Editing Two Against Nature (section)

== Reception and legacy ==
{{Music ratings
| MC = 77/100<ref name="metacritic">{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/music/two-against-nature/steely-dan|title=Two Against Nature by Steely Dan Reviews and Tracks|publisher=[[Metacritic]]|access-date=September 25, 2021}}</ref>
| rev1 = [[AllMusic]]
| rev1score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref name="allmusic">{{cite web|last=Erlewine|first=Stephen Thomas|author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/two-against-nature-mw0000257938|title=Two Against Nature – Steely Dan|publisher=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=June 21, 2012}}</ref>
| rev2 = [[Robert Christgau]]
| rev2score = A<ref>{{cite web|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|url=https://robertchristgau.com/get_album.php?id=11647|title=Steely Dan: Two Against Nature|publisher=robertchristgau.com|access-date=February 11, 2013}}</ref>
| rev3 = ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]''
| rev3score = A<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Willman|first=Chris|url=https://ew.com/article/2000/03/06/two-against-nature/|title=Two Against Nature|magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|location=New York|date=March 6, 2000|access-date=June 4, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190603220858/https://ew.com/article/2000/03/06/two-against-nature/|archive-date=June 3, 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| rev4 = ''[[The Guardian]]''
| rev4score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref>{{cite news|last=Cox|first=Tom|author-link=Tom Cox (writer)|title=Steely Dan: Two Against Nature (Giant)|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|location=London|date=February 25, 2000}}</ref>
| rev5 = ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''
| rev5score = {{Rating|4|4}}<ref>{{cite news|last=Cromelin|first=Richard|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-feb-27-ca-2993-story.html|title=Rested Steely Dan Reels in '70s on 'Nature'|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=February 27, 2000|access-date=June 4, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140928004421/http://articles.latimes.com/2000/feb/27/entertainment/ca-2993|archive-date=September 28, 2014|url-status=live}}</ref>
| rev6 = ''[[NME]]''
| rev6score = 7/10<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Mulvey|first=John|url=http://www.nme.com/reviews/reviews/20000302132632.html|title=Steely Dan – Two Against Nature|magazine=[[NME]]|location=London|date=March 2, 2000|access-date=June 4, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000615182639/http://www.nme.com/reviews/reviews/20000302132632.html|archive-date=June 15, 2000|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| rev7 = ''[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]''
| rev7score = 1.6/10<ref name="pitchfork">{{cite web|last=DiCrescenzo|first=Brent|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/7486-two-against-nature/|title=Steely Dan: Two Against Nature|website=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]|date=February 29, 2000|access-date=June 4, 2019}}</ref>
| rev8 = ''[[Q (magazine)|Q]]''
| rev8score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Blake|first=Mark|author-link=Mark Blake (writer)|url=http://www.qonline.co.uk/reviews/server.asp?id=18774|title=Steely Dan: Two Against Nature|magazine=[[Q (magazine)|Q]]|location=London|issue=163|date=April 2000|access-date=June 4, 2019|page=94|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20001203174300/http://www.qonline.co.uk/reviews/server.asp?id=18774|archive-date=December 3, 2000|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| rev9 = ''[[Rolling Stone]]''
| rev9score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Wild|first=David|author-link=David Wild|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/two-against-nature-2-255255/|title=Two Against Nature|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|location=New York|date=March 16, 2000|access-date=June 21, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190929025750/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/two-against-nature-2-255255/|archive-date=September 29, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>
| rev10 = ''[[Uncut (magazine)|Uncut]]''
| rev10score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref>{{cite magazine|last=MacDonald|first=Ian|author-link=Ian MacDonald|title=Steely Dan: Two Against Nature|magazine=[[Uncut (magazine)|Uncut]]|location=London|issue=34|date=March 2000|page=90}}</ref>
}}

''Two Against Nature'' was met with both commercial and critical success.<ref name="Larkin">{{cite book|editor-last=Larkin|editor-first=Colin|editor-link=Colin Larkin|chapter=Steely Dan|title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music|title-link=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music|publisher=[[Omnibus Press]]|edition=concise 5th|year=2011|isbn=978-0-85712-595-8}}</ref> At [[Metacritic]], which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional critics, the album received an [[weighted arithmetic mean|average score]] of 77, based on 13 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".<ref name="metacritic"/> Writing in March 2000 for ''[[The Village Voice]]'', [[Robert Christgau]] applauded the music as an excellent "rock comeback" and a "jumpier and snappier, sourer and trickier and less soothing" iteration of the [[jazz pop]] featured on Steely Dan's 1977 album ''[[Aja (album)|Aja]]'', describing it as "postfunk". Thematically, he found it unified by fictitious yet revelatory accounts of "dirty old men" seeking "validation" and "excitement" in their sex lives, which are "full of heady infatuations and random acts of cruelty, self-interest and self-hate, vicious cycles blowing hot and cold", all conveying "the urgency of attraction".<ref>{{cite news|last=Christgau|first=Robert|url=https://robertchristgau.com/xg/rock/steely-00.php|title=Doing It Again|newspaper=[[The Village Voice]]|location=New York|date=March 14, 2000|access-date=June 7, 2020|via=robertchristgau.com}}</ref> [[Stephen Thomas Erlewine]] of [[AllMusic]] appreciated the "sharp humor" in the lyrics, but was especially impressed by the music's "depth and character", as he observed "nearly endless permutations within their signature sound".<ref name="allmusic"/> A dissenting view came from ''[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]'' reviewer Brent DiCrescenzo, who dismissed the songs as "lengthy, indistinguishable" and "glossy bop-pop" while suggesting Steely Dan lack "soul".<ref name="pitchfork"/>

At the [[43rd Annual Grammy Awards|2001 Grammy Awards]], ''Two Against Nature'' earned Steely Dan won in the categories of [[Grammy Award for Album of the Year|Album of the Year]], [[Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album|Best Pop Vocal Album]], [[Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical|Best Engineered Album – Non-Classical]], and [[Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals|Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals]] (for the single "[[Cousin Dupree]]"). For these awards, the band was in competition with younger, more popular recording acts such as [[NSYNC]], [[Britney Spears]], [[Radiohead]], [[Beck]], and [[Eminem]]. According to ''[[Stereogum]]'' writer Zach Schonfeld, Steely Dan's success at the Grammys represented a "revenge of the [[baby boomers|<nowiki>[baby]</nowiki> boomers]]" and contributed to resentment among younger listeners toward the band: "[T]he sight of two smug jazz-rock nerds collecting their Grammy from [[Stevie Wonder]] as Radiohead and Beck went home nearly empty-handed—helps explain why so many [[Generation X|Gen X]]-ers and old [[millennials]] grew up loathing both Steely Dan and the Grammys in equal measure. Needless to say, Steely Dan's elliptical character studies set to [[yacht rock]] sleaze didn't speak to disaffected American youth the way, say, ''[[The Marshall Mathers LP]]'' did."<ref>{{cite web|last=Schonfeld|first=Zach|url=https://www.stereogum.com/2074658/steely-dan-two-against-nature-turns-20/reviews/the-anniversary/|title=Two Against Nature Turns 20|website=[[Stereogum]]|date=February 28, 2020|access-date=June 8, 2020}}</ref>

Steely Dan's supporting tour of North America, Europe, and Japan was equally successful, encouraging them to record the 2003 album ''[[Everything Must Go (Steely Dan album)|Everything Must Go]]''.<ref name="Larkin"/>