Steely Dan: Two Against Nature

Fagen and Becker Talk About Their 2000 Return

"What record company are we on, by the way?" Donald Fagen wants to know. "I'm not kidding."

You can excuse the Steely Dan man's disorientation. Fagen and his partner, Walter Becker, last released a studio album of new material as Steely Dan in November 1980, the month Ronald Reagan was elected to his first term. And that one, Gaucho, had been anguished over for half of Jimmy Carter's administration.

That young woman in "Hey 19"? She'll be 40 this year.

You could listen to Gaucho on your turntable at 33 1/3 rpm, and maybe even on a portable cassette player: The Sony Walkman had been invented the year before. But not on CD – the compact disc was still in the research and development phase. Whether or not to make videos was a non-issue for the stage-shy Fagen and Becker: Cable TV was in its infancy, MTV yet to be born.

But this week they release Two Against Nature, an album that picks up seamlessly where Gaucho left off.

In a large rehearsal studio, the Dan's largish band works through the ne…