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This is the 1st SD album, originally released in 1972. In retrospect, it was a momentous occasion although it was probably not met as such when it happened because SD was a new thing, a group of guys, led by one Donald Fagen and one Walter Becker, 2 kids who met in college and decided to make a new sound, a rock/jazz/blues fusion that would take the world by storm. On to the album. Can't Buy a Thrill is actually a very appropriate title from the original sarcastic a-holes, the smart-ass boys of rock & roll, because the album is exactly that, a true thrill; so actually, you can buy a thrill. Do It Again was the first single released for airplay. It's funny because this is probably the least SD sounding song I have ever heard. I like it, but it sounds more like Santana than SD. Dirty Work is exactly what you would expect from SD, a biting, depressing, paradoxical song with poignant lyrics, jazz horns and bluesy guitars and keys. Kings is a strange song, about King John and his desire for power (I'd love to pick Donald and Walter's minds about this song). Midnight Cruiser, Reelin' in the Years (which also received massive airplay), Fire in the Hole, and Change of the Guard are really good tunes with the same SD facetiousness and jazz/rock sound. I need to highlight a few songs because they are truly great: Only a Fool Would Say That is one of my personal favorites, a bitingly bitter social commentary over a happy-go-lucky jazzy bopping tune, this song is pure SD gold. Brooklyn (Owes the Charmer Under Me) is another solid SD offering with the cynical sneering social observations once again played to a hoppin' snappy jazz guitar tune. Now, Turn that Heartbeat Over Again, in my ever so humble and complicated opinion, is perhaps the best Steely Dan tune ever offered for public consumption. The tune is great with the verse sung over keys and percussion and the chorus dropped (I'm guessing) 1/2 a bar for a hint of bluesy backbeat. I love this song. It is about as good as music gets. So, as I say on all of my Steely Dan reviews, and this is where you really need to understand that to be a SD fan you have to be all in or all out (no fence-sitters here), IF IT'S STEELY DAN, BUY IT. PERIOD.Read full review
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