Countdown to Ecstasy

by

Steely Dan

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How bizarre it is that Steely Dan's brilliant second album, 1973's "Countdown To Ecstasy," wasn't exactly a hit upon it's initial release. Maybe it was the weird watercolor painting on the cover. Or maybe it was the first single, "Show Biz Kids," which contained the f-word (though the naughty word was edited out for single release). Or how about bad marketing on MCA Records' part...who the heck knows? Thankfully, time has proven "Countdown" to be one of Steely Dan's very best albums. Dan masterminds Walter Becker & Donald Fagen, along with guitarists Jeff "Skunk" Baxter & Denny Dias, as well as drummer Jim Hodder, totally cook on this magnificent set. Practically every single cut here is a Dan classic: the outstanding jazz/rock blowout that is "Bodhisattva," the cocktail pop of "Razor Boy," the awesome melodic rock of "The Boston Rag" (tell all your buddies that it ain't no drag!), and the salsa-esque "Your Gold Teeth." But it doesn't end there---there's also the slinky "Show Biz Kids," in which the band get into a single groove, stay there for the whole song, and jam into the heavens. This is followed by the masterful piano bopper "My Old School," the tasty, country-flavored "Pearl Of The Quarter," and the groovy finale, "King Of The World." The songs are amazing, Becker & Fagen & the gang are superb (both in their musical chemistry and studio skills), Fagen's vocals are very soulful, and the street-sensibile lyrics are intruiging. YOU will be in total ecstasy listening to Steely Dan's "Countdown To Ecstasy," one of the Dan's most supreme offerings.

Although not a committed fan of Steely Dan, I've a soft spot for this one. When Becker & Fagen became a duo, they lost...cross-pollination. Skunk Baxter, Jimmy Hodder & Denny Dias contributed to this work in hard-to-nail-down ways, but it's the only Steely Dan album that sounds like it came from a *group* besides its predecessor. The songs sound different from each other; the arrangements are distinct. Although Fagen & Becker continued to create wonderful songs after "Countdown To Ecstasy", they created a signature sound that always blew across my mind before I ever really started to listen. I could always say, "I can't identify the song yet, or the album, but that sure sounds like Steely Dan"--and be right 95% of the time.

So, I recommend this for it's distinct jewels ("King Of The World", "My Old School", "Bodhisattva") rather than the overall aurally homogenous washes of 'Aja' (excepting "Peg") or "Katy Lied". I recommend this in the same spirit that I recommend "Roxy Music", back when there were 2 Brian/Bryans in Roxy Music band, over something as serene but undifferentitated as "Avalon". You might like later SD albums better as wholes because they don't jar your groove, but this cd has a *band*, and each track is sonically singular, far more than on succesive albums.