This video is worth its own post.

In my view, pretty much everything Steely Dan recorded after “Gaucho” was the equivalent of dishwater; nothing more than Steely Dan trying to sound like Steely Dan. At least on “Gaucho” the band was still looking to explore new avenues and try different things even while recognizing the long shadow cast by “Aja”.

In Steely Dan’s case, their situation mirrored that of Fleetwood Mac, where Lindsay Buckingham was determined that the band not create a similar follow-up to the wildly (and historically) successful “Rumours” with a “Rumours II” kind of album. He wanted to explore new and different things and led the band to create something totally unique and (in my view) greater and more creative than “Rumours” ever was in “Tusk”.

And, like “Tusk”, “Gaucho”, while not nearly as commercially successful, has stood the test of time in terms of creative content. Wile both bands continued to produce both enjoyable and quality content over the next several years, the days of true experimentation and exploration of new musical turf were over.

Enjoy, you Steely Dan fans!

Hat tip: Ed Driscoll at Instapundit.