CD, стоящие на полке рядом : Rock (Jazz-Rock)      

2 LP on 1 CD

## 1- 10, 'Can't Buy a Thrill', MCA, (4.5*), 1972

Walter Becker and Donald Fagen were remarkable craftsmen from the start, as Steely Dan's debut Can't Buy a Thrill illustrates. Each song is tightly constructed, with interlocking chords and gracefully interwoven melodies, buoyed by clever, cryptic lyrics. All of these are hallmarks of Steely Dan's signature sound, but what is most remarkable about the record is the way it differs from their later albums. Of course, one of the most notable differences is the presence of vocalist David Palmer, a professional blue-eyed soul vocalist who oversings the handful of tracks where he takes the lead. Palmer's very presence signals the one major flaw with the album — in an attempt to appeal to a wide audience, Becker and Fagen tempered their wildest impulses with mainstream pop techniques. Consequently, there are very few of the jazz flourishes that came to distinguish their albums — the breakthrough single "Do It Again" does work an impressively tight Latin-jazz beat, and "Reelin' in the Years" has jazzy guitar solos and harmonies — and the production is overly polished, conforming to all the conventions of early-'70s radio. Of course, that gives these decidedly twisted songs a subversive edge, but compositionally, these aren't as innovative as their later work. Even so, the best moments ("Dirty Work," "Kings," "Midnite Cruiser," "Turn That Heartbeat Over Again") are wonderful pop songs that subvert traditional conventions, and more than foreshadow the paths Steely Dan would later take.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

## 11 - 17, 'Gaucho', MCA, (4*), 1980

Aja was cool, relaxed and controlled; it sounded deceptively easy. Its follow-up, Gaucho, while sonically similar, was its polar opposite: a precise and studied record, where all of the seams showed. Gaucho essentially replicates the smooth jazz-pop of Aja, but with none of that record's dark, seductive romance or elegant aura. Instead, it's meticulous and exacting; each performance has been rehearsed so many times that they no longer have any emotional resonance. Furthermore, Becker and Fagen's songs are generally labored, only occasionally reaching their past heights, like on the suave "Babylon Sisters," "Time Out of Mind" and "Hey Nineteen." Still, those three songs are barely enough to make the remainder of the album's glossy, meandering fusion worthwhile. — Stephen Thomas Erlewine