Even in Steely Dan’s misfires, there was a high level of sophistication and craftsmanship. But I still don’t care much for this song.

by Mark Saleski Every true music fan has in their pocket a short list: the artists who hold special meaning. Our relationships to those artists are different from the rest. Each release means something. They’re not just records, they’re events You May Also Like: Bruce Springsteen – ‘The Ghost ofRead More

The new Doctor Faith, Christopher Cross’ first original studio album in 12 years, occasionally finds him taking a darker — hell, I’ll just say it, crankier — view of things. You May Also Like: Here’s how the Beatles (almost) met Doctor Who Journey, “Faith in the Heartland” from Generations (2005):Read More

Skunk Baxter was just beginning to make his mark in 1972, but it was already evident that Steely Dan landed the right man for the job.

On this special edition of Something Else! Reviews’ One Track Mind, we hand the reins over to Toto co-founder and legendary sessions guitarist Steve Lukather. He provides insight into “I Won’t Hold You Back” and “I’ll Be Over You,” You May Also Like: Toto’s Fahrenheit was more than the sumRead More

“Blue Tip” is tensile and itchy then soaring and romantic — the closest this new record, the Cars’ first in 24 years, gets to approximating its own career-making mixture of Ric Ocasek’s weirdo aloofness and Benjamin Orr’s sun-drenched pop warmth. Orr, of course, passed in 2000 after a bout withRead More

I don’t know how many Steely Dan fans are also into country music, but “Brooklyn” showed the two seemingly opposed passions could co-exist quite nicely.

John Oates takes us inside the love-gone-wrong beginnings of Hall and Oates “She’s Gone,” and talks about how the birth of Oates’ son sparked a standout solo track. He also laments that doo wop never gets its due, and how he remade a signature Hall and Oates hit into aRead More

All hail chief engineer Roger Nichols, referred to in the album credits since Steely Dan’s debut as “The Immortal.”