Two Against Nature

Two Against Nature is the eighth album by Steely Dan, released in 2000. The album won the group four Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year. It marked the first Steely Dan studio album in 20 years, following 1980's Gaucho. It has been certified platinum in the U.S.

Two Against Nature marked Steely Dan's long-awaited debut for Warner Bros. Records - through a sub-label, Giant Records. They intended to release Gaucho on Warner Bros. after their longtime label ABC Records merged with MCA Records, but MCA claimed ownership of the master recordings. As a result, the band was forced to release Gaucho on MCA (which has since been absorbed into Geffen Records). The group's leaders, Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, accepted all four Grammies the album won, including Album of the Year.

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	77/100 ^[1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	^[2]
Robert Christgau	(A)^[3]
Entertainment Weekly	(A)^[4]
The Guardian	positive^[5]
Mojo	^[6]
NME	^[7]
Pitchfork	1.6/10^[8]
PopMatters	^[9]
Q	^[10]
Rolling Stone	^[11]
Uncut	^[12]
Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music	^[13]

Track listing

All songs written by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen.

"Gaslighting Abbie" – 5:53
"What a Shame About Me" – 5:17
"Two Against Nature" – 6:17
"Janie Runaway" – 4:09
"Almost Gothic" – 4:09
"Jack of Speed" – 6:17
"Cousin Dupree" – 5:28
"Negative Girl" – 5:34
"West of Hollywood" – 8:21

Personnel

Walter Becker – bass, lead guitar
Donald Fagen – organ, piano, Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzer, vocals

Tom Barney – bass
Ted Baker – piano, Fender Rhodes
Jon Herington – acoustic guitar, rhythm guitar
Paul Jackson Jr. – guitar
Hugh McCracken – guitar
Dean Parks – guitar
Lawrence Feldman – clarinet, tenor saxophone
Amy Helm – whistle
Michael Hitchcock – trumpet
Michael Leonhart – trumpet, conductor, wurlitzer
Lou Marini – alto saxophone
Chris Potter – alto saxophone, tenor saxophone
Jim Pugh – trombone
Roger Rosenberg – bass clarinet, baritone saxophone
David Tofani – saxophone
Keith Carlock – drums
Leroy Clouden – drums
Vinnie Colaiuta – drums
Sonny Emory – drums
Ricky Lawson – drums
Michael White – drums
Gordon Gottlieb – percussion
Will Lee – percussion
Daniel Sadownick – percussion, timbales
David Shank – vibraphone
Steve Shapiro – vibraphone
Cynthia Calhoun – background vocals
Mike Harvey – background vocals
Carolyn Leonhart – background vocals

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, Peta Scriba
Mixing: Roger Nichols, Dave Russell
Mastering: Scott Hull
Assistants: Suzy Barrows, Reaann Zschokke
Technician: Roger Nichols
Editing: Jan Folkson
Horn arrangements: Walter Becker, Donald Fagen, Michael Leonhart
Project manager: Jill Dell'Abate
Project coordinator: Suzana Haugh
Consultant: Michael Leonhart
Piano tuner: Sam Berd
Design: Carol Bobolts
Photography: Michael Northrup/Jason Fulford
Copyist: Michael Leonhart

Charts

Chart (2000)	Peak position
The Billboard 200	6
Top Internet Albums	2
UK Album Chart	11

Awards

2001 Grammy Awards

Winner	Category
"Cousin Dupree"	Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
Two Against Nature	Album of the Year
Two Against Nature	Best Engineered Recording, Non-Classical
Two Against Nature	Best Pop Vocal Album

References

↑ Two Against Nature at Metacritic Retrieved 2012-11-02.
↑ Thomas, Stephen (2000-02-29). "Two Against Nature - Steely Dan : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-06-21.
↑ Christgau, Robert (March 7, 2000). "Doing It Again". The Village Voice (New York). Christgau appended the letter grade at his website's archive. Retrieved February 11, 2013.
↑ Entertainment Weekly review
↑ The Guardian "Are you smart enough to like it?" Euan Ferguson, February 20, 2000
↑ Mojo, March 2000, p.102
↑ NME review
↑ Pitchfork Media review
↑ PopMatters review
↑ Q, April 2000, p.94
↑ "Steely Dan: Two Against Nature : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone". RollingStone.com. 2000-03-16. Archived from the original on 2009-03-09. Retrieved 2012-06-21.
↑ Uncut, March 2000, p.90
↑ Steely Dan: Two Against Nature

External links

Steely Dan

Walter Becker Donald Fagen Jeff "Skunk" Baxter Denny Dias Jim Hodder David Palmer Royce Jones Michael McDonald Jeff Porcaro

Studio albums	Can't Buy a Thrill (1972) Countdown to Ecstasy (1973) Pretzel Logic (1974) Katy Lied (1975) The Royal Scam (1976) Aja (1977) Gaucho (1980) Two Against Nature (2000) Everything Must Go (2003)

Live albums	Alive in America (1995) Plush TV Jazz-Rock Party (2000)

Singles	"Dallas" "Do It Again" "Reelin' In the Years" "Show Biz Kids" "My Old School" "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" "Pretzel Logic" "Black Friday" "Bad Sneakers" "Kid Charlemagne" "The Fez" "Haitian Divorce" "Peg" "Deacon Blues" "FM (No Static at All)" "Josie" "Hey Nineteen" "Babylon Sisters" "Time Out of Mind" "Reelin' In the Years" (Live) "Cousin Dupree" "What a Shame About Me" "Jack of Speed" "Janie Runaway" "The Last Mall" "Blues Beach" "Things I Miss the Most"

Album tracks	"Aja" "Dirty Work"

Compilations	Greatest Hits (1978) Steely Dan (1978) Gold (1982/91) A Decade of Steely Dan (1985) Reelin' In the Years (1987) Do It Again (1987) Citizen Steely Dan (1993) Then and Now (1993) Showbiz Kids (2000) The Definitive Collection (2006)

Related articles	Discography Gary Katz Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz with Steely Dan Roger Nichols

Book Category

Grammy Award for Album of the Year

1959–1975	The Music from Peter Gunn – Henry Mancini (1959) Come Dance with Me! – Frank Sinatra (1960) The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart – Bob Newhart (1961) Judy at Carnegie Hall – Judy Garland (1962) The First Family – Vaughn Meader (1963) The Barbra Streisand Album – Barbra Streisand (1964) Getz/Gilberto – Stan Getz, João Gilberto (1965) September of My Years – Frank Sinatra (1966) A Man and His Music – Frank Sinatra (1967) Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band – The Beatles (1968) By the Time I Get to Phoenix – Glen Campbell (1969) Blood, Sweat & Tears – Blood, Sweat & Tears (1970) Bridge over Troubled Water – Simon & Garfunkel (1971) Tapestry – Carole King (1972) The Concert for Bangladesh (album) – Various (1973) Innervisions – Stevie Wonder (1974) Fulfillingness' First Finale – Stevie Wonder (1975)

1976–2000	Still Crazy After All These Years – Paul Simon (1976) Songs in the Key of Life – Stevie Wonder (1977) Rumours – Fleetwood Mac (1978) Saturday Night Fever – Various (1979) 52nd Street – Billy Joel (1980) Christopher Cross – Christopher Cross (1981) Double Fantasy – John Lennon and Yoko Ono (1982) Toto IV – Toto (1983) Thriller – Michael Jackson (1984) Can't Slow Down – Lionel Richie (1985) No Jacket Required – Phil Collins (1986) Graceland – Paul Simon (1987) The Joshua Tree – U2 (1988) Faith – George Michael (1989) Nick of Time – Bonnie Raitt (1990) Back on the Block – Quincy Jones and various artists (1991) Unforgettable... with Love– Natalie Cole (1992) Unplugged – Eric Clapton (1993) The Bodyguard – Whitney Houston (1994) MTV Unplugged – Tony Bennett (1995) Jagged Little Pill – Alanis Morissette (1996) Falling into You – Celine Dion (1997) Time Out of Mind – Bob Dylan (1998) The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill – Lauryn Hill (1999) Supernatural – Santana (2000)

2001–present	Two Against Nature – Steely Dan (2001) O Brother, Where Art Thou? Soundtrack (2002) Come Away with Me – Norah Jones (2003) Speakerboxxx/The Love Below – Outkast (2004) Genius Loves Company – Ray Charles and various artists (2005) How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb – U2 (2006) Taking the Long Way – Dixie Chicks (2007) River: The Joni Letters – Herbie Hancock (2008) Raising Sand – Robert Plant & Alison Krauss (2009) Fearless – Taylor Swift (2010) The Suburbs – Arcade Fire (2011) 21 – Adele (2012) Babel – Mumford & Sons (2013) Random Access Memories – Daft Punk (2014) Morning Phase – Beck (2015)