ALIVE IN AMERICA

Fans were delighted when Walter Becker and Donald Fagen reunited as Steely Dan in the early 1990s -- and decided to tour! The two musicians, who quit touring in the mid 1970s to devote their time to studio work, apparently wanted to get out there and play some of the Dan songs they'd written and recorded earlier. They put together a band of top-notch jazz musicians and gave us a live album, including new renditions of some old songs. Some critics complained that Alive In America was too laid back. But others prefer the jazzier readings of old songs like Reelin' In The Years and Bodhisattva. We also finally got to hear Walter Becker's voice on the song Book Of Liars, off his first solo album 11 Tracks Of Whack (which has 12 songs -- you figure it out). Fortunately, the early 1990s renion was not a flash in the pan, as Steely Dan have been recording and touring steadily since to much critical acclaim.