Steely Dan started as a "normal" band with actual members, but they kinda self-destructed and the co-founders, Becker and Fagen, carried on from there. They were rockers, but mostly surrounded themselves with top-shelf jazz session guys on their albums, and basically never toured until they "reunited" earlier this millenium. It's hard to call it a reunion when the band was literally just the two guys plus whoever they felt like playing with at the time.
I have their entire discography, and yeah, every song is crafted. When they want a different drum sound on a particular tune, they get a drummer who plays like that. When they want a saxophone solo, they get a sax player whose style fits the song.
I guess the "soft-rock" label fits, but it's really the jazz influence you're hearing, and the style of jazz that infuses Steely Dan is the laid-back kind. Still, there's a sort of quiet intensity in a lot of their songs, and their lyrics are sometimes downright acerbic. Not so much latey, though. The guys are getting kinda old, as are we all.
