Steely Dan – Everything Must Go (Hybrid Stereo SACD)

Newly Remastered from the Original Analog Tape by Bernie Grundman Direct to DSD

Led by the songwriting and virtuoso musical duo of Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, Steely Dan released an extraordinary run of seven albums on ABC Records and MCA Records from 1972 through 1980. Filled with topline musicianship, clever and subversive wordplay, ironic humor, genius arrangements, and pop hits that outshone the Top 40 of its day, their records, which were as sophisticated and cerebral as they were inscrutable, were stylistically diverse, melding their love of jazz with rock, blues, and impeccable pop songcraft.

2003’s Everything Must Go was the second album released by Steely Dan after they ended a 20-year studio hiatus and recorded and released 2000’s Two Against Nature. The final album from the legendary duo, it bore a decidedly different sound than its predecessor, with Becker and Fagen taking things down a notch, sonically speaking, with the songs featuring arrangements that weren’t quite as elaborate as their heyday. Additionally, the solos were more rock-oriented than jazzy, i.e. they were tighter, and the album felt more like it had been recorded live. It’s also notable that the LP included the one and only Steely Dan song to feature Becker on lead vocals: “Slang of Ages.” Although there were often rumors that Steely Dan would return to the studio again, it never happened, but at least the icons went out on a high note with another top-10 album.

Each Hybrid SACD reissue in the Analogue Productions Steely Dan Series is newly remastered by Bernie Grundman from the original master tape direct to DSD. The result is more sonic punch and more expression captured from the tape.