Steely Dan

Steely Dan is an American jazz rock band centered on musicians and songwriters Walter Becker and Donald Fagen.

The band's heyday was in the 1970s, when it released half a dozen albums, which blended jazz, rock and roll, funk, rhythm and blues, and pop. Their music, which may at first appear 'smooth' and 'easy listening', is characterized by complex jazz-influenced structures and harmonies, literate lyrics and adroit musicianship.

The group's history has three stages. In the first, the group was a conventional rock band that toured and recorded from 1972 to 1974; in the second, (1975 – 1980) the group became a purely studio-based act, albeit still using the name Steely Dan, but now centered solely on the songwriting team of Becker and Fagen, and using hired top-notch session players on their recordings. The group's third stage was Becker and Fagen's surprise return to recording and performing during the 1990s, with the band reconstituted as a large jazz rock ensemble that tours regularly and has released several acclaimed live and studio albums.

==Musical and lyrical style=

Their enigmatic, sardonically humorous and topical lyrics add ...