If any song cycle released in the past fifty years or so has aged well, it is Walter Becker's incredibly wonderful Circus Money. This is easily one of my personal favorite chunks of music, period. I mean, you have these "Desert Island" albums, and then you have an elite group of discs (vinyl, CD, whatever) - "forever records" - music you just can't live without - that you'd choose to take with you on your first flight to Mars, or that you'd insist on listening to on your way to The Chair (when The Governor finally sez, "Fry that bastard's ass!"), or when you're about to otherwise shuffle off This Mortal Coil, reluctantly leaving those other/otherwise/very-slightly-lesser all-time greats behind on that God-forsaken little double-palm-tree clump in the middle of the ocean. Walter Becker's second album is in that elite/indispensable category for me. It's indescribably good, which is why all the overwhelmingly-positive reviews it received when it was released, and those it has garnered since then, have ultimately failed to convey how damn good it actually is. It's not enough to read about it, folks - you have to listen to it. Unlike some other "critically acclaimed" stuff... Although - I love this quote from Matt's Amazon review - "Listing highlights on this album would be as simple as making a list of all of the songs, leaving none off..." - I couldn't have said it better, Matt. Because, very possibly no truer words have been spoken in the English Language thus far. Spring/Summer 2008 seems like just a few minutes ago for me, and I have some delightfully clear memories of listening to Circus Money in its entirety several times on the long trip in June of that year from Toronto to NYC as we headed for a whole bunch of Steely Dan Beacon Theatre shows. Just as we were entering the Lincoln Tunnel, leaving New Joisey behind, Three Picture Deal was playing at full volume with the NYC skyline briefly in view in all its glory...I'll never forget that moment. Thanks, WB. We (two of us, to be exact) had a little Circus Money Tenth Anniversary Party last night. An entire night of nothing but CM, over & over. It's a brilliant album, as thoroughly excellent as anything any human being has ever done, ever. I love Walter Becker's Circus Money, as much as one person could possibly love a thing, and you should too.