Everything Must Go [Enhanced]

I initially played it twice a day for 3 solid weeks, got pretty fed up with it, gave it a rest for a week and then found myself pining deeply for it. It's now superglued into my deck and I'm humming the indelibly burned tunes and lyrics all day long.

As regards heightened expectations, it's difficult not to expect a stormer from the boys after relatively so long. They've certainly delivered, but it's a vastly different tack. We've just got to get used to it. Don't get me wrong - I can't begin to tell you how much I miss the session pro guitar solos and fills. Walter's nebulous noodling doesn't really come close. More drum dynamics coupled with more vocal doubling for Donald would also be good. He's not as clear or strong as he once was. I guess that's 'Nature Against One'...

But listen to me! What am I saying? This album obliterates anything else made in the last twenty years (including their previous album 'Two Against Nature') It's a masterpiece!

Each song has a story and the beauty of them is that the poetically hip lines leave you guessing as to the actual meaning. Hey presto - a different story every time. The music never wears out, complete with the intensely polymorphic imagery.

I guess jazz lovers like me will gravitate to numbers like 'Green Book'. This is as close to old Dan stuff that I've heard since Aja. Simply superb. Check out the imagery as he cruises through 'this dirty city': "The festive icons along the way, the boardwalk, the lovers, the house on fire".
Get out the lyric sheet and read what the female backing singer is singing in 'Pixeleen'. It's a complete story in itself.
'Lunch With Gina' is a really funky number about someone desperately avoiding a stalker that finally ends up with them having lunch together. The resigned protagonist then complains that the 'waiter never comes' and how the 'service could be better'.

If you're a fan and you find yourself in the unfortunate position of having bought but not liking this album, I just know you're secretly delighted by this new offering. In years to come you'll dig it out and cry 'What planet was I on? - this is classic!'.

If you're not a fan - buy it and find yourself slowly but inextricably drawn into Donald and Walter's alter-world.

But I can say that they seem to have their juices flowing once more, with some really grooving tracks and great lyrics ("I'm building the Andria Doria out of balsa wood" cracks me up every time as a witty summation of the dumped male's desparation, especially with the twist Fagen puts on it while singing the line in The Things I Miss The Most).

The feel is a bit more like one of their earlier 70's albums, such as Katy Lied or The Royal Scam, with most of the songs fairly short and sweet rather than sprawling out like some of their later works. And the tunes have returned, although they are perhaps a bit twistier than they used to be. The best tracks are probably Blues Beach, Pixeleen and Everything Must Go, with Green Book and Godwhacker coming up close (although it's a matter of personal taste - as with all Steely Dan albums, some songs are better than others, it's just that the really good ones are better than everybody else's).

So why just 4 stars? One of the joys for me of the earlier albums was the sheer quality of the instumental work, especially some of the tastiest solos (Reelin' In the Years, Rikki Don't Lose That Number, Kid Charlemagne, Peg, Deacon Blues) I ever heard. Becker and Fagen now basically do the solos and, well, they are ok, but hardly god-like. And I think that is the ingredient which this effort (and also the previous) lacks. The musicianship is excellent - but it doesn't blow you away in the same fashion that the old stuff used to. And I miss that a bit.