Can't Buy a Thrill [Remaster] (CD - 1972)

Steely Dan: David Palmer (vocals); Jeff Baxter (pedal steel guitar); Walter Becker (bass instrument); Jim Hodder (background vocals); Donald Fagen, Denny Dias.

Personnel: Walter Becker (vocals, guitar, electric bass, bass guitar); Donald Fagen (vocals, piano, electric piano, organ, keyboards); David Palmer (vocals, keyboards); Jim Hodder (vocals, drums, percussion); Clydie King, Sherlie Matthews, Venetta Fields (vocals, background vocals); Jeff Baxter (guitar, steel guitar, Spanish guitar); Denny Dias (guitar, sitar, electric sitar); Elliot Randall, Elliott Randall, Denny Diaz (guitar); Jerome Richardson (saxophone, tenor saxophone); Snooky Young (flugelhorn, horns); Victor Feldman (keyboards, percussion); David Paich (keyboards); Shirley Matthews (background vocals).

Additional personnel: Victor Feldman, Clydie King, Elliott Randall, Jerome Richardson, Snooky Young, Venetta Fields, Shirley Matthews.

Audio Remasterer: Roger Nichols .

Liner Note Authors: Donald Fagen; Walter Becker; Tristan Fabriani.

Recording information: The Village Recorder, Los Angeles, CA; Village Recorder, Los Angeles, CA.

Walter Becker and Donald Fagen were remarkable craftsmen from the start, as Steely Dan's debut, Can't Buy a Thrill, illustrates. Each song is tightly constructed, with interlocking chords and gracefully interwoven melodies, buoyed by clever, cryptic lyrics. All of these are hallmarks of Steely Dan's signature sound, but what is most remarkable about the record is the way it differs from their later albums. Of course, one of the most notable differences is the presence of vocalist David Palmer, a professional blue-eyed soul vocalist who oversings the handful of tracks where he takes the lead. Palmer's very presence signals the one major flaw with the album -- in an attempt to appeal to a wide audience, Becker and Fagen tempered their wildest impulses with mainstream pop techniques. Consequently, there are very few of the jazz flourishes that came to distinguish their albums -- the breakthrough single, "Do It Again," does work an impressively tight Latin jazz beat, and "Reelin' in the Years" has jazzy guitar solos and harmonies -- and the production is overly polished, conforming to all the conventions of early-'70s radio. Of course, that gives these decidedly twisted songs a subversive edge, but compositionally, these aren't as innovative as their later work. Even so, the best moments ("Dirty Work," "Kings," "Midnight Cruiser," "Turn That Heartbeat Over Again") are wonderful pop songs that subvert traditional conventions and more than foreshadow the paths Steely Dan would later take. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

This is the album that introduced Donald Fagen and Walter Becker's unique, idiosyncratic, and highly polished craftsmanship. Although CAN'T BUY A THRILL lacks the overtly jazzy tendencies that would define albums like AJA, it distinguishes itself from nearly all of the mainstream pop and rock of the era with its smooth, lounge-y feel, catchy hooks, and immaculate studio polish. They were played alongside the Doobie Brothers and the Eagles on '70s FM radio, but Steely Dan's sound was more self-conscious and sophisticated than its peers: this was postmodern R&B, dressed up in a tuxedo, and holding an advanced degree.

The album's hit single "Do It Again" is textbook Dan, with its slinky, Latin-touched groove, expansive, minor key melody, and shimmering veneer. Fagen's quirky vocals grace the track, and the record's other hit, the chugging "Reeling In the Years," with its memorable looping guitar riff, but several cuts here feature the vocals of David Palmer, whose sincere, straightforward pop-soul approach seems at odds with the band's aesthetic. Even so, CAN'T BUY A THRILL sparkles, and is the first impressive notch for a band whose output would continue to improve. minimize