Tracks
- Do It Again
- Dirty Work
- Kings
- Midnite Cruiser
- Only a Fool Would Say That
- Reelin' in the Years
- Fire in the Hole
- Brooklyn
- Change of the Guard
- Turn That Heartbeat Over Again
Can't Buy A Thrill is a lush album. The music is soft rock. But that seems to simplistic. There's a complexity to this album that makes it seems more like jazz than rock. However, it's definitely not jazz, if jazz means improvisation. This album certainly isn't soft rock either; there are enough guitar solos and heavy drumming to counter that idea.
Ultimately, the music is mature and cerebral. This is rock and roll for the professional class, which might be why it gets classified as soft rock. There's a lot of rock music being made for the hippies-turned-yuppies and most of it is vapid pap, having lost it's rebellious edge. This album teeters on the edge of that leaning more on the side of the latter than the former.
The album is maddening. I want to like it and I want to hate it. I really like how it sounds, but the singers come off as smug and pretentious, like these guys are in on a joke you aren't privvy to and you're an idiot because of it. I do think this album should be on the 1001 Albums list. Like a lot of similar bands at this time, Steely Dan helps to usher in the soft rock nonsense that plagues the airwaves during the 1970s and 1980s.
All of the songs are good. The stand outs are Do It Again, Dirty Work, Kings, Midnite Cruiser, Reelin' in the Years, Fire in the Hole, and Brooklyn.
★★★★★★★★★☆
No comments:
Post a Comment