Two Against Nature

Steely Dan | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 29, 2000)
• Original Release Date: February 29, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Giant Records / Wea
• ASIN: B00004GOXS
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  DVD Audio  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (501 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #18,806 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

No Description Available
No Track Information Available
Media Type: CD
Artist: STEELY DAN
Title: TWO AGAINST NATURE
Street Release Date: 02/29/2000
Domestic
Genre: ROCK/POP

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

535 of 586 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally back from the studio, February 15, 2000

By 

S. Schwachter (Boca Raton, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Two Against Nature (Audio CD)

Steely Dan is like an enigma. The true die hard fans have longed and yearned for anything by this dynamic duo. Finally it is here. The nine new songs in Two Against Nature deliver what any fan desires - the familiar sound with unfamiliar songs. Although they are spectacular live and we all should have the various box sets available (the best is on MCA), this recording is a must and will appeal to the fans from before as well as an entire new generation of Steely Dan fans. A must buy.

46 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Still Steely after all these years, May 12, 2000

By 

[e-mail] (Peoria, Illinois) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Two Against Nature (Audio CD)

My, how time flies! Its 20 years later their last studio album. The ditzy bimbo they sang about in "Hey Nineteen" is now pushing 40 and Walter Becker and Donald Fagen have finally dusted off the long-retired Steely Dan moniker, gotten themselves a brand new bunch of studio sidemen, and have released new material. And its pretty much what you'd expect from them. Steely Dan 2000 has not embraced rap-metal or alternative rock, nor have they taken the Santana approach of peppering their album with the contributions of various popular guest stars to try and appeal to a younger generation of fans. Rather, they have chosen to stay on their well-traveled path of combining jazz-fusion with obscure lyrics full of double meanings. While the words to opening track "Gaslighting Abby" can inspire many a late-night debate as to what the song is about, the tune sure does sound cool. The rest of the album, from the incestuous "Cousin Dupree" to the self-congratulatory title track sounds like . . well, like a Steely Dan album - brass galore, searing jazz guitar licks, pounding electric pianos and Fagen's signature nasally vocals. Of course, doing their own thing has always been at the core of the Becker/Fagen collaboration. During their 1971-80 heyday, the "Dan" sound was at odds with disco, prog rock, heavy metal, punk, and virtually anything else played on the radio. This still holds true today as they come up against the likes of Kid Rock and the Backstreet Boys. Becker and Fagen are not hung up on embracing new trends - they do what they do very well and continue to stick with it. "Two Against Nature" really isn't as much a comeback for Steely Dan as it is a continuation, as well as an affirmation of the band's reputation for being ahead of its time -whether that time was 20 years ago or today. There sure isn't anything on the radio in 2000 that remotely sounds like Steely Dan either. It can be comforting to know that some things don't change.

Conrad L. Stinnett

50 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Return of the Dan, February 29, 2000

By 

"fletch_11" (Auckland, NZ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Two Against Nature (Audio CD)

Steely Dan return with their 1st new studio album since 1980's 'Gaucho'. So what is it like? Well, if you've heard the Dan's vocalist/writer Donald Fagen's solo CD 'Kamakiriad' (released in 1993), you'll have a fair idea of the sound and texture of the songs, since both albums were produced by his Dan partner Walter Becker (although Fagen is co-credited with production on this one too). The songs are funky - rhythmicly driven, and with Becker on board again, have a little of that Steely Dan nasty streak in them. Songs about strange characters, some of them low-lifes. The album is harder to get into, though, and doesn't immediately 'grab' you on first listen as some of the older Dan does. I put this down to the melodies not being as strong. In an interview Fagen gave in 1993 in Keyboard magazine on the release of Kamakiriad, he states, "The only change is that I'm losing my interest in melody. I'm more interested in simplifying things in order to get more of a rhythmic effect....it used to bother me if something didn't have an interesting melody. Now I don't care that much about it.." I think that sentiment carries over onto this album.

Some highlights for me include 'Almost Gothic' and 'Jack of Speed', as well as the closer 'West of Hollywood' with it's amazing Sax solo (by Chris Potter) The album only has 9 songs, which comes to just over 50 minutes - not very long for an album by today's standards. Don't get me wrong though. The album is good, but don't make any judgements by listening to it in a store. Buy it. Take it home. Let it mull a few days. It'll grow on you.