Maps of Music

Two Against Nature (2000)

Where the lyrics of Two Against Nature take you, and where it was really made.

Steely Dan's eighth album came 20 years after their previous studio record and still won four Grammys, including Album of the Year.

Key places

Clinton Recording Studios, New York City (2000)

Recording site Clinton Recording — Clinton Recording Studios is listed as a recording place for the album. The album article names studios in New York City and Maui for the 1997 to 1999 recording period. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Electric Lady Studios, New York City (2000)

Recording site Electric Lady Studios — Electric Lady Studios in New York City is listed among the studios where the album was recorded. Its listing repeats in the candidate source as the same New York building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Hyperbolic Sound, Maui (2000)

Recording site Plantation Mixing And Recording — Hyperbolic Sound on Maui is listed among the album's recording studios. Only the island-center coordinate is used, so the exact building is not marked. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Two Against Nature: eighth studio album by American rock band Steely Dan
• Released 29 February 2000 by Giant Records
• Recorded from 1997 to 1999
• First studio album by the band in 20 years
• Produced by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen
• Donald Fagen sings lead vocals on all tracks

Background

• Previous studio album: Gaucho, released in 1980
• The supporting tour of North America, Europe and Japan was equally successful
• The tour's success encouraged the band to record the 2003 album Everything Must Go
• The French and Portuguese articles classify Steely Dan as a jazz rock band

Recording

• Studios named in the album article: River Sound and Clinton Sound, both in New York City
• Also named: Hyperbolic Sound on Maui and Electric Lady Studios in New York City
• Roger Nichols is listed as principal engineer
• Nine tracks, including Cousin Dupree and Two Against Nature

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · ja.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Formed in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, in 1971 by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen.
• Becker and Fagen met in 1967 at Bard College and began writing songs together.
• They moved to Los Angeles after producer Gary Katz hired them as staff songwriters for ABC Records.
• The band takes its name from a dildo mentioned in William S. Burroughs' novel Naked Lunch.

Members

• Walter Becker (guitars, bass, backing vocals) and Donald Fagen (keyboards, lead vocals) were the core duo.
• Early band members included Denny Dias, Jeff Baxter, and Jim Hodder.
• Fagen reluctantly took on lead vocals after the search for a suitable singer failed.

Career

• Debut album Can't Buy a Thrill (1972) produced the hits "Do It Again" and "Reelin' in the Years".
• After 1974 the band stopped touring and continued as a studio project using session musicians.
• Aja (1977) became the band's top-selling album and won a Grammy for engineering.
• The band disbanded in 1981 and reunited in 1993.
• Two Against Nature (2000) won the Grammy for Album of the Year.
• Becker died in 2017; Fagen continued the band until 2024 and retired in 2026.
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001; has sold over 40 million records.

Reception

At release

• Metacritic: average score 77 based on 13 professional reviews, indicating generally favorable reviews
• Robert Christgau in The Village Voice (March 2000) praised it as an excellent rock comeback
• Christgau called it a jumpier, snappier version of the jazz pop on Aja (1977), describing it as postfunk
• Christgau found the songs unified by accounts of older men seeking validation and excitement in their sex lives
• AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine appreciated the sharp humor in the lyrics
• Erlewine was especially impressed by the depth and character of the music
• Pitchfork's Brent DiCrescenzo dismissed the songs as lengthy, indistinguishable and glossy bop-pop
• DiCrescenzo suggested Steely Dan lack soul

Reappraisal

• Stereogum writer Zach Schonfeld called the Grammy success a revenge of the boomers
• Schonfeld said the wins helped explain resentment toward the band among younger listeners
• Esquire published a retrospective in February 2020 on fans loving and hating the album over 20 years

Records

• Peaked at number six on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart
• Sold more than one million copies
• Platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America
• Won four Grammy Awards at the 2001 ceremony: Album of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Album, Best Engineered Album Non-Classical, and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for Cousin Dupree
• Portuguese article: good reception from specialist critics and four Grammy wins in 2001

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com · pt.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The 2001 Grammy wins came against younger acts such as NSYNC, Britney Spears, Radiohead, Beck and Eminem
• The album was the band's first studio record since Gaucho in 1980
• The strong supporting tour led directly to the 2003 album Everything Must Go
• Stereogum's Zach Schonfeld tied the band's Grammy success to a revenge of the boomers
• The album article names River Sound, Clinton Sound, Hyperbolic Sound and Electric Lady Studios as recording studios

Sources: fr.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org

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