Steely Dan: Can't Buy a Thrill (LP)

Two names in particular are associated with Steely Dan: Donald Fagen and Walter Becker. Both had already discovered similar musical tastes together in various bands at college in the late 1960s and subsequently worked as a songwriting duo before they then achieved their breakthrough in 1972 with Steely Dan (the name goes back to William Burrough's novel The Naked Lunch) and the band's debut album, Can't Buy A Thrill. The album stayed on the Billboard charts for over a year, and the single release, Do It Again, easily made it into the top ten. This was the beginning of an extraordinarily successful career, in which until the temporary dissolution of the group in 1981 (in the meantime, there is a brand new opus with Two Against Nature) each of the total of seven studio albums was refined with gold or platinum. can't Buy A Thrill" is not as "smooth" as later albums, such as Aja or Gaucho, that inimitable mixture of melodic rock, in which again and again also soul sounds, jazzy rhythms and demanding instrumental solos, already lifts the first throw of Fagen and Becker clearly from the musical environment of that time - one thinks for example of the Eagles or the Doobie Brothers. And apart from the songs that have long since become classics, such as Dirty Work, Midnight Cruiser, Reelin' The Years and, of course, the indestructible Do It Again, the other tracks also possess all the qualities that make Steely Dan so unique Finally: the classic Steely Dan MCA Records catalog is available again on vinyl. Led by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, Steely Dan released seven albums from 1972 to 1980, an extraordinary run of first-rate musicianship, clever wordplay, ingenious arrangements and pop hits that eclipsed the Top 40 of their day. Steely Dan's vinyl reissue series begins with their debut album, "Can't Buy A Thrill," now in its 40th year, which featured the band's seminal hits: "Do It Again," "Reelin' in the Years," and the recently released "Dirty Work." This album was followed by annual releases: Countdown to Ecstasy ("Show Biz Kids," "My Old School"); Pretzel Logic ("Rikki Don't Lose That Number"); Katy Lied ("Bad Sneakers," "Everyone's Gone to the Movies"); The Royal Scam ("Kid Charlemagne," "The Fez"); and their masterpiece Aja, which included "Black Cow," "Deacon Blues," "Peg" and the title track. After a three-year hiatus, the band ended their MCA years with the brilliant Gaucho ("Hey Nineteen," "Time Out Of Mind"). These reissues were meticulously remastered by Bernie Grundman and edited by Alex Abrash at his renowned AA Mastering Studio and pressed at Precision.