Steely Dan
Can't Buy A Thrill

THE REVIEW

"Can't Buy A Thrill" was an album decidedly against the grain for the times, as were its performers: Steely Dan with Donald Fagen and Walter Becker. Steely Dan did not go wild during concerts, quite the opposite. The more time passed, the more they were hated. Fagen was afraid to sing in public. Becker had a violence and grit that, at first glance, might seem like a statue, or a puppet, or the Barberini Faun, or anything that induced sleep, fatigue, laziness. But behind those shy, reserved, introverted, snobbish characters were hidden two absolute geniuses of light music. The best of the pop-rock scene. Or rather: pop/rock/jazz/fusion and the list goes on.

It all started when pianist and singer Donald Fagen and bassist Walter Becker recruited skilled musicians (Jeff Baxter, Denny Dias, Jim Hodder) and another singer (David Palmer). The latter was due to pressure from the record company, which did not consider Fagen's voice suitable for the audience. Never was a choice more wrong. Not because Palmer can't sing, but because it was discovered that the songs most loved by the public were those sung by Donald. In fact, his voice, so unusual, turned out to be tremendously fascinating. Steely Dan also had a great concern: to achieve the perfect sound. Despite the meticulous care taken during the recording phase, the duo rarely felt satisfied with the work. This is the case with Aja.

But let's get back to our album, the first: "Can't Buy A Thrill." After so many premises, the single "Do It Again" seems like an ordinary, albeit beautiful, pop song. Better will come with songs like "Kings," less soft, but losing nothing in elegance; "Midnight Cruiser," "Reelin' In The Years" (the album's second single), with Jeff "Skunk" Baxter's cheerful electric guitar riff and Fagen's hypnotic voice even when speaking; "Brooklyn (Ownes The Charmer Under Me);" with their choruses, carefree yet never banal, their arrangements, impeccable, precise, never mannered, never a second too long, and never a second less than necessary; with their magnificent and never disowned jazz influences. But most of all, you must listen to "Fire In The Hole" with its typically jazz piano intro, sung in a sublime, phenomenal, monstrous way; and "Turn That Heartbeat Over Again," where the voices blend perfectly to form one of the most beautiful pop-rock songs of all time.

But one could spend hours and hours talking about every single song and the reasons to listen to it a thousand times. Suffice it to say this album approaches perfection. It makes you realize how useless the "Skip" button on the radio is. Even the pieces not mentioned, in fact, have endless reasons to be heard. Rarely has a band succeeded in this endeavor, creating an album in which selecting a random track guarantees finding a masterpiece. Album recommended to all fans of pop (the good kind), rock, jazz, and fusion music.

But this is just a taste of what Steely Dan can do.

TRACKLIST (all tracks written by Becker/Fagen, with the singer in parentheses)

1. Do It Again (Fagen)
2. Dirty Work (Palmer)
3. Kings (Fagen)
4. Midnight Cruiser (Hodder)
5. Only A Fool Would Say That (Fagen/Palmer)
6. Reelin' In The Years (Fagen)
7. Fire In The Hole (Palmer)
8. Brooklyn (Palmer)
9. Change Of The Guard (Palmer)
10. Turn That Heartbeat Over Again (Fagen/Becker/Palmer)