FTER the trials of making , Steely Dan disbanded in 1981, with both parties pursuing solo careers, often assisting each other. live album offers a taste – Becker and Fagen made two Steely Dan studio records: (2000) and (2003). The post-reunion output tends to divide fans. While Mountain Goats’ John Darnielle hears “a lot of good stuff on the comeback records, especially the first one”, Dawes’ Taylor Goldsmith articulates what many feel is their slightly awkward position in the catalogue. “From album one through , that initial run is unimpeachable,” he says. “In our house, it was sacred. The two following records came out a little later, and they aren’t necessarily part of that canon in our minds.”
