eShop USA > Music > Gaucho
Gaucho
List Price: $11.98Our Price: $8.97 You Save: $3.01 (25%)Prices subject to change.
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0008811205522
Format: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
Label: Mca
Manufacturer: Mca
MPN: 112055
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: Mca
Release Date: October 10, 2000
Studio: Mca
Related Items: Featured Listmania!
Editorial Review:
The multiplatinum success of Aja made Steely Dan, the musical conceit of Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, a household name. But that prosperity came bundled with a fateful triple-whammy for rock's dyspeptic duo: unrealistic commercial expectations, a critical backlash spawned by punk's nascent mewling, and the long-simmering meltdown of their artistic partnership. But the cool, perfect sheen of 1980's Gaucho tipped its hand to none of it. Ironically, those fashion victims who sniffed up their sleeves at Don and Walt's decadence-tinged Me Decade manifesto couldn't have had a clue that just maybe Gaucho's typically oblique protagonists had uncomfortably blurred from the third-person to the first this time 'round. At least that's what Becker and Fagen hint at in their smart-assed notes to this digitally remastered, definitive edition (all original artwork and printed lyrics restored) of the final album before their 20-year hiatus. Pristine and sonically polished (three years and seven studios worth), time has served Gaucho well. Even its sense of laconic detachment now seems but a logical bridge to the two-decade removed Dan of Two Against Nature. To their credit, Becker and Fagen didn't trash the first half of Steely Dan's legacy on Gaucho, they simply burnished it to oblivion. -Jerry McCulley
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Steely Dan's Weakest Album
From their debut album "Can't Buy a Thrill" to their incredible work with "Aja," Steely Dan had been defining itself as a very talented, innovative group with a unique flavor. Unfortunately, though every album before it had been excellent, Gaucho just doesn't live up to the Steely Dan pedigree.
Gaucho certainly has its own flavor, which is readily recognizable within the first few tracks. "Babylon Sisters" is a great start and a well-known hit. "Hey Nineteen" is a fairly mediocre (albeit ... Read More
Rating: - Hey Nineteen, that's about it
"Hey Ninteen" is a great track, and "Babylon Sisters" rocks, but the whole thing sounds like the Dan on auto-pilot and, though it is a bit tiresome to judge records this way, doesn't come close to mid-70's classics like Countdown to Ecstasy and Katy Leid. The middle sction drags, and its a chore to listen straight through, even though the album only runs to 38 mintes. Still, "Hey Nineteen" is one killer tune. "The Cuervo Gold/ The fine columbian/ Make tonight a wonderful thing." Indeed, but read between ... Read More
Rating:  - Synchronicity
Having previously enjoyed Steely Dan exclusively on the radio, it's been a blast to get into their albums. I was under the mistaken impression that everything they've done sounds great, but essentially the same. Yes, they have a distinctive sound, but the variety on GAUCHO is impressive. When I'm not distracted by the funny, sardonic lyrics, the title track is actually a thing of great beauty. I sometimes wish it were in a foreign language so I could just soak in the gorgeousness of the unexpectedly hymnlike ... Read More
Rating:  - A few moments, but again disappointing
Aja was Steely Dan's most popular album but it marked a departure from their previous methods of working with a full-time studio band in favour of working exclusively with session musicians. Unfortunately, the move did not turn out perfectly because much of the music on Aja turned out too relaxed, overly "layered" and lighthearted, lacking the intensity that had marked such albums as Countdown To Ecstasy or The Royal Scam.
Three years and seven studios' work later, Becker and Fagen emerged at the tail ... Read More
Rating:  - Heh, "Mexican cowboy"...
The last of the early Dan albums, and I say it's a pretty good one... I personally prefer all prior albums to this one but it is a fitting swan song fer everything Steely. Some awesome tunes like the title track, "Time Out Of Mind" (which features Dire Straits' Mark Knopfler on guitar-leads, and the only track with Michael McDonald backin' them vox up) & the radio staple "Hey Nineteen".
The production & musicianship on the album is as-always flawless! I look at the album basically as the less accessible ... Read More
Related Categories:
| |
 |
