Steely Dan’s debut album presents a band fully formed and playing at a high level. It’s also among the only times Steely Dan was a real band. As the years want on, Steely Dan would become a studio creation with Donald and Walter and a cast of studio players. Damn great players - Steve Gadd, Larry Carlton, Skunk Baxter, Michael McDonald. That and an obsession for perfection at any cost gave you that body of nearly perfect music. This album though has Steely Dan formed as a true band with Donald and Walter at the center.
“Do It Again”, “Reelin’ In The Years”, “Midnight Cruiser”, and “Kings” are masterful songs that set the bar for an unparalleled musical run. These are the songs I most associate with the early years of Steely Dan and all share a timeless rock feel with jazz and country on the side. Steely Dan often gets called a jazz band and there are raging debates about whether they should even be called a rock band. Certainly elements of jazz present and plenty of saxophone, but I also hear twinges of The Eagles and a general lean towards yacht rock. I might be alone in this, but Steely Dan is not a jazz band.
“Do It Again” opens the album on a high note. Classic rock-n-roll.
Stuffed between “Do It Again” and “Midnight Cruiser” is “Kings”. The only thing wrong with “Kings” is where it happens to fall. The lyrics are set around the transition between King Richard and King John when King Richard heads off to the Crusades. Richard was the good king and John the bad king. However, the song seems to be about it not making any difference. Trying to do the right thing for the right king and nothing changes. I get it.
“Felonious my old friend” is the opening line for “Midnight Cruiser” and wins my vote for most frustrating Steely Dan lyric. I so much want Thelonius to be my old friend, but Donald and Walter insist on infusing reference to a down and out Felonius. Typical of Steely Dan whose music often features seedy characters from the wrong side of the tracks. Frustrating as it may be, this is among my favorite songs from the Steely Dan catalog.
“Midnight Cruiser” brings back fond memories of driving aimlessly with my buddies in Dave Bohannon’s gold GTO convertible that was always just a few days from being fully restored. Rest in peace my friend.
“Reelin’ In the Years is just a great rock romp. An icon of rock music. From the chunk-a-chunk-a bass and drum line to the distorted electric guitar this is what rock is. My guitar friends tell me that Reelin’ is complex and difficult, but you can’t hear that in the song. A feature of great music generally and Steely Dan specifically. The harmonies and general feel give me the sense of a country rock song. See The Eagles.
I challenge you to find a better debut album any genre, any time. Yet I rarely see Can’t Buy a Thrill on lists of best debut albums. Steely Dan was born fully formed in Can’t Buy a Thrill and it’s one of the very few albums from my distant past that I continue to listen to every week or so. Usually on repeat. “Reelin’” never plays only once.