Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Confirmation of the Genius of Becker, 19 Jun 2008
It goes without saying, given the fact that Donald Fagen handles vocals for Steely Dan and has released three not-un-Dan-like solo albums, that it is unclear what the contribution is of his Steely Dan writing partner Walter Becker to the authorship of that classic music.
We have for a while had to assume that perhaps what is lacking from the Dan sound on Fagen's solo work is indicative of what Becker's contribution to Dan might be - therefore one posits that Becker brings in a more ballsy rockier musical contribution, some additional lyrical bite, some extra rough edges, some extra harmonic spice....
Added to this, Becker didn't help himself in terms of this conjecture when he released his first solo album '11 Tracks of Whack' a few years back, which, while entertaining and a supreme effort by anyone's standards, occupied a somewhat more pared down and less slick approach to production than anything that would grace a Steely Dan album or anything solo by Fagen.
Now finally with his new album 'Circus Money' we get to hear what Becker brings to Steely Dan making clear his claim to the 50/50 collaboration with Fagen. It is the true confirmation of his genius.
Anyone put off by Walt's un-Dan-like debut should disregard that concern immediately. This music hits all the right buttons for lovers of Steely Dan - and, idiomatic as the vocal melodies and lyrics would have been to Don's delivery, Walt delivers the goods so well vocally that Don is not missed here.
Generally, aside from a couple of tracks (notably 'Somebody's Saturday Night') I think the album requires around three listens to really bed in and to have it's genius felt.
All the tracks are brilliant - there are no duds here - and there is a sunny reggae feel to many of them (remember 'Haitian Divorce'?). The album is tightly played by an elite group of musicians. It has all the great backing vocals, solo breaks, harmonic departures, catchy melodies, well articulated intelligent lyrics, slinky atmospheres, awesome production (care of co-writer Larry Klein - although I'm sure Becker's hands aren't too far from the controls...), awesome audiophile recording and mastering - every great thing that you would expect from a Dan related album.
If you are looking at this, the likelihood is that you are already familiar with some of the music of Steely Dan and Becker and Fagen solo. If you liked that music then I recommend you buy this album without hesitation.
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8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
LP of the year so far, 11 Jul 2008
This LP proves (as the previous reviewer says) that WB has an equal claim to the genius that is Steely Dan. In fact it is a better LP than Fagen's 'Morph the Cat'.If you are into bland indie-pop nonsense or read the NME then do not bother with this. It's just very very good songwriting and playing. Was a bit worried before buying that it was going to sound like UB40. Thankfully not. 'Paging Audrey' and 'Downtown Cannon' particularly could hold their own against most SD songs. His voice is much better than on '11 tracks...' is a bit Dylan-like in parts without being too much of a homage.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sonic Perfection, move along..no filler here..move along..., 28 Jul 2008
Ok, first up, forget what you think you know about Becker just because you have 11 Tracks of Whack, that's like trying to compare WALL*E with CARS, you just cant.Fact.
So let's begin with production....if you need to find one album from the last 5 years that will kick your hifi into touch, this album is it. The production quality on this album is absolutely stunning, from the floor humping bass guitar to the spine tingling pianos thru to the chiled out but crystal clear vocal capture...it's a joy to just listen to the engineer and mixer's aural results....i cant praise the 'recording' enough...state of the art..but damn it, it's got VIBE!!,...it's got more polish than a shoe shop sales assistant but a rack full more SOUL!...how on earth they caught the beautiful sounds so well is a testament to quality mics and probably very high end pro tools HD but who cares about that, it kicks my hifi into touch and check this out...any of you with a dedicated sub woofer should check the bottom end.....Holy Sadowsky!...my neighbours love the album and they've only heard the sub bass!!..my old Rel Strata is newly imbibed with juicy kick , bass, and vocal drawl....turn this mutha up and turn this mutha out....the sound is something most modern artists should pay heed to and slap their producers (and thwow them to the gwound vewy woughly)for not achieveing this quality of sound...it brought a tear to my eye....
Enough of the technical stuff, Whats with Becker singing again?..well here is where you abandon all hope and enter into lyrical genius and better delivery than a UPS delivery boy, Becker more than matches his musical bro Mssr Fagen and to be honest?....slaps Morph with a wet NY fish and assigns it to the bargain basement in Tower on Times Square...the man can sing...but unlike the pseudo happy happy stylings of Don...Becker conveys a less than impressed slightly world weary cynical view on his mic and life is all the better for it......you can tell, he's either very intelligent or has spent the last 15 yrs honing his lyrics because as well as being very funny , very dry and very real, they are very interesting...so much to listen to...and yes...finally, we can see where the other 50% of Dan Steele has it's input...Becker's style is laid back, slighly lazy but delivered with the smooth east coast attitude that only gents of his age can truly convey and indeed, muster.
SO what about the songs?..check out the gorgeous Darkling Down....try NOT to sing along with the rifftastic chorus...it's a damn disgrace!....Downtown Canon...same thing....for an artist not known for modern pop ballad sing a long output, this album begs to be sang along to...yes it's a grower, no its not instantly known..it took me about 10 listens to really get into it and now its on repeat..the poor neighbors...aw eck...they need the education..........
The reggae sound to five of the tracks is utter genius and the playing is faultless.....such a chilled out sound.....you can put your beer on the cd and it'll have ice in it,such is the coolness of the backing vocals and riff guitar......add to the mix Keith's awesome laid back drummming and you got a piece of audio perfection...
I really cant praise this album enough, do yourselves a favour, buy it, turn it up and be prepared to have the time of your life.....altogether now...'Darling Down, it's a damned disgrace'..!!
Thanks Larry and Walt.....Grammy should be yours.....end of.
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