Steely Dan

Pretzel Logic - ABC Records 1974

Tracks: 1. Rikki Don't Lose That Number / 2. Night By Night / 3. Any Major Dude Will Tell You / 4. Barrytown / 5. East St. Louis Toodle-Oo / 6. Parker's Band / 7. Through With Buzz / 8. Pretzel Logic / 9. With A Gun / 10. Charlie Freak / 11. Monkey In Your Soul

Comments:

Steely Dan's third album "Pretzel Logic" is in many ways a remarkable album. Often, the album highlighted as the group's finest work, obviously in strong competition with most of the group's other excellent albums.

It is also the album that contains the group's biggest single-hit "Rikki Don't Lose That Number". Personally I also think that it is the group's most varied in style and funny enough also the one with the shortest playing-time.

Finally, it is probably also the last album where you can talk about a group in the traditional sense, since by this time they stopped giving concerts, and subsequently mostly became a duo consisting of Walter Becker and Donald Fagen.

"Rikki Don't Lose That Number" stands out from the other tracks, being both melodically and rhythmicly very catchy, and it also has an excellent guitar solo played by Jeff Baxter. The exquisite "Any Major Dude" is another favorite - also both melodic and catchy.

The jazzy and funky side of the band comes out with songs like "Night By Night" and of course, Ellington's "East St. Louis." On tracks like "With a Gun" and "Barrytown" you can almost talk about country music, while "Parker's Band" and "Pretzel Logic" are more pure rock - the latter with a beautiful guitar solo by Becker.

An excellent album with "Rikki Do not Lose That Number", "Any Major Dude" and "Pretzel Logic," as the immortal classics.


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