TWO AGAINST NATURE

Two Against Nature was Steely Dan's comeback studio album, and it made a big splash. It netted them a number of Grammy awards and much critical acclaim. It's plain to see why Steely Dan have ended up as one of Down Beat Magazine's favourite beyond artists. Their combination of inventive music combining rock and jazz elements, the stellar musicianship and attention to detail are hard to miss. The songs on Two Against Nature continue the long-running warped view of the commonplace, revealed in titles like Gaslighting Abbie, Janie Runaway, Jack Of Speed, Cousin Dupree, Almost Gothic and Negative Girl. The characters are pedestrian and colourful at the same time. And Becker and Fagen again conscript some of the best jazz musicians to produce a stew of Steely Dan sounds that are familiar, but not repetitive. The sound is somewhat reminiscent of Donald Fagen's solo album Kamakiriad, which was produced by Walter Becker. But Two Against Nature has that edge that Becker and Fagen seem to best achieve when co-writing and performing together. 4.5 stars.