''Two Against Nature'' is the eighth studio album by American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band Steely Dan. Their first studio album in 20 years, it was recorded from 1997 to 1999 and released on February 29, 2000, by

Giant Records In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: '' gigas'', cognate giga-) are beings of human-like appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''giant'' is first attested in 1297 fr ...

. A critical success, ''Two Against Nature'' won the group four

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

s: Album of the Year,

Best Pop Vocal Album The Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality vocal pop music albums. Awards in several ...

, Best Engineered Album – Non-Classical, and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals (for the single " Cousin Dupree"). Commercially, it peaked at number six on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200 chart and sold more than one million copies, earning a

Platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Pla ...

certification from the Recording Industry Association of America.

Reception and legacy

''Two Against Nature'' was met with both commercial and critical success. At

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional critics, the album received an average score of 77, based on 13 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Writing in March 2000 for ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...

'', Robert Christgau applauded the music as an excellent "rock comeback" and a "jumpier and snappier, sourer and trickier and less soothing" iteration of the

jazz pop Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describes a ...

featured on Steely Dan's 1977 album '' Aja'', describing it as "postfunk". Thematically, he found it unified by fictitious yet revelatory accounts of "dirty old men" seeking "validation" and "excitement" in their sex lives, which are "full of heady infatuations and random acts of cruelty, self-interest and self-hate, vicious cycles blowing hot and cold", all conveying "the urgency of attraction". Stephen Thomas Erlewine of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

appreciated the "sharp humor" in the lyrics, but was especially impressed by the music's "depth and character", as he observed "nearly endless permutations within their signature sound". A dissenting view came from ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...

'' reviewer Brent DiCrescenzo, who dismissed the songs as "lengthy, indistinguishable" and "glossy bop-pop" while suggesting Steely Dan lack "soul". At the

2001 Grammy Awards The 43rd Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 21, 2001, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Several artists earned three awards on the night. Steely Dan's haul included Album of the Year for '' Two Against Nature''. U2 took ...

, ''Two Against Nature'' earned Steely Dan wins in the categories of Album of the Year,

, Best Engineered Album – Non-Classical, and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals (for the single " Cousin Dupree"). For these awards, the band was in competition with younger, more popular recording acts such as NSYNC, Britney Spears, Radiohead, Beck, and Eminem. According to '' Stereogum'' writer Zach Schonfeld, Steely Dan's success at the Grammys represented a "revenge of the aby/nowiki> boomers" and contributed to resentment among younger listeners toward the band: " e sight of two smug jazz-rock nerds collecting their Grammy from Stevie Wonder as Radiohead and Beck went home nearly empty-handed—helps explain why so many

Gen X Generation X (or Gen X for short) is the Western demographic cohort following the baby boomers and preceding the millennials. Researchers and popular media use the mid-to-late 1960s as starting birth years and the late 1970s to early 1980s as ...

-ers and old millennials grew up loathing both Steely Dan and the Grammys in equal measure. Needless to say, Steely Dan's elliptical character studies set to

yacht rock Yacht rock (originally known as the West Coast soundThat ' ...

sleaze didn't speak to disaffected American youth the way, say, ''

The Marshall Mathers LP ''The Marshall Mathers LP'' is the third studio album by American rapper Eminem, released on May 23, 2000, by Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records. The album was produced mostly by Dr. Dre and Eminem, along with The 45 King, the Bass ...

'' did." Steely Dan's supporting tour of North America, Europe, and Japan was equally successful, encouraging them to record the 2003 album '' Everything Must Go''.

Track listing

Personnel

Steely Dan

* Donald Fagen – lead vocals (all tracks), Fender Rhodes (1-3), Clavinet (1),

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

(2, 3),

Wurlitzer The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...

(4-7), organ (9) *

Walter Becker Walter Carl Becker (February 20, 1950 – September 3, 2017) was an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He was the co-founder, guitarist, bassist, and co-songwriter of the jazz rock band Steely Dan.Russonello, Giovanni,Listen t ...

– bass (2-7),

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

(1, 2, 4, 6, 7),

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featu ...

(3, 9)

Additional musicians

* Ted Baker – Fender Rhodes (4, 5, 7-9), piano (9) *

Jon Herington Jon Herington (born Jonathan Reuel Herington on April 14, 1954) is an American guitarist, singer-songwriter, record producer, and session musician. Career Herington was born in Paterson, New Jersey, and grew up in West Long Branch, New Jerse ...

– rhythm guitar (3,4, 7, 9), acoustic guitar (5) * Paul Jackson Jr. – guitar (8) *

Hugh McCracken Hugh Carmine McCracken (March 31, 1942 – March 28, 2013) was an American rock guitarist and session musician based in New York City, primarily known for his performance on guitar and also as a harmonica player. McCracken was additionally a ...

– guitar (5) *

Dean Parks Weldon Dean Parks (born December 6, 1946) is an American session guitarist and record producer from Fort Worth, Texas. Albums Parks was member of the North Texas State One O'clock Lab Band before moving to Los Angeles to work with Sonny and Cher ...

– guitar (8) *

Tom Barney Tom Barney is an American bass guitarist. Career Barney first came to prominence in the late 1970s, when he appeared on different jazz albums by Turk Mauro and Walter Davis Jr., following to appear on records by such artists as Chaka Khan, ...

– bass (1, 8, 9) *

Keith Carlock Keith Carlock (born November 29, 1971) is an American musician who has played drums with Toto, Wayne Krantz, Steely Dan, James Taylor, Donald Fagen, Walter Becker, Tal Wilkenfeld, John Mayer, Sting, and Chris Botti. In ''Modern Drummer's'' 2009 ...

– drums (3) * Leroy Clouden – drums (4, 5, 7) *

Vinnie Colaiuta Vincent Peter Colaiuta (born February 5, 1956) is an American drummer who has worked as a session musician in many genres. He was inducted into the '' Modern Drummer'' Hall of Fame in 1996 and the ''Classic Drummer'' Hall of Fame in 2014. Cola ...

– drums (8) *

Sonny Emory Sonny is a common nickname and occasional given name. Often it can be a derivative of the English word "Son", a name derived from the Ancient Germanic element *sunn meaning "sun", a nickname derived from the Italian name Salvatore (especially in N ...

– drums (9) *

Ricky Lawson William Riser III (November 8, 1954 – December 23, 2013), better known as Ricky Lawson, was an American drummer and composer. A native of Detroit, Michigan, he worked extensively as a session musician, collaborating with Stevie Wonder, Mich ...

– drums (1) * Michael White – drums (2, 6) * Gordon Gottlieb –

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

(2, 3, 5, 6, 9) *

Will Lee William Lee (born William Lubovsky; August 6, 1908 – December 7, 1982) was an American actor who appeared in numerous television and film roles, but was best known for playing Mr. Hooper, the original store proprietor of the eponymous Hoope ...

– percussion (6) * Daniel Sadownick – percussion (3),

timbales Timbales () or pailas are shallow single-headed drums with metal casing. They are shallower than single-headed tom-toms and usually tuned much higher, especially for their size.Orovio, Helio 1981. ''Diccionario de la música cubana: biográfico ...

(3) * Dave Shank –

vibraphone The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vibraphonist,'' ''vibraharpist ...

(8) * Steve Shapiro – vibraphone (3) *

Amy Helm Amy Helm (born December 3, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She is the daughter of drummer Levon Helm and singer Libby Titus. She is a past member of the Levon Helm's Midnight Ramble Band and Ollabelle, as well as her own t ...

–

whistle A whistle is an instrument which produces sound from a stream of gas, most commonly air. It may be mouth-operated, or powered by air pressure, steam, or other means. Whistles vary in size from a small slide whistle or nose flute type to a lar ...

(7) * Lawrence Feldman – clarinet (1, 5),

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while ...

(4, 6), alto saxophone (5),

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

(3) * Roy Hitchcock - clarinet (3) *

Lou Marini Louis William Marini Jr. (born May 13, 1945), known as "Blue Lou" Marini, is an American saxophonist, arranger, and composer. He is best known for his work in jazz, rock, blues, and soul music, as well as his association with The Blues Brothe ...

– alto saxophone (4, 6), tenor saxophone (2) * Chris Potter – tenor saxophone solo (1, 9), alto saxophone solo (4) *

David Tofani Dave Tofani is an American saxophonist and woodwind player, and composer. As a session musician he has performed on over 500 jazz, pop, and rock recordings such as the clarinet solo on "Say Hello, Wave Goodbye" by Soft Cell.AllMusic Dave Tofani ...

– tenor saxophone (1) saxophone (3) * Roger Rosenberg – bass clarinet (1, 3-5), baritone saxophone (2, 6) *

Michael Leonhart Michael Leonhart (born April 21, 1974) is an American jazz trumpeter and multi-instrumentalist. Solo career In 1992 Leonhart was honored with the first Grammy Award for outstanding high school musician in the US (he attended Fiorello H. LaGuardia ...

– trumpet (1-6), Wurlitzer (3) *

Jim Pugh Jim Pugh (born February 5, 1964) is a former professional tennis player from the United States. He grew up in Palos Verdes, California and at age 10 began taking tennis lessons from John Hillebrand. He played tennis at UCLA. He became a doubl ...

–

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...

(1-3, 5, 6) * Cynthia Calhoun –

background vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

(1-3, 6, 8, 9) *

Carolyn Leonhart Carolyn Leonhart (born July 10, 1971) is a jazz singer, daughter of jazz bassist Jay Leonhart and sister of the trumpeter Michael Leonhart. She has performed as a back-up vocalist for Steely Dan on several tours and recordings. Childhood and educa ...

– background vocals (1-5, 7-9) * Michael Harvey – background vocals (1-3, 5, 6, 9)

Production

* Producers: Walter Becker, Donald Fagen * Executive engineer: Roger Nichols * Engineers: Phil Burnett, Per-Christian Nielsen, Johan Edlund, Anthony Gorman, Roger Nichols, Ken Ross, Dave Russell, Jay A. Ryan,

Elliot Scheiner Elliot Ray Scheiner (born 18 March 1947) is a music producer, mixer and engineer. Scheiner has received 27 Grammy Award nominations, eight of which he won, and he has been awarded four Emmy nominations, two Emmy Awards for his work with the Eagl ...

, Peter Scriba * Mixing: Roger Nichols, Dave Russell * Mastering: Scott Hull * Assistants: Suzy Barrows, Reaann Zschokke * Technician: Roger Nichols * Editing: Jan Folkson * Horn arrangements: Walter Becker (1), Donald Fagen (1, 2, 4-6),

(1, 3) * Project manager: Jill Dell'Abate * Project coordinator: Suzana Haugh * Consultant: Michael Leonhart * Piano tuner: Sam Berd * Electric piano technician: Edd Kolakowski * Design: Carol Bobolts * Photography: Michael Northrup/ Jason Fulford * Copyist: Michael Leonhart

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Awards

2001 Grammy Awards

References

External links

Official site

* {{Authority control 2000 albums Giant Records (Warner) albums Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album Grammy Award for Album of the Year Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical Steely Dan albums Albums produced by Donald Fagen Albums produced by Walter Becker