By Graeme Hammond Melbourne Sunday Herald Sun Strictly speaking, Steely Dan ceased as a functioning unit 20 years ago with the release of the exquisite Gaucho, which yielded “Hey Nineteen” and “Babylon Sisters.” Like partners in a well-mannered divorce, however, Walter Becker and Donald Fagen maintained warm diplomatic relations: Becker collaborated on Fagen’s futuristic Kamakiriad […]
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Walter Becker takes the solos on Steely Dan’s first studio release in 20 years
By Darrin Fox Guitar World Even though two decades have passed since Steely Dan’s last studio album (Gaucho), their new release, Two Against Nature (Giant), bears all the trademarks fans expect from Donald Fagen and Walter Becker: complex, yet musical songs, stellar production values, and — of course — exceptional guitar work. The guitar is […]
Bringing up Steely Dan; Donald Fagen Makes His Cleveland Area Parents Proud
By Susan Rzepka Cleveland Jewish News CLEVELAND — “Would you, by chance, be a Steely Dan fan?” Beachwood resident Joseph “Jerry” Fagen inquires wryly. It’s an unlikely question coming from an 80-year-old, but Fagen’s “favorite conversation starter” affords the opening he needs to do what any parent would do in his shoes: kvell a little. […]
Return of the Dark Brothers
Nearly two decades after fading away, Walter Becker and Donald Fagen of Steely Dan are picking up exactly where they left off By Alec Wilkinson Rolling Stone Barely eighteen years go by, and Steely Dan follows up Gaucho with Two Against Nature,which Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, the band’s original and only and permanent members, […]
Doing It Again
By Robert Christgau The Village Voice Steely Dan Two Against Nature Giant In 1980, topping off the active phase of their strange career as pop interlopers turned AOR powerhouses, Steely Dan scored their third and final Top 10 hit: “Hey Nineteen,” in which a class-of-’67 “dandy of Gamma Chi” came on to a girl too […]
Steely Dan’s ‘Two Against Nature’
By Jordan Hoffman LeisureSuit Media To anyone who thought that Steely Dan couldn’t be relevant in 2000, I have news for you: they were never relevant. To anyone who thought Steely Dan would’ve lost their outsider’s wit and poisonous sarcasm by 2000, I offer the opening line from “Gaslighting Abbie,” the first track on their […]
Steely Dan Lost in Groove
By Bruce Westbrook Houston Chronicle “Two Against Nature” Steely Dan Giant After a two-decade wait, perhaps we should be glad to hear any new album by Steely Dan. That seems to be the stance of many critics, who are making this the most hyped disc of the year so far. Hear! the smooth sounds. Exalt! […]
Review: Steely Dan on TV
By Richard Cromelin Los Angeles Times In returning Steely Dan to the pop music world after a two-decade intermission, Walter Becker and Donald Fagen have transformed the group from a shrouded enigma into a fan-friendly, interactive entity — relatively speaking, anyway. And they’ve done it without losing much of their subversive edge. All these threads […]
Becker, Fagen Return as Steely Dan
By Roger D. Friedman New York Observer When Steely Dan was last a major part of the pop music marketplace, it was the summer of 1980, and their final hit — “Hey, Nineteen,” about an older guy dating a young girl who shares none of his cultural references, like Aretha Franklin — was wedged into […]
The Band With 2 Brains
Twenty Years after their last hit, proto-cool studio wizards Steely Dan emerge from a deep freeze. By Jeff Gordinier Entertainment Weekly The two guys from Steely Dan are staring at a vegetarian menu. They look like they’ve just been handed a medical textbook written in Urdu. ”I wonder what Zen ravioli is,” Donald Fagen muses. […]
