Steely Dan Countdown To Ecstasy CD

Steely Dan: Jeff Baxter (pedal steel guitar); Walter Becker (bass instrument); Jim Hodder (background vocals); Donald Fagen, Denny Dias.
Personnel: Walter Becker (vocals, guitar, harmonica, bass guitar); Donald Fagen (vocals, piano, electric piano, keyboards, synthesizer, percussion); David Palmer (vocals, keyboards, background vocals); Jim Hodder (vocals, drums, percussion); Sherlie Matthews, Patricia Hall, Royce Jones, Michael Fennelly, James Rolleston, Myrna Matthews (vocals, background vocals); Ben Benay (guitar, acoustic guitar); Rick Derringer (guitar, slide guitar); Jeff Baxter (guitar, steel guitar); Denny Diaz, Denny Dias (guitar); Ernie Watts, John Rotella, Lanny Morgan, Bill Perkins (saxophone); Victor Feldman (keyboards, vibraphone, marimba, percussion); David Palmer , Sherlie Mathews, Pam Hall (background vocals).
Additional personnel: Ray Brown (12-string bass); Victor Feldman, Ernie Watts, John Rotella, Lanny Morgan, Rick Derringer, Bill Perkins, Ben Benay.
Audio Mixer: Denny Dias.
Audio Remasterer: Roger Nichols .
Liner Note Authors: Donald Fagen; Walter Becker.
Recording information: Caribou Ranch, Nederland, CO; Village Recorder, Santa Monica, CA; Village Recorders, Santa Monica, CA.
Photographer: Ed Caraeff.
Unknown Contributor Role: Denny Dias.
Arranger: Jimmie Haskell.
Can't Buy a Thrill became an unexpected hit, and as a response, Donald Fagen became the group's full-time lead vocalist, and he and Walter Becker acted like Steely Dan was a rock & roll band for the group's second album, Countdown to Ecstasy. The loud guitars and pronounced backbeat of "Bodhisattva," "Show Biz Kids," and "My Old School" camouflage the fact that Countdown is a riskier album, musically speaking, than its predecessor. Each of its eight songs have sophisticated, jazz-inflected interludes, and apart from the bluesy vamps "Bodhisattva" and "Show Biz Kids," which sound like they were written for the stage, the songs are subtly textured. "Razor Boy," with its murmuring marimbas, and the hard bop tribute "Your Gold Teeth" reveal Becker and Fagen's jazz roots, while the country-flavored "Pearl of the Quarter" and the ominous, skittering "King of the World" are both overlooked gems. Countdown to Ecstasy is the only time Steely Dan played it relatively straight, and its eight songs are rich with either musical or lyrical detail that their album rock or art rock contemporaries couldn't hope to match. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
MCA repackaged Steely Dan's first two albums, Countdown to Ecstasy and Can't Buy a Thrill, as a single-cassette release in the early '80s. It's not necessarily a bad way to purchase the albums, but the presentation and fidelity are a little shabby, and the vinyl records and subsequent CD reissues are a much more preferable way to acquire these albums. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Riding high on the success of their debut CAN'T BUY A THRILL, Steely Dan put together what was, on the surface, their most commercial and straightforward album. "Bodhisattva," for example, which opens the album, works a driving, jump-blues groove that seems at odds with the band's laid-back, jazz inclinations. The heavy, bluesy stomp of "The Boston Rag" and the slinky, edgy boogie of "Show Biz Kids" may make it seem as though Steely Dan was vying for favor with their more roots-oriented pop-rock contemporaries.
Nothing could be further from the truth, however. COUNTDOWN TO ECSTACY is more ambitious, complex, and layered than its predecessor, with a heavier dose of jazz fusion, more subtle and textured arrangements, and an even higher level of studio craftsmanship. Both "Razor Boy" and "Your Gold Teeth" demonstrate flashes of Latin flavor-- marimba-driven bop in the former, and salsa-cum-lounge jazz in the latter. The presence of session musicians--drummer Jim Hodder and guitarists Jeff Baxter and Denny Diaz--fleshes out Donald Fagen and Walter Becker's superb songwriting and playing, making for an excelleRolling Stone (4/11/02, p.106) - Ranked #13 in Rolling Stone's "50 Coolest Records".
Rolling Stone (8/16/73, p.54) - "...[their] ability to play four-to-five minute rock songs in a jaunty, up-tempo fashion without becoming redundant or superfluous...may well make Steely Dan the American dance-band alternative to Slade..."