It wasn't until I was 24 years old that I got into Steely Dan.  I must admit that Steely Dan's music never grabbed me on first listen.  I was baptized by fire when I bought Citizen Steely Dan and listened to it over  and over while driving up and down the 15 in Southern California.  I was  determined to find out why everyone thought they were so brilliant.  After  many listens, I was a huge fan.  I then invested in Fagen and Becker's solo  albums which I thought were brilliant.  But when I heard that the Dan were  returning to the studio for an official Steely Dan release, I was ecstatic.  After one full year of waiting, my dream came true. So how is the album?  Well, upon first listen, I labeled it "difficult."  It isn't as  catchy as Gaucho, Aja or Pretzel Logic but, then again, this isn't the  seventies and, after all, if their music was as sun drenched and lulling as  it used to be, they would probably have to brave terrible criticism aimed  at their relcutance to branch out or experiment.  I listened to it again  and then a third time.  Amazing that after three listens, I know the names  of all the songs and their position on the disc.  That tells me something.  Thankfully, Fagen and Becker have not lost their edge these last few years.  Gaslighting Abbie, Cousin Dupree, Janie Runaway are all subversive and  twisted tales that rival such sharp classics as Hey Nineteen, Gaucho and  Everyone's Gone to the Movies.  What a Shame About Me is a middle aged dig  at the naive posturing in My Old School, Fagen and Becker's ode to Bard  College that was included on Countdown to Ecstacy.  Musically, Two Against  Nature is complex and brilliant.  As a reviewer once said about the Dan's  music: "Never before has such glossy petals contained such sharp  thorns."  20 years later, this still applies.  Probably the most  interesting thing about the disc and the Dan's return is the way Fagen and  Becker answer the question "Where have you been?" Their answer?  "Where have YOU been and, more importantly, what have you done?"  Brilliant and timeless, Two Against Nature is easily the year's best disc  thus far.