This was their first album released way back in ’72, and since then I believe they have sold in excess of 40 million albums over all formats. I mean, you have to be doing something right with figures like that. The format is pretty simple; write what we want to write and get the best session guys around to record it.
They sort of hit the ground running with the singles Do It Again (which opens the album and was a smash) and the sublime Reeling In The Years, with its ear-worm hook and chorus, and a great solo from Elliot Randall. As would be their trademark in all later albums, this record is super slick, well written, and perfectly recorded. As well as the already mentioned Reeling In The Years, which is such a great a tune, my other favourite is Fire In The Hole with Donald’s great piano playing – and I love his word play in his lyrics. They just don’t make albums like this anymore and the seventies brought out some brilliantly recorded albums, of which all Steely Dan output from this period are in there.
8/10 from The Grooveman.
