Steely Dan is an American jazz-rock band centered on core members Walter Becker and Donald Fagen. The band reached a peak of popularity in the late 1970s, with the release of seven albums blending elements of jazz, rock, funk, R&B, and pop.[1] Rolling Stone magazine has called them "the perfect musical antiheroes for the Seventies."[2]
The band's music is characterized by complex jazz-influenced structures and harmonies played by Becker and Fagen along with a revolving cast of rock and pop studio musicians.[1] Steely Dan's "cerebral," "wry" and "eccentric"[1] lyrics are filled with sharp sarcasm which often touches upon such "dark" themes as drugs,[3][4][5][6] crime,[6] and their true-to-life "contempt of west coast hippies."[5][6] The pair are well-known for their near-obsessive perfectionism in the recording studio,[7][8] with one notable example being that Becker and Fagen used at least 42 different studio musicians, 11 engineers, and took over a year to record the tracks that resulted in 1980's Gaucho — an album that contains only seven songs.[9]
Steely Dan toured from 1972 to 1974, but in 1975 became a purely studio-based act. The late 1970s saw the group release a series of extremely successful singles and albums. They disbanded in 1981, and throughout most of the next decade, the duo remained largely inactive in the music world. During this time, the group steadily built and maintained "a cult following."[1] In 1993, the group resumed playing live concerts; the early 21st century saw Steely Dan release two albums of new material, the first of which earned a Grammy Award for Album of the Year. They have sold more than 30 million albums worldwide.
Katy Lied Sessions & More
Remastered: The Best of Steely Dan - Then and Now
Gaucho/Aja/Countdown to Ecstacy
Remastered: The Best of Steely Dan - Then and Now
Showbiz Kids: The Steely Dan Story 1972-1980
Remastered: The Best of Steely Dan - Then and Now
Showbiz Kids: The Steely Dan Story 1972-1980
20th Century Masters: Millennium Collection
Remastered: The Best of Steely Dan - Then and Now
Showbiz Kids: The Steely Dan Story 1972-1980
Showbiz Kids: The Steely Dan Story 1972-1980
Showbiz Kids: The Steely Dan Story 1972-1980
Two Against Nature [DVD Audio]
Gaucho/Aja/Countdown to Ecstacy
Showbiz Kids: The Steely Dan Story 1972-1980
Can't Buy a Thrill/Pretzel Logic/The Royal Scam
Two Against Nature [DVD Audio]
Gaucho/Aja/Countdown to Ecstacy
Gaucho/Aja/Countdown to Ecstacy
Gaucho/Aja/Countdown to Ecstacy
Showbiz Kids: The Steely Dan Story 1972-1980
Showbiz Kids: The Steely Dan Story 1972-1980
Katy Lied Sessions & More
Everything Must Go [Bonus DVD]
Gaucho/Aja/Countdown to Ecstacy
Can't Buy a Thrill/Pretzel Logic/The Royal Scam
Catalyst: The Original Recordings 1968-1971 by Walter Becker & Donald Fage
20th Century Masters: Millennium Collection
Everything Must Go [Bonus DVD]
Two Against Nature [DVD Audio]
Catalyst: The Original Recordings 1968-1971 by Walter Becker & Donald Fage
Perfection In Performance
Catalyst: The Original Recordings 1968-1971 by Walter Becker & Donald Fage
Everything Must Go [Bonus DVD]
Becker & Fagen: The Early Years
