Everything Must Go is Walter Becker and Donald Fagen's first CD since 2000, when Two Against Nature was released. This first studio CD after a period of 20 years accounted for a number of Grammy Awards, including the award of Album Of The Year. Listeners who expect Steely Dan to deliver a proven mix of perfectly written, played and recorded songs will not be disappointed. It took a year to record
… Everything Must Go, which is a short amount of time in itself given Becker and Fagen's legendary painstaking rigor in the studio. A bit ironically, Becker says about this: 'This time we wanted recordings played' live 'and, to our own surprise, got good results.' The core of the band was top notch again with Keith Carlock (drums), Ted Baker (keyboards), jazz sensation Bill Charlap (keyboards), and Jon Herington and Hugh McCracken (guitars). Becker played bass and guitar, while Fagen contributed with keyboards, organs, Rhodes, synthesizers, and - on all tracks except one - lead vocals. For the recordings of Everything Must Go, an analog rather than digital approach was chosen, giving the album a richer and more satisfying sound. (RM)more
