Gaucho Upper Marlboro MD

After releasing undoubtedly their best album in 1977with Aja, the question was how Steely Dan would top thateffort. Aside from a fight with MCA Records, who acquired theband's label at the time, ABC, and precluded them from releasingany new material (except for the title track to the FMsoundtrack), I mean.

The answer, as heard on 1980's Gaucho, may notbe the answer that some people wanted to hear -- namely, theycouldn't top it. Instead of continuing to challenge themselvesmusically, Walter Becker and Donald Fagen -- and their cavalcade ofhired guns -- instead play it safe and try to re-create thejazz-rock amalgam that made Aja successful. One littleproblem, though - this disc is downright boring.

Oh, make no mistake, I haven't forgotten the factthat this disc contains one of Steely Dan's best singles of alltime, "Hey Nineteen," a track that does seem to feature Fagen athis loosest behind the microphone in an almost Dylan-esqueperformance. Likewise, "Time Out Of Mind," while not quite in thesame ballpark as "Hey Nineteen," is the forgotten gem on this disc,and is well worth re-discovery.

So, that leaves five songs on this disc to talk about- and I'm probably committing a mortal sin when I say that, ofSteely Dan's "hits" played on classic-rock radio, I've never reallyliked "Babylon Sisters." Unlike other songs in the band's catalog,this one comes off as bland and lifeless, almost as if Steely Danwas phoning in their performance.