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Here’s hoping the new disc has more in common with the old Steely Dan than the more recent CD.

Steely Dan Embraces ‘Everything’
Legendary jazz/rock act Steely Dan has put the finishing touches on a new studio album, “Everything Must Go,” due May 6 via Reprise. The set is the follow-up to 2000’s “Two Against Nature,” which was the Donald Fagen/Walter Becker-led group’s first album since 1980’s “Gaucho.” “Two Against Nature” went on to win the Grammy for album of the year and has sold 1 million copies to date, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
In marked contrast to Fagen and Becker’s notoriously methodical recording pace, “Everything Must Go” was wrapped up in about a year. “We went for live tracking this time and got great, in-the-pocket tracks,” Becker said in a statement, adding that the album was recorded on analog tape. “It’s mad: it’s wiggy: I love it,” Fagen concurred.
Fagen and Becker are backed on the new set by drummer Keith Carlock, keyboardists Ted Baker and Bill Charlap, and guitarists Jon Herrington and Hugh McCracken. Beyond his usual bass and guitar duties, Becker takes the mic on one as-yet-unnamed tune, marking his first lead vocal in Steely Dan’s history.
Despite its critical acclaim, “Two Against Nature” didn’t generate any hits along the lines of the “Gaucho” favorites “Hey Nineteen” (No. 10 on The Billboard Hot 100) and “Time Out of Mind” (No. 22). Indeed, backstage at the 2000 Grammys, Fagen told Billboard any new Steely Dan music wouldn’t likely be influenced by any modern tunes. “I haven’t listened to the radio for, like, 30 years,” he admitted. “I still listen to the same jazz records I listened to in high school, basically.”
The group is expected to tour in support of “Everything Must Go,” but no dates have yet been unveiled.