Old Regime

Performer: Steely Dan
Distributor: MDI Distribution

Notes: Includes liner notes by Bill Williams. Collecting ten studio tracks that Donald Fagen and Walter Becker recorded between 1968 and 1971 (prior to their 1972 debut album), OLD REGIME provides a fascinating look at the duo as they work on perfecting the sound that would make them one of the most critically respected rock acts of the seventies. Though the sound quality of these recordings is not quite as pristine as that of Steely Dan's celebrated albums, OLD REGIME makes for some wonderful listening. All of the ingredients that would comprise the "Steely Dan sound"--the inventive arrangements, quirky lyrics, classy songs, tasteful musicianship (including the guitar work of Denny Dias) and the soulful voice of Donald Fagen--are already in place on these recordings. Featuring only one track ("Brooklyn") that would appear on an official Steely Dan album, songs like "Brain Tap Shuffle," "Yellow Peril" and "I Can't Function" are welcome additions to the Steely Dan catalog and they are superb examples of how Becker and Fagen were able to blend their pop, jazz and R&B influences into an exciting, unique style that has never been replicated.

Steely Dan--a name derived from a sex toy in William Burroughs's "Naked Lunch"--spent much of the '70s atop the charts with jazzy, smart-ass pop-rock. The brainchild of hipsters Donald Fagen and Walter Becker, Steely Dan was less a band than it was a laboratory for the duo's singular musical vision, deftly rendered by a cast of studio heavyweights to rule the airwaves, but (owing to either stagefright or sheer impossibility) rarely trotted out on stage. After almost disappearing for more than a decade, Becker and Fagen had re-emerged by the '90s, throwing fans a few bones before finally taking the plunge into a full-fledged reunion.

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