Whether or not 1972 or ’73 was the very best ever 12 months for rock releases is endlessly controversial, however these fabulously wealthy years – which introduced us Exile On Fundamental St, Ziggy Stardust, Bridge Over Troubled Water, The Darkish Aspect Of The Moon, Tubular Bells, Quadrophenia and Goodbye Yellow Brick Street – have been a freakish continuous conveyor belt supply of shit-hot vinyl.
Slap-bang in the midst of that golden interval, in January ’73 (two months earlier within the US), Steely Dan’s Can’t Purchase A Thrill arrived, with its figuring out artistry and its stylishly crafted pop-and-rock combine, splashed with nation and jazz flavours and wrapped up in a seductive aura of musical and lyrical sophistication.
Proper from the off, with the summer-zephyr really feel of Do It Once more and its tricksy guitar and keyboard solos, the next Soiled Work, and the ‘class’-stamped Solely A Idiot Would Say That, it’s clear that Cant Purchase A Thrill is just not going to be an album of three-chord methods.
For a lot of its huge promote would be the bouncy Reelin’ In The Years, with its celebrated twin-guitar solo (typically cited as a favorite of Jimmy Web page), whereas Midnight Cruiser and Brooklyn (Owes The Charmer Underneath Me) – the previous with one more scorching, gritty guitar solo – are mature rock-pop songs that develop in stature with repeated listenings.
Can’t Purchase A Thrill not solely grew to become a interval basic, it additionally helped usher in a brand new sort of album, one purchased not solely by rock-pop followers but in addition the hip-cool sophisticates. This Fiftieth-anniversary remaster reissue comes on SACD and audiophile vinyl pressings, however even on a battered and scarred unique the music’s class is evident.
