[Playlist] Donald Fagen, Walter Becker & Steely Dan After 1980

Stream: Apple Music | Spotify ** I know it sounds pretty silly to suggest that Steely Dan is underrated by any measure, but if you cover one eye and look only at the what comes after 1980--the two post-hiatus studio albums and the six solo albums between Fagen and Becker--the same popular and critical enthusiasm just isn't there.

I've spent some time this year digging into these albums (having only been really familiar with The Nightfly before) despite having loved the classic run of Can't Buy a Thrill through Gaucho since around the time I was starting college. I'll maintain that all eight of these later albums are enjoyable, successful on their own terms and wholly worthy of investing time in if you dig Steely Dan's first decade, especially so if you're big on Aja and Gaucho.

For this playlist, I've pulled three tracks from each of the albums listed below and attempted to assemble those selections into something that flows halfway decently. I hope it introduces you to another side of the greater Steely Dan discography if you were not previously acquainted! Here are the selects by album in chronological order:

Donald Fagen - The Nightfly (1982): "I.G.Y." "New Frontier," "The Nightfly"

Donald Fagen - Kamakiriad (1993): "Snowbound," "Tomorrow's Girls," "On the Dunes"

Walter Becker - 11 Tracks of Whack (1994): "Down in the Bottom," "Hard Up Case," "Girlfriend"

Steely Dan - Two Against Nature (2000): "Two Against Nature," "Jack of Speed," "West of Hollywood"

Steely Dan - Everything Must Go (2003): "Things I Miss the Most," "Godwhacker," "Everything Must Go"

Donald Fagen - Morph the Cat (2006): "Morph the Cat," "H Gang," "Brite Nightgown"

Walter Becker - Circus Money (2008): "Downtown Canon," "Paging Audrey," "Darkling Down"

Donald Fagen - Sunken Condos (2012): "I'm Not the Same Without You," "Weather in My Head," "Miss Marlene"