Steely Dan - Two Against Nature - DTS 5.1

Starring:Steely Dan
Studio: Image Entertainment
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
Having discreetly disbanded at the dawn of the MTV era, the 1970s' most stubbornly faceless pop subversives returned after 19 years with their first new studio album, followed in short order by this stunning long-form video project. Part concert, part documentary, Steely Dan: Two Against Nature offers a savvy cross-section of both old and new material performed by the latest incarnation of the formidable stage bands that founders Walter Becker and Donald Fagen have assembled for the periodic tours unleashed since their early '90s concert reunion. True to form, they preside over immaculately arranged, flawlessly executed performances that confirm the Dan's state-of-the-art standards, then undercut that achievement with devilish audience sound bites and their own faux cable-access interviews, as if to debunk their artistry with a blast of anticelebrity.

For hardcore Dan fans (including this reviewer), Becker and Fagen long ago distanced themselves from rock culture, their music steeped more in '50s jazz and rhythm & blues, and their lyrics pitched to a darker, funnier world-view divorced from youth culture and self-congratulatory rock personae. Fagen, with his close-cropped hair, austere beard, tinted glasses, and prominent incisors resembles a pale, vampiric Ray Charles as he huddles over his keyboards and croons those dangerous lyrics. His partner's longer locks and steel-rimmed glasses reinforce the spectre of a postbop Franz Schubert who's traded clavichords for custom electric guitars--a studious image reinforced by his dry, articulate gibes in the interviews, if undercut by the twisted imagery and shadowy, second-person perspectives pervasive in the band's lyrics (like the music, written by both men, but conspicuously shaped by Becker).

The material hews to the group's later albums recorded after they downsized the band into a de facto studio laboratory and dialed up the jazz accents, with understandable showcases for the sneaky new songs on the Two Against Nature album: sleek, seductive songs about incest, midlife crises, pyromania, designer drugs, and other fun stuff. Sonically, the performances are as meticulously recorded and mixed as the duo's albums, with the performance footage beautifully shot and edited. We'd knock director Earle Sebastian for a few too many tilted camera angles, but then we might have to wait another 19 years for the next one. --Sam Sutherland
Description
Steely Dan has not had a new studio album in twenty years--"Two Against Nature" was worth the wait! This concert, recorded live in New York at the Sony Studios, contains new songs as well as classic hits from the minds of Donald Fagen and Walter Becker. Together, they deliver a unique music experience that is truly unforgettable. Songs: Green Earrings, Cousin Dupree, Bad Sneakers, Janie Runaway, Josie, FM, Gaslighting Abbie, Black Friday, Babylon Sisters, Kid Charlemagne, Jack of Speed, Peg, What a Shame About Me, Pretzel Logic.

Amazon.com

Having discreetly disbanded at the dawn of the MTV era, the 1970s' most stubbornly faceless pop subversives returned after 19 years with their first new studio album, followed in short order by this stunning long-form video project. Part concert, part documentary, Steely Dan: Two Against Nature offers a savvy cross-section of both old and new material performed by the latest incarnation of the formidable stage bands that founders Walter Becker and Donald Fagen have assembled for the periodic tours unleashed since their early '90s concert reunion. True to form, they preside over immaculately arranged, flawlessly executed performances that confirm the Dan's state-of-the-art standards, then undercut that achievement with devilish audience sound bites and their own faux cable-access interviews, as if to debunk their artistry with a blast of anticelebrity.

Description

Steely Dan has not had a new studio album in twenty years--"Two Against Nature" was worth the wait! This concert, recorded live in New York at the Sony Studios, contains new songs as well as classic hits from the minds of Donald Fagen and Walter Becker. Together, they deliver a unique music experience that is truly unforgettable. Songs: Green Earrings, Cousin Dupree, Bad Sneakers, Janie Runaway, Josie, FM, Gaslighting Abbie, Black Friday, Babylon Sisters, Kid Charlemagne, Jack of Speed, Peg, What a Shame About Me, Pretzel Logic.

Full Frame - Color - English - 5.1 Dolby Digital, 5.1 DTS

Customer Reviews:

It's Steely Dan. Enough said........2007-01-31

The quality of the music is outstanding. The concert performance and footage itself is nothing special but it is always nice to see them perform. There are bits of band interviews between songs that are slightly amusing at best. There is nothing that gives you any insight to the music or quality 'behind-the-scenes' look. If you like Steely Dan you'll enjoy the DVD. If you are new to them you may want to start elsewhere I think.

Great For Dan Fans.......2007-01-08

If you are a Dan Fan, this is a must have, especially since it won the Big Music Award the year it came out. Walter and Donald are just great..no other words can describe their talents.

Very pleasant concert, interviews distracting.......2006-08-14

The first time you watch, you are pleased with the overall experience. The music is a nice mix of new and old -- I was a huge fan in the 70's and kind of lost touch with Dan. Now that they are back, the new music is a pleasant jazzy sound. The second, third, etc viewing force you to hit the skip button on the interviews.

lovin the Dan.......2006-07-15

Great DVD.
Excellent sound.
Hillarious between song clips.
The music is absolute genius.

Lifts you up !!!!.......2006-04-29

It just makes me very happy watching this DVD. Okay, so we learn that Don and Walt are not perfect and neither are the rest of the bandmembers or the editor or the cameraman, but the whole package is just so entertaining and the music sounds so great (in surround 5.1) as a whole that it makes me swing in my chair every time I listen to it. And that for a guitarplayer who is nicknamed "the Sphinx". I also like the interviews in between songs and anyone who says otherwise just doesn't get it.
Most of the "old songs" are played with more groove then ever. especially "Black Friday" and "Green Earrings".
Again; Wathing this DVD and listening to its music just lifts me up !!

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