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Countdown To Ecstasy
by: Steely Dan

List Price: £5.99

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Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0008811188726
Format: Original recording remastered
Label: Universal / Island
Manufacturer: Universal / Island
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: Universal / Island
Release Date: July 13, 1999
Running Time: 41 minutes
Studio: Universal / Island
Sales Rank: 2954
MPN: 008811188726

Disc 1:

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Editorial Review:

Amazon.co.uk Review:
The only element of sophomore slump in Steely Dan's second album was the disappointing sales response upon its initial release in 1974. Musically, Countdown to Ecstasy is even stronger than the Dan's terrific debut, pushing the musical envelope with more complex jazz harmonies and intricate time signatures, and carrying their lyrics into even more shadowy realms peppered with sci-fi imagery and street-level slang. The songs are stunning, from the opening blast of "Boddhisattva", a Zen boogie fuelled by Denny Dias's and Jeff Baxter's angular, bopping guitars, to the post-nuclear apocalypse of "King of the World". In between, they deliver the one-two punch of "Show Biz Kids", with its perfect snapshot of affluent decadence, and "My Old School", in which college daze is remembered through a collision of staccato guitar and blazing horns. --Sam Sutherland

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- Ecstasy indeed!
Later Dan has its advocates - Ian MacDonald, for one, argues strongly for the merits of `Gaucho' in his very fine `The People's Music' - but I belong to the `first 3 albums are the best' fraternity. Unlike `Katy Lied', which, for me, marks the beginning of the Dan's decline, there's not one ounce of filler on this record. A much more cohesive affair than `Thrill', the Dan's second album benefits from having a singular vocalist and, unlike the slick, session-man concoctions of the later years, is greatly enhanced by being the product of a working band (+ illustrious guests). The record is packed with musical incident and variety: the vibes on `Razor Boy', the Rhodes workout on `Your Gold Teeth', slide guitar on `Show Biz Kids', synth on `King ... Read More:

Rating:

- Utterly essential
This, the second Steely Dan album, is utterly essential - about as good as rock music gets. More than 35 years old, and still box fresh. Melodic but with a complexity and edge that see off any accusation that this is middle of the road soft rock. For this recording Becker and Fagen took complete control, through the writing and with Fagen taking over as the group's lead vocalist. Finally all the elements of the classic Dan sound are in place. The songs are carefully crafted with sophisticated jazz influenced arrangements, but at this stage in their career, Steely Dan are still first and foremost a rock'n'roll band. Fagen and Becker's obsessive perfectionism had not yet ironed out the soul, and right from the get go, on Boddhisatva, with its twin ... Read More:

Rating:

- Three two one ecstasy
'Countdown To Ecstasy' may rank as the second and last of Steely Dan's best albums, but it seems to me to be the link between the rock of 'Can't Buy A Thrill' and the more diverse approach of later albums. The songs and the music suggest a greater level of ambition. There are no hits of the stature of 'Reelin' In The Years' and I slightly prefer the first album, but there are moments of peerless magnificence here: the aching suspense of 'Boston Rag,' and the fluidity of the ode to Eastern philosophy, 'Bodhisattva,' for instance. The move toward jazz, funk and Latin influences is marked by 'Your Gold Teeth.' Yet it is 'Show Biz Kids' and 'My Old School' that characterise their gifts, the former a biting, starkly original recording, featuring an unnervingly ... Read More:

Rating:

- A pop masterpiece
As far as I'm concerned, this is Steely Dan at their best. Many favour the "Aja-era", but in my opinion around that time there were less and less ideas (even though the songs were getting lenghtier), and it seemed that production & players were becoming at least as important as the songs itself.

Of course this album has a fairly polished sound but not in a clinical or lifeless sort of way, and the songs have a lot of melody and substance in them.

Many brit pop fans probably don't give a damn about Steely Dan, but the truth is that a single song on this album has more melody & ideas than The Stone Roses or Happy Mondays had in their whole career.

From the sweetness of Razor Boy to the amazing closing jam of King ... Read More:

Rating:

- Close to it
The second "proper" Steely Dan album and it is quite different from their debut. Firstly, there are no obvious tracks that are commercial enough for a single. The album is very much a whole. There is a very noticeable jazz tinge to some of the tracks and we see the use of horns , a sound that was soon to become a trademark of The Dan. There are superb guest performances particularly Rick Derringer on Slide Guitar on Showbiz Kids and Jazz man Victor Feldman playing vibes on The Razor Boy. Some of the synthesizer sounds have dated this a little bit but overall the album has aged well and remains a cool enterprise after all these years. Sharp lyrics, superb musicians. Rather wonderful really.
Reccomended.

Music : Countdown To Ecstasy