When
Steely Dan
released
Two Against Nature
in 2000, their first album in 20 years, it was an unexpected gift, since all odds seemed against
Donald Fagen
and
Walter Becker
reteaming for nothing more than the occasional project, let alone a full album. As it turned out, the duo was able to pick up where they left off, with
seamlessly fitting next to
Gaucho
and earning the band surprise success, including a Grammy for Album of the Year, but the bigger surprise is that the reunion wasn't a one-off -- they released another record,
Everything Must Go
, a mere three years later. Given the (relatively) short turnaround time between the two records, it comes as little surprise that
is a companion piece to
, and sounds very much like that album's laid-back, catchy
jazz-funk
, only with an elastic, loose feel -- loose enough to have
take the first lead vocal in
history, in fact, which sums up the
Dan
's attitude in a nutshell. This time, they're comfortable and confident enough to let anything happen, and while that doesn't really affect the sound of the record, it does affect the feel. Though it as expertly produced as always, there's less emphasis on production and a focus on the feel, often breathing as much as a live performance, another new wrinkle for
. Sometimes, it also sounds as if
Becker
Fagen
have written the songs quickly; there's nothing that betrays their high standards of craft, but, on a whole, the songs are neither as hooky nor as resonant as the ones unveiled on its predecessor. While it might have been nice to have a song as immediate as, say,
"Cousin Dupree,"
there are no bad songs here and many cuts grow as nicely as those on
. But the real selling point of
is that relaxed, comfortable, live feel. It signals that
has indeed entered a new phase, one less fussy and a bit funkier (albeit
lite funk
). If they can keep turning out a record this solid every three years, we'd all be better off. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine