Gaucho by Steely Dan (CD, Sep-1984, MCA Records USA)

The original smart-ass badboys of the 70's are back again with more cynical sarcasm and jazz/blues/rock/r&b fusion for your ears to soak in, soak up and settle on.

These guys just started off awesome and got better. Unbelievable how you can progress from perfection to an even more infinite perfection with such a bad attitude to boot.

Gaucho is incredible. From the first beats of Babylon Sister, you can feel the groove, feel the funk, feel the pain and hear the joy. Hey Nineteen, well, this song has new meaning to me now as I was much younger when I first started listening to Dan, this song makes so much more sense to an older guy, the funny thing is that SD has now almost become their song for me as I bellow "hey nineteen, that's Steely Dan, she don't remember the kings of soul"; Glamour Profession, probably the only SD song that I didn't like from the start, but it has grown on me and is now one of my favs; The title track, Gaucho, is as ambiguous as the guys sense of humor, I'm just not sure what the hell they're talking about, but I love the music, love the song; Time Out of Mind, a throw back to the glory days of drugs, anyone that has tripped knows the point, anyone that hasn't don't bother trying to understand the point; My Rival is conundrum for me because SD never cared, apparently until the guy sat in one of their recliners, great song; Third World Man, a great blues key/guitar mix with lyrics that don't seem to mean much of anything while sounding deep at the same time.

These guys will live forever. Their music will probably be matched (take this to mean that someone else caught up with them) in another few centuries.

Here is a simple rule of thumb when it comes to music; IF IT'S STEELY DAN, BUY IT! PERIOD.