Steely Dan - Can't Buy A Thrill [SHM-CD] [RE-UP]

Walter Becker and Donald Fagen were remarkable craftsmen from the start, as Steely Dan's debut, Can't Buy a Thrill, illustrates. Each song is tightly constructed, with interlocking chords and gracefully interwoven melodies, buoyed by clever, cryptic lyrics. All of these are hallmarks of Steely Dan's signature sound, but what is most remarkable about the record is the way it differs from their later albums. allmusic

This CD contains the most well known of all of Steely Dan's songs ("Do it Again" and "Reelin' in the Years") and was the "group's" first album. It was released in 1972 and was, at the time, a truly different sound and point of view than the music of the recently ended 1960s.

Songwriters Walter Becker and Donald Fagen launched Steely Dan with a seductive, poker-faced 1972 debut as smoothly accessible in its music as it was elusive in its thematic concerns. The opening "Do It Again" snagged swift commercial success as one of the most mysterious pop hits in history, a sultry rock cha-cha that chronicled a series of harrowing catastrophes far removed from the reheated love songs and pro forma countercultural rebellion of the day. Though the core band boasted two formidable guitarists, Jeff Baxter and Denny Dias, it was the bloom of Fagen's keyboards and his reedy, smart-ass vocals that carried Thrill light years beyond modal, blues-based rock. That said, an enduring highlight remains the furious six-string fantasia of "Reelin' in the Years," spiked by Elliot Randall's downright historic solos, at once dour and giddy in its indictment of a poser, while "Dirty Work" (featuring short-lived, nominal lead singer David Palmer) offers a decidedly adult vignette of adultery. There isn't a weak track here, astonishing, considering how much growth future Dan albums would display. --Sam Sutherland 1972's "Can't Buy A Thrill" was the debut album by Steely Dan, and it still remains one of their best. Although the core of the group has always been inger/keyboardist Donald Fagen & bassist/guitarist Walter Becker, they surrounded themselves on the first album with a proper band, including guitarists Denny Dias and Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, drummer/singer Jim Hodder, and singer David Palmer, giving "Can't Buy A Thrill" a more rocking feel to it than later albums. Every song here, from the instant Dan classics "Do It Again" & "Reelin' In The Years," to the equally-irresistable melodies of "Only A Fool Would Say That," "Change Of The Guard," "Brooklyn," and ALL the rest, is a brilliant composition, showing off the group's expert musical chops, lyrical acid wit, and the cool vocal stylings of Fagen (with guest cameos by Hodder and Palmer on "Midnite Cruiser" and "Dirty Work," respectively, as Fagen wasn't too confident about his singing voice just yet, though he needn't have worried!).Steely Dan would crank out several more outstanding albums in the years ahead, but they couldn't have asked for a better debut. "Can't Buy A Thrill" is a classic album all the way! There's no better place to start your Steely Dan collection than here.

Tracks:
1. Do It Again 5:56
2. Dirty Work 3:08
3. Kings 3:45
4. Midnite Cruiser 4:08
5. Only A Fool Would Say That 2:57
6. Reelin' In The Years 4:37
7. Fire In The Hole 3:28
8. Brooklyn (Owes The Charmer Under Me) 4:21
9. Change Of The Guard 3:39
10. Turn That Heartbeat Over Again 4:58