Scores better than 2vN, but still Dan lite.

Fabulous.

this album is another classic dan album.. out f 9 songs on this cd i must say that 7 can easily be a hit on any radio station.. once i bought this cd i could not stop playing it and when i wasnt playibg it i was singing it in my head.. its actually too addictive .....is that a bad thing??

Fagan and Becker "Do It Again". Nothing earth-shaking. If you were never a fan this won't draw you in, but it's as addictive and seductive and groove filled as a Dan lover would expect.

This should be a 6, but what I like here I love...it's just there there is more filler than ever before for these guys. It's rare that they've sounded so pedestrian...never as a duo before in fact (the comeback, Two Against Nature was great), but Fagen's 2nd solo was like this, and though it was suprisingly good, so was Becker's only solo effort for the most part...all fine, this is fine too, but measured against their past and peaks...a 7 at best.… Expand

Some tracks lack a bit of 5th gear and play things too safe but the overall professionalism of the musicianship, songwriting, witty lyrics and classic Steely harmonies make it an enjoyable listen, with some tracks like Things I Miss The Most and Lunch With Gina portraying beautifully simple but effective musical story-telling. Becker and Fagen have still got what it takes.

As with any Dan album, multiple run throughs are required before finally admitting that "this is damn good". It's always about the story and weeding out the meaning. Fagen and Becker are so very talented in painting word pictures. You just have to stare at the canvas for a while to take in the whole view. The great melodies and Jazz and Rock chops are just an added bonus. There is room for intellegence in popular music.… Expand

This CD grows on you with each successive listening as your ears hear more and more nuance in the music textures. You slowly get savvy to the lyrical vignettes (or at least you think you do...DF and WB prefer to let us draw our own conclusions about what their songs "mean"). It draws upon the familiar if you know Dan material from the last...uh...30 years now but it really comprises stylizations from their more recent work. Recorded in analog (and with substantially more Fagen solo work--synth again, of course), it's got a warmer tone but is tight and layered as ever. They are intelligent, they are talented, they run rings about whatever's delivering up pop fare these days (most of it still dreck, and not recovered from the imagination-less last decade of the 20th century). If this is the last album for the duo, it is a fond farewell. Frankly, I hope they keep this 2 year pace for releasing new material. They talk in interviews like they could use the money...whatever! I can't think of many bands that STILL sound this good and fresh after traversing three decades. It would've gotten a 10 if they'd given more freedom to their percussionist and brought back (awww, come one, just one more time!) some funky clavinet jabs (a la Green Earrings). OK, now I've said too much.… Expand

I love it. My favourit album is The Gaucho album ,and this is sounding more like that one than all their released albums since then. 2 against nature became a commercial hit and that was good Their luck and ours.Otherwise ,who knows what would have happened. In 2 against nature I personally think something profound was missing This new one on the other hand has "got the news". It tells me it aint over until the fat lady sings. Some of the melodies I recognice from elsewhere,like the verse in Godwhacker...Prince´s "Sign `O the times".. and the saxophone sounds like Liza Simpsons,but I can buy that… Expand

Not a single weak track. The groovy tracks comming from a great colaboration between Beckers base and and Carlocks drumming. Favoutite tracks at this point are Godwacker, Slang of ages and EMG. Too bad they are not touring Europe this time.

Top class act with a top class album. Clever, clear, and back to their brillance re AJA. Get it.

Better than Two Against Nature, better than Gaucho; this is saying a lot. Fantastic!

Actually 9.65/10.00 Anyone who is familiar with S.D knows that the benchmark of comparison is the AJA album. While I don't think that it is quite THAT good. I do consider it to be MUCH better than 2vN. This is a great album. I am thoroughly impressed. Can't weight to buy it. Must admit that it was VERY COOL that the dan decided to let everyone preview the WHOLE album on their web-site. KUDOS TO THE DAN !!!!… Expand

30 plus years and still making superb albums. They are without peer.

A typical Dan masterpiece. Still the best American composers of the last 30+ years.

Warmer, more bluesy and a little more "live" sounding than Aja onwards, this album capitalizes on good songwriting and impeccable sidemen laying down some excellent grooves. Although jazzy, its very tightly arranged, without extended soloing or extraneous fills. The songs are more instantly accessible than 2VN's more chromatic stlye. Upon repeated listenings, the beauty and compactness of the arrangements is what shines through. Steely Dan is the Duke Ellington of pop jazz, all infused with their snarky wit both lyrically and musically. Don't listen if you expect cooking solos a la Aja, but view each song as compact gem with the beauty in the details of the facets.… Expand

The Dan has done it again!

Thisis the one that should have won the grammy...

These guys just keep getting better! There's now a weak track on this newest release. Great jazzy riffs amidst solid rock and roll tunes. Lyrics are exquisite,as usual, and you will find yourself playing this over and over again, much like Two Against Nature and most of their LP's from years past!

This really should have got the Grammy!

Bought the DVD-Audio and love it. I listen to EMG a lot and it has helped me with my addiction to the 2VN plush/jazz rock video. Steely Dan at their best.

Was difficult for me to get used to, after having their older stuff so imbedded in me. This is not the same as their old stuff. Yet . . . . as I began listening, sure enough, one by one the songs started growing on me. "Green Book" is incredibly complex. "Everything Must Go", the title track, is my favorite. Great humor!

At first this can seem lightweight instead of just 'light,' but its pleasures slowly and surely reveal themselves after several listenings. This is Donald and Walter's summer album, and in tone and feeling it recalls Fagen's " The Nightfly" more than anything else. Play this on your boat with a gin-and-tonic in hand and it will all click.

Ranks w/ Aja & Royal Scam as their best work. It all works on many levels including the most important one; it grooves.

Tight grooves, virtuoso solos, dead-on harmonies, catchy melodies, twisted but insightful lyrics-in short everything you'd expect in a great Steely Dan record.

Tight grooves, virtuoso solos, dead-on harmonies, catchy melodies, twisted but insightful lyrics-in short everything you'd expect in a great Steely Dan record.

As they keep getting older, they seem to get jazzier in their instrumentation... perhaps a bit more philosophical lyricaly as well. I like this album even better than 2vN, though I'm not sure if there's an individual song on here to rival "Jack of Speed".

EMG is classic Steely Dan. Comfortable rhythms like an old friend. I gave it an 8 though because it did sound a little rushed. The lyrics are as strong and surprising as always, but I felt like I could almost hear F&B wanting to wait another couple of months to iron out some of the kinks. That said, this is still going to give me months of fun checking out sly new lyrics and riffs. And, I just ordered tix to the Oct 4th show. really looking forward to it.… Expand

Much more addictive than 2 v. Nature, Steely Dan's latest is both a comic and poignant response to the post-9/11 apocalpytic dread. Musically a cross between "Nightfly" and "Katy Lied," it has more breathing room than usual; danceable R&B rhythms, some very tasty solos by Walt Weiskopf on tenor sax, Becker on guitar, Fagen on various keyboards. Title tune, "Things I Miss the Most" best bids for classic status. … Expand

A legitimate SD offering, EMG reflects a simpler blues based approach similar to that found in 2vN. While the release has its lulls (one could argue that it starts with one in the somewhat uneventful "The Last Mall"), it has more than enough of the strong Steely Dan sensibility to stand up to / flourish with repeated listenings. Any fan of the Dan would be remiss to pass it by.

A masterpiece!

Don't look for instant gratification from this album - you'll be disappointed. It's not a slick Rippingtons offering which blows you away on first hearing - then in three months you've forgotten all about it. Perseverence pays off though. It comes good - really good - after a couple of hearings. I wouldn't be surprised if we hark back to it in 25 years' time, just like we do Aja now.… Expand

This is the first CD this year that I can't get out of my head. It is so complex, so subversive, so funny, possessing the perfect groove. I had given up hope of ever finding this type of experience again......

I'm one of the few that didn't particularly care for this album. I've been a fan of theirs for fair while now, and this one isn't just up to par musically, and the lyrics feel too much like they overlap the music rather than be a part of it. The songs all sound far too similar musically, with very similar beats and sounds, with nothing really exciting or interesting in the mix at all, a far cry from their older classics. Its as if Fagen and Becker wrote up and sang all the lyrics, and then asked the band to "fill it in with some jazzy stuff." It really showed last night when I saw them in concert last night, and they lit up the house when they performed their old classics. When they performed some of their new stuff though, it just felt very....generic in comparison. And we all know that the very spirit of Steely Dan is to not be generic. Its obvious that they'll never return to their older style, but they definetely need to mix it up musically a lot more the next time they make an album. Songs simply cannot get by with just good lyrics.… Expand

Really grew on me. I've been a big fan in the past and the last couple albums seemed repetitious. This album is full of tasty licks and melodies. Give it time and it will grow on you.