Steely Dan’s Everything Must Go charted at No. 9 – but remains the group’s worst seller. That’s primarily because they got no radio support, as the music industry shifted from album sales to streaming. It’s a shame since Everything Must Go boasts a warmth missing from 1977’s Aja, the album Steely Dan fans usually gush over, as well as 1980’s Gaucho.
Released on June 10, 2003, it also appears to mark the end of Steely Dan’s recording career, after Walter Becker’s death some 15 years later. Here’s a look back at this too-often overlooked finale:
“THE LAST MALL”
Everything Must Go starts with the bluesy song, “The Last Mall.” Steely Dan tracked the album live in Studio A at Sear Sound in New York City, in sessions that started in August 2001. The basic tracks were recorded with engineer Elliot Schneider with additional engineering by Roger Nichols, Dave Russell and TJ Doherty. The most significant production change is the use of analog tape to record the band. Additionally, this was the only Steely Dan album where the basic tracks were recorded live in studio.
“The Last Mall” shows an immediate change in feel from its Grammy award-winning predecessor, 2000’s Two Against Nature. The song swings with Walter Becker’s looping bass patterns, and the intricate rhythm guitars of Jon Herington and Hugh McCracken. All of the songs feature this rhythm section, in addition to Donald Fagen on Fender Rhodes, and New York-based pianist Ted Baker also appears on most of the songs.
Becker, who provides all the lead guitar and solos on the album, dances over the galloping rhythm and the apocalyptic tale, while Fagen provides a challenging lead vocal. Not your typical start to a Steely Dan album. Also of note is that the band played “The Last Mall” to the click track, with the drums being added later.
“THINGS I MISS THE MOST”
“Things I Miss The Most” is perhaps the most conventional melody and story in the Steely Dan canon, but also one of the most compelling. The narrator tells a tale of woe about the end of a relationship and realizing the things that are now gone. Perhaps taken partly from Becker’s own divorce, the song is lyrically vivid and musically powerful. It also features one of Becker’s best solos on the album, and elegant piano work from Ted Baker. Vocalist Catherine Russell and Carolyn Leonhart provide further gravitas.
“BLUES BEACH”
“Blues Beach” pales in comparison. The song seems to be a musical rip off of the band’s hit “Hey Nineteen” from Gaucho. Lyrically, it’s simplistic but enjoyable but “Blues Beach” doesn’t go anywhere – nor did Becker provide any fire in his solo. Carolyn Leonhart is a featured vocalist, but her contributions are for naught.
“GODWHACKER”
The pace is reestablished by “Godwhacker.” Jon Herington and Hugh McCracken intertwine their guitars in a rhythmic dance, which bounces along with Keith Carlock’s best drumming so far on Everything Must Go. Becker on bass provides a soulful, packeted groove which Fagen accompanies on Wurlitzer. The lyrics are ominous, especially in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, and Becker’s guitar soloing along with a blues harp-like synth turn by Fagen ups the ante.
[SOMETHING ELSE! INTERVIEW: Jon Herington joined Preston Frazier for a Something Else! Sitdown that focused on his ‘Chunks and Chairnobs’ project, covering Steely Dan, and his all-time favorite albums.]
“SLANG OF AGES”
“Slang of Ages” shifts the mood, as Walter Becker delivers his first solo lead vocal on a Steely Dan album. This mid-paced rocker gallops along with a lyrical theme that Dan fans are familiar with: The old guy’s trying a pick up the young chick. Instead of getting a guitar solo, Walt Weiskopf provides a tasty tenor break, which is further supported by Michael Leonhart on trumpet. No less than five backing vocalists join in on this song.
“GREEN BOOK”
“Green Book” kicks the groove into high gear. Becker brings out a five-string bass to push the slow-burning rhythm along. Fagen, not to be outdone, uses a B3 and Fender Rhodes to add punch. Herington and McCracken do what they can to hold onto the groove, while Fagen sings of a virtual world which is hauntingly familiar. Oh, there is also another solo section where Becker and Fagen seemingly duel.
“PIXELEEN”
“Pixeleen” is a confident, tightly wound rocker, with vivid storytelling and another featured vocal from Carolyn Leonhart adding to the narrative. Hard to believe that Becker and Fagen were still adding new elements to their collaboration almost 40 years into this partnership.
“LUNCH WITH GINA”
“Lunch with Gina” is an almost frenzied telling of a relationship descending into paranoid delusions and madness. The song, which bounces along on Becker’s bass and Carlock’s tight groove, also features a Motown-like horn chart with Chris Potter on tenor sax and Michael Leonhart on trumpet. Michael Harvey provides support for Fagen’s vocals. Too bad the producers elected to have a synth solo instead of another turn on sax from Chris Potter.
“EVERYTHING MUST GO”
The last song on the last Steely Dan studio project is the title track. The duo again surprises with a Walt Weiskopf tenor into surrounded by a frenzy of of percussion and drums. Perhaps employed to simulate a breakdown and things falling part. This is one of the most forceful elements of Everything Must Go, and a perfect metaphor for the resolution of a business, a relationship or the world. Donald Fagen, for his part, delivers his best vocal on the album, showing a range we long since assumed he didn’t have. The track and the album show a band not content with staying in one place, and still making artistic progress until the very end.
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