other…okay let’s give them their freaking single….but one that will never get airplay due to its subject matter? To be clear I am not saying this happened…just my imagination going off here….maybe shoveling snow earlier in minus 20 windchill is to blame😂
Note that his cousin Janine does not object to his advances because they happen to be cousins... she just doesn't like him. What???
🤣La had me laughing so hard, and I totally agree with him. They do sound very different from what the "original" SD sounded like, in this song "Cousin Dupree" (Another cringeworthy topic. lol) (IMO) Here's another song from the same album. *"Steely Dan - Janie Runaway" (studio version) (by the channel: Steely Dan)* (IMO) this specific song "Janie Runaway" sounds closer to their older selves. I'm looking forward to hearing what you two think. 🤔
This is indeed part of the post breakup sound. It didn’t always sound this way after Gaucho, but this comparitively straight ahead groove was a feature in the solo albums and the two SD albums.
Cousin Dupree shouldn’t necessarily get a star. Not before West of Hollywood, or Negative Girl, or Almost Gothic (among others on 2VN) and not before all sorts of other tracks on Everything Must Go and the solo albums.
The title track of this album is much better IMHO. Check out Two Against Nature
The rest of the album doesn't sound like Cousin Dupree. Dupree reminds me of an early Doobie Bros. song more than classic Steely Dan. The rest of the album is more jazz, funk, and R&B.
The only thing i didnt like about the new dan sound, was how the drums sounded so lifeless, sorta sounded like an early drum plugin Vst.
If you buy a new stereo system set it it to dan.
Cousin Dupree is NOT the star. I always thought it was a throwaway to complete the album Two Against NAture. The record company released Cousin Dupress as the lead single. Donald and Walter wanted Janie Runaway as the lead single instead. Jack of Speed would have been a great single as well or an edited West of Hollywood. Both Janie Runaway and West of Hollywood have killer sax solos by Chris Potter. Almost Gothic and Negative Girl are understated and jazzy. Classic SD tracks.
Cousin Dupree, Brooklyn, and Change of the Guard are my least favorite SD tracks.
On Everything Must Go, skip The Last Mall and Blues Beach. Godwhacker, Greenbook, Pixeleen, Lunch with Gina, and Everything Must Go are Epic tracks from the last album. I also like Slang of Ages - Walter sings it and its way cool.
Jack of Speed is something you might like better.
This ain't exactly representative of post 2K Steely Dan. It's playful and catchy, though.