CD-Charts Position 1
Average Rating:

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Circus Money

by: Walter Becker

Release Date July 14, 2008
I ordered this before it was released, determined to be first with a review. As soon as I listened to it, I knew I'd have to wait a while or risk rushing to a judgement I might regret. It needs a lot of listening over a reasonable period and, in my view, the uncomplimentary reviews here have been written too hastily.

Initially, there's nothing "obvious" - it's a lazy-sounding, laid-back affair with about half of it following a pretty steady reggae groove. Eventually, the tunes do start to take shape, the subtle rhythms begin to dig in and, ultimately, it's a hypnotic and satisfying experience with a mature, consistent very well-crafted feel, knitted together with the typical Becker creepy storybook lyrics; quite suited to that ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 2
Average Rating:

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Circus Money [Us Import]

by: Walter Becker

Release Date June 10, 2008
I ordered this before it was released, determined to be first with a review. As soon as I listened to it, I knew I'd have to wait a while or risk rushing to a judgement I might regret. It needs a lot of listening over a reasonable period and, in my view, the uncomplimentary reviews here have been written too hastily.

Initially, there's nothing "obvious" - it's a lazy-sounding, laid-back affair with about half of it following a pretty steady reggae groove. Eventually, the tunes do start to take shape, the subtle rhythms begin to dig in and, ultimately, it's a hypnotic and satisfying experience with a mature, consistent very well-crafted feel, knitted together with the typical Becker creepy storybook lyrics; quite suited to that ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 3
Average Rating:

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Eleven Tracks of Whack

by: Walter Becker

Release Date November 01, 1994
What a hugely neglected gem of a record this is! It's a wonderful album, which I don't recall ever seeing any promotion for. I came across it about a year ago, while perusing the Becker/Fagan back catalogue. The 5-star reviews are spot on and well deserved. Pity the guy who took it back to the shop. You've got to play it more than once sometimes! It's a stylistically varied album, into which Becker throws a bucketful of contemporary musical references - even some ethnic chanting in the fade-out of Surf and/or Die - mostly within a tight blues/rock framework, together with a couple of excellent groovy blues ballads more akin to the Steely Dan material. As for what you may read elsewhere on this site about his ability on the guitar, I'm sorry, ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 4
Average Rating:

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11 Tracks of Whack

by: Walter Becker

Release Date September 27, 1994
What a hugely neglected gem of a record this is! It's a wonderful album, which I don't recall ever seeing any promotion for. I came across it about a year ago, while perusing the Becker/Fagan back catalogue. The 5-star reviews are spot on and well deserved. Pity the guy who took it back to the shop. You've got to play it more than once sometimes! It's a stylistically varied album, into which Becker throws a bucketful of contemporary musical references - even some ethnic chanting in the fade-out of Surf and/or Die - mostly within a tight blues/rock framework, together with a couple of excellent groovy blues ballads more akin to the Steely Dan material. As for what you may read elsewhere on this site about his ability on the guitar, I'm sorry, it's ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 5
Average Rating:

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You Gotta Walk It Like You Talk It: Or You'll Loose That Beat/Original Soundtrack

by: Walter Becker & Donald Fagen

Release Date June 26, 2006
What a hugely neglected gem of a record this is! It's a wonderful album, which I don't recall ever seeing any promotion for. I came across it about a year ago, while perusing the Becker/Fagan back catalogue. The 5-star reviews are spot on and well deserved. Pity the guy who took it back to the shop. You've got to play it more than once sometimes! It's a stylistically varied album, into which Becker throws a bucketful of contemporary musical references - even some ethnic chanting in the fade-out of Surf and/or Die - mostly within a tight blues/rock framework, together with a couple of excellent groovy blues ballads more akin to the Steely Dan material. As for what you may read elsewhere on this site about his ability on the guitar, I'm sorry, it's ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 6
Average Rating:

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Sun Mountain

by: Walter Becker, Donald Fagen

Release Date December 31, 1993
What a hugely neglected gem of a record this is! It's a wonderful album, which I don't recall ever seeing any promotion for. I came across it about a year ago, while perusing the Becker/Fagan back catalogue. The 5-star reviews are spot on and well deserved. Pity the guy who took it back to the shop. You've got to play it more than once sometimes! It's a stylistically varied album, into which Becker throws a bucketful of contemporary musical references - even some ethnic chanting in the fade-out of Surf and/or Die - mostly within a tight blues/rock framework, together with a couple of excellent groovy blues ballads more akin to the Steely Dan material. As for what you may read elsewhere on this site about his ability on the guitar, I'm sorry, it's ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 7
Average Rating:

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Come Back Baby

by: Walter Becker & Donald Fagen

Release Date February 25, 2003
What a hugely neglected gem of a record this is! It's a wonderful album, which I don't recall ever seeing any promotion for. I came across it about a year ago, while perusing the Becker/Fagan back catalogue. The 5-star reviews are spot on and well deserved. Pity the guy who took it back to the shop. You've got to play it more than once sometimes! It's a stylistically varied album, into which Becker throws a bucketful of contemporary musical references - even some ethnic chanting in the fade-out of Surf and/or Die - mostly within a tight blues/rock framework, together with a couple of excellent groovy blues ballads more akin to the Steely Dan material. As for what you may read elsewhere on this site about his ability on the guitar, I'm sorry, it's ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 8
Average Rating:

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Any World That I'm Welcome to

by: Walter Becker & Donald Fagen

Release Date April 01, 2003
What a hugely neglected gem of a record this is! It's a wonderful album, which I don't recall ever seeing any promotion for. I came across it about a year ago, while perusing the Becker/Fagan back catalogue. The 5-star reviews are spot on and well deserved. Pity the guy who took it back to the shop. You've got to play it more than once sometimes! It's a stylistically varied album, into which Becker throws a bucketful of contemporary musical references - even some ethnic chanting in the fade-out of Surf and/or Die - mostly within a tight blues/rock framework, together with a couple of excellent groovy blues ballads more akin to the Steely Dan material. As for what you may read elsewhere on this site about his ability on the guitar, I'm sorry, it's ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 9
Average Rating:

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Adivinanzas (2 tracks, 2002)

by: Walter Becker

Release Date
What a hugely neglected gem of a record this is! It's a wonderful album, which I don't recall ever seeing any promotion for. I came across it about a year ago, while perusing the Becker/Fagan back catalogue. The 5-star reviews are spot on and well deserved. Pity the guy who took it back to the shop. You've got to play it more than once sometimes! It's a stylistically varied album, into which Becker throws a bucketful of contemporary musical references - even some ethnic chanting in the fade-out of Surf and/or Die - mostly within a tight blues/rock framework, together with a couple of excellent groovy blues ballads more akin to the Steely Dan material. As for what you may read elsewhere on this site about his ability on the guitar, I'm sorry, it's ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 10
Average Rating:

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Brooklyn

by: Walter Becker

Release Date February 20, 2003
That the musical partnership of Donald Fagen and Walter Becker had talent to burn is demonstrated on this fascinating and occasionally affecting 22 track compilation of pre-Steely Dan material (essentially demos and semi-professional recordings). Some of the tracks are very sparse, with only piano, vocals and bass, but the quality of the tunes shines through. The tracks that feature an early band show the beginnings of the jazz/pop sensibility that would be the hallmark of the Steely Dan sound. Amazingly only a handful of the tracks herein turned up on later Dan albums (Barrytown, Parker's Band, Any World, The Caves of Altamira for example), whereas the rest of the songs (many of which are fantastic) fell by the wayside and only resurfaced years later on compilations ... Read More: