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標 題Steely Dan Review
發信站交大機械 BBS 站 (Mon Jan 10 12:24:39 2000)
轉信站Ptt!nctumenews!nctumebbs
If there's anything rock'n'roll history
has taught us, it's that regardless of whether a duo or
group has a bitter breakup or just slowly fades away,
we can expect the inevitable: a reunion.
With the release next month
of the album "Two Against
Nature," Steely Dan
founders Donald Fagen and
Walter Becker add
themselves to the reunion
list. The act that successfully fused rock and jazz to
score platinum hits in the '70s and early '80s is returning
with its first studio album in nearly 20 years.
The set will be released worldwide on Giant Records,
with distribution outside North America on Feb. 28 via
BMG. Distribution in the U.S. and Canada is Feb. 29
via Warner Bros./Reprise.
"After touring as Steely Dan for a couple of seasons,
we were hungry to have new songs to play on tour, so
the next logical step was to do a new Steely Dan
album," says Becker.
Fagen adds wryly, "And we basically came up with
enough songs to fill an album."
The nine-song collection features the classic Steely Dan
sound infused with contemporary music sensibilities.
The album features Becker primarily on bass and guitar
and lead singer Fagen as chief keyboardist, backed by
various studio musicians.
"We recorded the album pretty much nonstop," says
Becker. "My fear going into this [was] that there would
be a blasattitude after not having done anything like
this in 20 years, but that wasn't the case. We ended up
doing a lot of the overdubs ourselves, and we really
became more self-contained than we had in the past."
In the '70s, Becker and Fagen had a reputation for
being studio gurus who disliked touring. But according
to Becker, their attitude toward touring has changed
dramatically.
"When Steely Dan started touring again in 1993, we
discovered to our great surprise that we had a lot of fun
touring," he says. "Everything was different. We had a
great band, a great sound, and the logistics of touring
had been perfected in every way to a much higher
degree than in the '70s. It was just satisfying musically
and more livable. And we were making money, as
opposed to losing money, like we did back then."
When it came to getting a new record deal, New
York-based Fagen and Becker say the decision to sign
with Giant was greatly influenced by the fact that Giant
president Irving Azoff used to be their manager in the
'70s.
"He forced us to sign with Giant," jokes Fagen. "But
seriously, Irving made us an offer we couldn't refuse."
Becker adds, "He made sure we'd be happy at Giant."
But the question remains: Will today's music buyers
embrace Steely Dan as they did in the '70s and early
'80s?
Fagen admits, "I hope we have a massive audience, but
it's a very different musical landscape than when we last
put out an album. We're also not as pretty as we used
to be."
Becker adds: "On the plus side, there's a lot of range
out there. On the negative side, it seems like the
business is so fragmented and rigid in some ways that
it's harder for music that's not obvious to get a chance.
We've been told that our music doesn't fit with a certain
demographic. I don't necessarily agree with the idea
that you have to be a certain age to appreciate our
music."
The marketing of "Two Against Nature" will be a
multifaceted campaign with a large push toward
print-media coverage, retail, and the Internet. An
Internet contest has been devised, wherein the winner
will win a trip to see Steely Dan's opening-night concert
of the new tour.
The band will embark on a U.S. amphitheater and
arena tour in May, with dates to be nnounced. In
addition, Steely Dan plans to tour Europe and Japan
this fall. Other plans for Steely Dan include a European
promotional tour in March.
Giant is taking a two-pronged approach in targeting
U.S. radio by releasing two first singles from the album:
"Cousin Dupree" has been serviced to triple-A and
rock radio, while "What Shame" has been released to
jazz and jazz/AC stations.
Becker says Steely Dan has no plans to do videos for
any of the singles, but "we may film some live
performances to be released later on video." Steely
Dan is planning several TV appearances to promote
the album, including a PBS "In The Spotlight" special,
which will air in March.
In February, Steely Dan will tape a VH1 "Storytellers"
episode, tentatively slated to premiere in April.
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