The same thing that made it fun in the first place makes it fun now says Walter Becker. He's talking of the joys of being, with partner Donald Fagen, Steely Dan. The legendary group that brings a rare commodity to rock - intelligence - is on the road again for the first time since 1996. They will be playing songs from Two Against Nature, their first studio album in 20 years, as well as a retrospective of material from their stellar career. It's music that is a tasty synthesis of rock, jazz and rhythm and blues complemented by intriguing and often witty lyrics. "It's the way the music makes you feel.

The greatest satisfaction for me is being a writer and creating something," says Becker of Steely Dan's ongoing journey. That trek began in 1972 with "Can't Buy A Thrill," their album debut. The "Pretzel Logic," Katy Lied, The Royal Scam, Aja and Gaucho albums followed as the duo scored hit singles with "Do It Again," "Reelin' In The Years," "Rikki Don't Lose That Number," "Hey Nineteen." "Peg," "Deacon Blues," "FM (No Static At All)," and "Time Out of Mind," among others. "I found early in my life that I was attracted to music and it had a very powerful attraction. It spoke to me in a very powerful way. That's as true now as it was then," says New York City native Becker, bassist and vocalist. Fagen, a native of Passaic, N.J., also sings, plays keyboards and writes. Becker, 50, believes that he and Fagen, 52, bring a level of musical sophistication to what they do. "To me that's very likable. For some people it's anathema. Nevertheless it's one thing I consider a strength," says Becker. "And I think our lyrics are sort of interesting and funny. It's hard to be funny in pop music without blowing it. What we try to do is have things be funny and also express other emotions, including sadness, at the same time."

Their songs reflect the passage of time. "We're aware of the fact that we're as old as we are, that we're in this part of our lives," says Becker. "I'm glad our songs reflect that. Oddly enough, we never tried to write like teen-agers or 20 year olds. We've always written something we think will ring true for us and seems essentially worth saying. We're trying to do something that will reflect something true about your life and consciousness." He and Fagen really do have a chemistry that makes it all work, he says. "We have a common sensibility that allows us to do this and has allowed us to do this over time," he says. It's a chemistry we built up together by sharing time and working together and so on." He praises Fagen as "a very creative guy."

The creative process essentially has not changed for the duo. "It's pretty much the same problems and similar solutions," he says. It was a long process making Two Against Nature. "Mostly making albums is that way. It's hard to do anything good in art, always has been and always will be. Sometimes you get lucky and things fall into place. Generally speaking, you have to count on having to work at it, especially if you are thoughtful about what you do and decide the path you're going down is not working the way you wanted it to." He admits the arc of the duo's career has been somewhat unusual. "Actually it's been very fortunate for me, I think. After taking a big chunk of time off and not using this Steely Dan identity for many years, to be able to resume that and have it sort of work out and have it pick up where it left of is rewarding."

Not having been out for a few years, and doing so now on the heels of a new record, Becker says it is interesting to find out who the group's audience is these days. "Hopefully it's a lot of people listening to us through the years and people just becoming aware of us," he says. Right now, says Becker, as always has been the case, what Steely Dan is doing is somewhat tangential to the main body of what is happening in what you could call the music scene in general. "It's probably more true now than it's ever been. I don't particularly mind that. What goes on in the rest of the 'music scene,' however, one could go on and on about how corporate management of popular music has distorted it, and robbed it of vitality and so on. But one won't." He says he is not certain if there will be a carry-over effect for more mature artists like Steely Dan because of the success a veteran artist like Santana currently is enjoying. "I think it is hard to be sure if it opened up the eyes of people in the music business to the possibility that we might be relevant and worth listening to, worth talking to," Becker says. Meanwhile, Steely Dan appears to have solved their problems with touring. They stopped in 1974 and did not go out again until the 1990s. Becker agrees with the late Harry Nilsson who once observed that recording and touring are two different careers. "Definitely. When you are gearing for one you're usually neglecting the other to some extent," Becker says. They left the road because it proved challenging - given logistical problems, sound problems, the differences in concert halls and other reasons - to present consistently good shows. "When we began doing concerts again in '93 we had been persuaded we could play live and present the kind of show we wanted to present and enjoy doing it," he explains. "Now it's very favorable in terms of having a really good band, good sound company and consistently good performances nightly. It's satisfying for us and for the audiences I think too. We definitely do have fun. We've come to look forward to touring as sort of a reward for the work of making the albums."

If there is a broad lesson that can be learned from the group's career, Becker thinks it may be this: That it is possible to do something different and be successful. "We've been very lucky to be able to do the kind of thing we do and be successful over the years. I hope it might encourage others to stick to their guns and do what they think is valid."