Steely Dan - Can't Buy a Thrill

Amazing early "prog" jazz/rock album

Ok fine my title says it all. But, am I the only person in the world who wonders what the hell happened to David Palmer? I think his vocals were awesome (but just not well suited to the sound Don/Walt were looking for).
Please email any info on David's other recordings to me curttota@comcast.net and post the info as i'm sure others have been wondering. Even bloggers on SD's website didn't know this one September 10, 2008

I still only have the vinyl. Two copies actually....

I was introduced to the album at the age of two. My dad had two copies of this album. I made several dubs of it to cassette, back when those were actually used. It still remains one of my favorite albums. And I only listen to it straight from the record anymore. It just sounds better. If you are so lucky to find it on vinyl, pick it up! March 27, 2008

Maybe They Weren't There

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R1FL368BCXJJEX I'm personally offended by every rating less than 5 stars. But I have to realize these people weren't there when this album came out. It was central to the musical zeitgeist of the early 70's along with, to name just a few: Eagles, Dark Side Of The Moon, Tommy, Who's Next. VietNam was winding down, I was fresh out of the Army (draftee - no Vietnam, no comparison to real soldier - hated it anyway) and the music of Steely Dan ran all through it. Wickety times indeed. SD may have gotten "better", but there will only ever be one "Can't Buy A Thrill", and it has a feel of creative power that can't be defined or duplicated.

Steely Dan started to get slick to me around Aja, I liked Kamakiriad by Fagen,which I highly recommend for a 'different' Steely Dan sound.

Now don't hate me, but other than that I get the feeling that their music after 'Aja' (Gaucho) started to get increasingly kind of tongue and cheek Like they started doing ultra-slick stuff they could have done all along, but now they've moved away from rock-and-roll and towards the lounge lizard stuff (Two Against Nature) just to have fun.

I actually saw them on a dance show, mabye 'Real Don Steele', I think about 72 or 73. I used to watch it to see all the girls in the halter tops and hot pants, and boom, there they were. I got a gripe with punkers and new wavers, however. They started coming on the show about that time dressed up and mugging, using up too much perfectly good T&A camera time. I couldn't figure out what their point was. That hasn't changed much. Just kidding - sort of.

As for their latter music; I like rock-and-roll and I don't like most smooth jazz, so I have my hangups that maybe are biasing my opinion.

Update: On reflection I realize I subconsciously regard Fagen and Becker as the incarnation of some musical ideal that has always existed. It's hard for me to imagine them having to actually write or work on songs - just jot 'em down and perform, in either order. I was shocked when I finally heard some of the original demos that preceded can't buy a thrill - what - not just rough, which is fine with me, but actually inferior to the finished song - how can this be? February 21, 2008

Back, Garry, and bring it back again

Steely Dan's 1972 debut "Can't Buy A Thrill" was a landmark album not so much for its music as for the way it brought a new level of literacy into popular music. Fagen and Becker, through their ability to build complicated, yet seamless tales through brilliant, yet often truly satirical wordplay, moved far beyond the 1960s counterculture.

The opening track "Do It Again" is one of the finest openers to any album and it is incredible "Rolling Stone" did not include it in their "500 Greatest Songs of All Time": in fairness, "Do It Again" should have been in the top fifty. The manner in which the cryptically dark lyrics about dramatic failures of people's plans are delivered in so light a way is one aspect of the song's staying power, but the sitar-and-percussion-driven jam and the energetic solo is another side. (The chorus line reminds me of former champion rugby fullback Garry Jack, and makes me wonder why the song never cropped up at sporting promotions).

The rest of "Can't Buy A Thrill", whilst not matching the amazing opener, is still impressive. The wordplay in "Kings" will evoke the deepest memories of school history lessons with the "good King Richard" and "good King John"s, whilst "Dirty Work", if less energetic, is darkly beautiful and shows David Palmer - often derided - actually had a quite impressive voice. The second verse with its resigning, yet touching lyrics is enough to make the song worthwhile, as is the powerful and deep saxophone line before the last chorus.

"Change of the Guard" has a wonderful guitar solo and playing that rivals "Do It Again", whilst the trademark piano on "Fire In The Hole" is really creepy and backed up by some lyrics that are closer to true poetry that Fagan was to be in later years. "Reeling In The Years" might be a little overplayed (compared to "Do It Again) but still possesses great truth in the way it showed the 1960s well and truly over, whilst the guitar break still sounds fresh and fiery thirty-five years after it was recorded. Finally, "Midnite Cruiser" really shows the plight of a "terrible loser" with evocative beauty.

Few artists have ever made such a good debut as "Can't Buy A Thrill", and Steely Dan showed their talent by producing five superb albums up to 1976. Whilst the cerebral lyrics - which really will have any attuned listener thinking about the fate of the "losers" depicted so often within them - capture most attention, the playing is perfectly done and often truly passionate, and Gary Katz' production is very un-dated compared to most recordings from the 1970s. January 3, 2008

Steely Dan's First - And Best

Four stunning tracks (Do It Again, Dirty Work, Midnight Cruiser and Reelin' in the Years) justify the purchase of Can't Buy a Thrill - but the rest of the album is solid. This is Steely Dan before the jazz influence took hold, and it's an essential album. November 24, 2007

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