FALL ALBUM ROUNDUP : In Brief

* * 1/2 Walter Becker, “11 Tracks of Whack,” Giant. A dozen lost Steely Dan demos? The arrangements are sketchier than the Dan’s and the lyrics are less obtuse--though dealing with the same low-life characters--but that’s still the impression of this fairly casual-sounding set. If you’ve been waiting for some revelatory masterpiece the silent Dan partner has been keeping inside him all these years, you’ll have to keep waiting.

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor) to four stars (excellent).