Countdown to Ecstasy: Difference between revisions
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| cover = Steely Dan-Countdown to Ecstacy.jpg | | cover = Steely Dan-Countdown to Ecstacy.jpg | ||
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| released = July 1973 | | released = July 7, 1973 | ||
| recorded = | | recorded = | ||
| studio = *[[The Village Recorder|Village Recorder]], Los Angeles, California | | studio = *[[The Village Recorder|Village Recorder]], Los Angeles, California | ||
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'''''Countdown to Ecstasy''''' is the second studio album by American | '''''Countdown to Ecstasy''''' is the second studio album by American rock band [[Steely Dan]], released in July 1973 by [[ABC Records]]. It was recorded at [[The Village (studio)|the Village Recorder]] in [[West Los Angeles]], California, except for [[Rick Derringer]]'s [[slide guitar]] part for "[[Show Biz Kids]]", which was recorded at [[Caribou Ranch]] in [[Nederland, Colorado]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/countdown-to-ecstasy-mw0000191882/credits|title=Countdown to Ecstasy – Steely Dan | Credits | AllMusic|via=www.allmusic.com}}</ref> After the departure of vocalist [[David Palmer (vocalist)|David Palmer]] from Steely Dan, the group recorded the album with [[Donald Fagen]] singing lead on every track.{{sfn|Uslan|Clark|Solomon|1981|p=392}} | ||
Although the album was a critical success, it failed to generate a | Although the album was a critical success, it failed to generate a hit single in the United States and consequently only charted at number 35 on the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' Top LPs & Tape]] chart, though it was certified [[RIAA certification|gold]] by the [[Recording Industry Association of America]] in 1978. The album has received considerable acclaim from music critics in numerous retrospective reviews. | ||
==Musical style== | ==Musical style== | ||
Like Steely Dan's 1972 debut album ''[[Can't Buy a Thrill]]'', ''Countdown to Ecstasy'' has a [[rock music|rock]] sound that exhibits a strong influence from [[jazz]].{{sfn|Valdez|2006|p=380}} It comprises uptempo, four- to five-minute rock songs,<ref name="Logan"/> which, apart from the [[blues]]y [[vamp (music)|vamps]] of "Bodhisattva" and "[[Show Biz Kids]]", are subtly | Like Steely Dan's 1972 debut album ''[[Can't Buy a Thrill]]'', ''Countdown to Ecstasy'' has a [[rock music|rock]] sound that exhibits a strong influence from [[jazz]].{{sfn|Valdez|2006|p=380}} It largely comprises uptempo, four- to five-minute rock songs,<ref name="Logan"/> which, apart from the [[blues]]y [[vamp (music)|vamps]] of "Bodhisattva" and "[[Show Biz Kids]]", are subtly textured and feature jazz-inspired interludes.<ref name="Erlewine"/> Commenting on the album's style and production, music critic [[Tom Hull (critic)|Tom Hull]] said it is "clean, almost slick", with "no [[Consonance and dissonance|dissonance]], no clutter", and reminiscent of 1940s [[bebop]] and "[[overproduction (music)|overproduced]] early 60s [[pop rock]]".<ref name="Hull">{{cite magazine|last=Hull|first=Tom|author-link=Tom Hull (critic)|date=April 1975|url=http://tomhull.com/ocston/arch/rekord4.php|title=The Rekord Report: L'Objet Rèpris|magazine=Overdose|access-date=July 12, 2020|via=tomhull.com}}</ref> ''Countdown to Ecstasy'' was the only Steely Dan album written and arranged for a live band. | ||
Bebop-style jazz soloing is set in the context of a pop song on "Bodhisattva".{{sfn|Chapman|Clapton|2000|p=202}} "The Boston Rag" develops from a jazzy song to unrefined playing by the band, including a distorted guitar solo by [[Jeff Baxter|Jeff "Skunk" Baxter]]. "[[My Old School (song)|My Old School]]" features a saxophone section and aggressive piano riffs and guitar solos.<ref name="Blashill"/> [[Jim Hodder (musician)|Jim Hodder]]'s drumming on the album eschews rock music for pop and jazz [[groove (music)|grooves]].<ref name="Billboard">{{cite magazine|date=July 14, 1973|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MQkEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA62|title=Billboard's Top Album Picks|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|page=62|access-date=April 12, 2013}}</ref> | |||
==Lyrics and themes== | ==Lyrics and themes== | ||
''Countdown to Ecstasy'' has similar lyrical themes to ''Can't Buy a Thrill''.<ref name="Logan"/> It explores topics such as drug abuse, [[class | ''Countdown to Ecstasy'' has similar lyrical themes to ''Can't Buy a Thrill''.<ref name="Logan"/> It explores topics such as drug abuse, [[class struggle]], and Los Angeles excess.<ref name="Jones"/> "Your Gold Teeth" follows a jaded female [[wikt:grifter|grifter]] who uses her attractiveness and cunning to take advantage of others,{{sfn|Dimery|Lydon|2010|p=301}} "My Old School" was inspired by a drug bust involving [[Walter Becker]] and [[Donald Fagen]] while they were students at [[Bard College]],<ref name="Blashill"/> "King of the World" explores a post-[[nuclear holocaust]] [[Southwestern United States]], and "Show Biz Kids" satirizes contemporary Los Angeles lifestyles.<ref name="SR"/> Critic Tom Hull described the lyrics as "a running paste together joke [...] sufraintelligent{{Sic}}, witty and slyly devious", citing as an example the following lyrics from "Show Biz Kids": "They got the booze they need / All that money can buy / They got the shapely bods / They got the Steely Dan T-shirt / And for the coup de grâce / They're outrageous."<ref name="Hull"/> | ||
According to [[Rob Sheffield]], Becker and Fagen's lyrics on the album portray America as "one big [[Las Vegas Valley|Las Vegas]], with gangsters and gurus hustling for souls to steal." He views it as the first in a trilogy of Steely Dan albums that, along with ''[[Pretzel Logic]]'' (1974) and ''[[Katy Lied]]'' (1975), showcase "a [[film noir]] tour of L.A.'s decadent losers, showbiz kids, and razor boys."{{sfn|Sheffield et al.|2004|p=789}} Erik Adams of ''[[The A.V. Club]]'' called the album a "dossier of literate | According to ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' critic [[Rob Sheffield]], Becker and Fagen's lyrics on the album portray America as "one big [[Las Vegas Valley|Las Vegas]], with gangsters and gurus hustling for souls to steal." He views it as the first in a trilogy of Steely Dan albums that, along with ''[[Pretzel Logic]]'' (1974) and ''[[Katy Lied]]'' (1975), showcase "a [[film noir]] tour of L.A.'s decadent losers, showbiz kids, and razor boys."{{sfn|Sheffield et al.|2004|p=789}} Erik Adams of ''[[The A.V. Club]]'' called the album a "dossier of literate lowlifes, the type of character studies that say, 'Why yes, the name Steely Dan is an allusion to a dildo described in ''[[Naked Lunch]]''.' These characters hang around the corners of the entire Steely Dan discography, but they come into their own on ''Countdown to Ecstasy''".<ref>{{cite news|last=Adams|first=Erik|date=March 8, 2012|url=https://www.avclub.com/steely-dan-1798230349|title=Gateways to Geekery – Steely Dan|newspaper=[[The A.V. Club]]|location=Chicago|access-date=April 7, 2013}}</ref> | ||
Some songs on the album explore more spiritual concerns. The opening song, "Bodhisattva", is a parody of the idea that the | Some songs on the album explore more spiritual concerns. The opening song, "Bodhisattva", is a parody of countercultural [[Orientalism]] and the idea that the disposal of one's possessions is a prerequisite to [[Enlightenment in Buddhism|enlightenment]]. Its title refers to [[Bodhisattva]], or people who are of the belief that they have achieved spiritual perfection, but remain in the material world to help others. Fagen summarized the song's message as: "Lure of East. Hubris of hippies. Quick fix".{{sfn|Rubin|Melnick|2007|p=160}} "Razor Boy" is a bitter, ironic pop song with lyrics that subtly criticize complacency and materialism.<ref name="Kreilkamp"/> According to Ivan Kreilkamp of ''[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]'', in the song "Steely Dan speaks to us from that 'cold and windy day' when the trappings of hipness and sexiness fall away to reveal a lonely figure waiting for a fix. 'Will you still have a song to sing when the razor boy comes and takes your fancy things away?' Fagen asks a generation stupefied by nostalgia and self-involvement".<ref name="Kreilkamp">{{cite journal|last=Kreilkamp|first=Ivan|date=February 1992|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yLVeu01ciK8C&pg=PT71|title=Steely Dan|journal=[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]|location=New York|page=70|volume=7|issue=11|access-date=April 12, 2013}}</ref> | ||
==Title and packaging== | ==Title and packaging== | ||
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==Marketing and sales== | ==Marketing and sales== | ||
''Countdown to Ecstasy'' was released in July 1973 by ABC Records in the United States and [[Probe Records]] in the United Kingdom. It failed to generate a | ''Countdown to Ecstasy'' was released in July 1973 by ABC Records in the United States and [[Probe Records]] in the United Kingdom. It failed to generate a hit single<ref name="allmusicbio">{{cite web|last=Erlewine|first=Stephen Thomas|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/steely-dan-mn0000011707|title=Steely Dan|website=Allmusic|access-date=April 7, 2013}}</ref> and was less commercially successful than ''Can't Buy a Thrill'',{{sfn|Heatley|Lester|Roberts|1998|p=50}} only charting at number 35 on the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' Top LPs & Tape]] chart.{{sfn|Uslan|Clark|Solomon|1981|p=392}} Nonetheless, it spent 34 weeks on the chart{{sfn|Heatley|Lester|Roberts|1998|p=50}} and was certified [[RIAA certification|gold]] by the [[Recording Industry Association of America]] (RIAA) in 1978, recognizing the shipment of 500,000 copies in the U.S.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oQ0EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA71|access-date=April 8, 2013|title=Flipping Through the Catalog|page=71|date=January 15, 2000|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|last=Hay|first=Carla|volume=112|issue=3}}</ref> | ||
==Critical reception== | ==Critical reception== | ||
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Reviewing the album in August 1973 for ''[[Rolling Stone]]'', David Logan said that, while it might follow a "formula", the songs do not become "redundant or superfluous", and that, though the band's "playing is hardly unique and their singing is occasionally hampered by patently ridiculous lyrics, they exhibit a control of the basic rock format that is refreshing and that bodes well for the group's long-term success."<ref name="Logan">{{cite magazine|last=Logan |first=David |date=August 16, 1973 |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/countdown-to-ecstasy-19730816 |title=Countdown To Ecstasy |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |page=54 |location=New York |access-date=April 6, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121227000503/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/countdown-to-ecstasy-19730816 |archive-date=December 27, 2012 |url-status=live |df=mdy }}</ref> ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' complimented the "studio effect" of the dual guitar playing and found the "grandiloquent vocal blend" catchy.<ref name="Billboard"/> ''[[Stereo Review]]'' called it a "really excellent album" with "witty and tasteful" arrangements, "winning" performances, "high quality" songs, and a "potent and persuasive" mix of rock, jazz, and pop styles.<ref name="SR">{{cite journal|title=Special Merit|page=94|journal=[[Stereo Review]]|date=November 1973|volume=31|issue=5}}</ref> In ''[[Creem]]'', [[Robert Christgau]] made reference to "studio-perfect licks that crackle and buzz when you listen hard" and "invariably malicious" vocals that back the group's obscure lyrics,<ref name="Creem">{{cite magazine|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|date=December 1973|url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/crm7312.php|title=The Christgau Consumer Guide|magazine=[[Creem]]|access-date=April 6, 2013}}</ref> and he named ''Countdown to Ecstasy'' the ninth best album of 1973 in his year-end list for ''[[Newsday]]''.<ref>{{cite news|last=Christgau|first=Robert|date=January 13, 1974|url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/news/nd740113.php|title=Returning With a Painful Top 30 List|newspaper=[[Newsday]]|access-date=April 6, 2013}}</ref> Tom Hull, in a review published in ''Overdose'' in April 1975, said the album is "perhaps the most representative, certainly the best realized," of Steely Dan's albums, as far as their "clean, almost slick" style is concerned, and called the overall effect "strange, strangely comfortable, queasy almost", and the band "a dangerous group, one that should be watched."<ref name="Hull"/> | Reviewing the album in August 1973 for ''[[Rolling Stone]]'', David Logan said that, while it might follow a "formula", the songs do not become "redundant or superfluous", and that, though the band's "playing is hardly unique and their singing is occasionally hampered by patently ridiculous lyrics, they exhibit a control of the basic rock format that is refreshing and that bodes well for the group's long-term success."<ref name="Logan">{{cite magazine|last=Logan |first=David |date=August 16, 1973 |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/countdown-to-ecstasy-19730816 |title=Countdown To Ecstasy |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |page=54 |location=New York |access-date=April 6, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121227000503/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/countdown-to-ecstasy-19730816 |archive-date=December 27, 2012 |url-status=live |df=mdy }}</ref> ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' complimented the "studio effect" of the dual guitar playing and found the "grandiloquent vocal blend" catchy.<ref name="Billboard"/> ''[[Stereo Review]]'' called it a "really excellent album" with "witty and tasteful" arrangements, "winning" performances, "high quality" songs, and a "potent and persuasive" mix of rock, jazz, and pop styles.<ref name="SR">{{cite journal|title=Special Merit|page=94|journal=[[Stereo Review]]|date=November 1973|volume=31|issue=5}}</ref> In ''[[Creem]]'', [[Robert Christgau]] made reference to "studio-perfect licks that crackle and buzz when you listen hard" and "invariably malicious" vocals that back the group's obscure lyrics,<ref name="Creem">{{cite magazine|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|date=December 1973|url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/crm7312.php|title=The Christgau Consumer Guide|magazine=[[Creem]]|access-date=April 6, 2013}}</ref> and he named ''Countdown to Ecstasy'' the ninth best album of 1973 in his year-end list for ''[[Newsday]]''.<ref>{{cite news|last=Christgau|first=Robert|date=January 13, 1974|url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/news/nd740113.php|title=Returning With a Painful Top 30 List|newspaper=[[Newsday]]|access-date=April 6, 2013}}</ref> Tom Hull, in a review published in ''Overdose'' in April 1975, said the album is "perhaps the most representative, certainly the best realized," of Steely Dan's albums, as far as their "clean, almost slick" style is concerned, and called the overall effect "strange, strangely comfortable, queasy almost", and the band "a dangerous group, one that should be watched."<ref name="Hull"/> | ||
In ''[[Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies]]'' (1981), Christgau said that, thanks to Fagen's replacement of Palmer, who Christgau felt did not fit the group, Steely Dan was able to achieve a "deceptively agreeable studio slickness" on the album.<ref name="CG"/> [[Paul Lester]] described the album in an entry in ''The Encyclopedia of Albums'' (1998) as a progression from ''Can't Buy a Thrill'', and wrote that "Becker and Fagen offered cruel critiques of the self-obsessed [[Me decade|'Me' decade]]", while their "blend of [[cool jazz]] and bebop, [[Brill Building]] song craft and rock was unparallelled at the time (only Britain's [[10cc]] were creating such intelligent pop in the early Seventies)."{{sfn|Heatley|Lester|Roberts|1998|p=50}} | In ''[[Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies]]'' (1981), Christgau said that, thanks to Fagen's replacement of Palmer, who Christgau felt did not fit the group, Steely Dan was able to achieve a "deceptively agreeable studio slickness" on the album.<ref name="CG"/> [[Paul Lester]] described the album in an entry in ''The Encyclopedia of Albums'' (1998) as a progression from ''Can't Buy a Thrill'', and wrote that "Becker and Fagen offered cruel critiques of the self-obsessed [[Me decade|'Me' decade]]", while their "blend of [[cool jazz]] and bebop, [[Brill Building]] song craft and rock was unparallelled at the time (only Britain's [[10cc]] were creating such intelligent pop in the early Seventies)."{{sfn|Heatley|Lester|Roberts|1998|p=50}} Pat Blashill wrote in a review in ''Rolling Stone'' in 2003 that the "joy in these excellent songs" and in the band's playing revealed Steely Dan to be "human, not just brainy," "like good stretches of [[the Rolling Stones|the Stones]]' ''[[Exile on Main St.]]''"<ref name="Blashill">{{cite magazine|last=Blashill |first=Pat |date=October 30, 2003 |issue=934 |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/steelydan/albums/album/90998/review/5940553/countdown_to_ecstasy |title=Steely Dan: Countdown To Ecstasy |magazine=Rolling Stone |location=New York |access-date=April 7, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071112074036/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/steelydan/albums/album/90998/review/5940553/countdown_to_ecstasy |archive-date=November 12, 2007 }}</ref> In ''[[The Rolling Stone Album Guide]]'' (2004), [[Rob Sheffield]] called the album "a thoroughly amazing, hugely influential album" that consisted of "cold-blooded L.A. studio rock tricked out with jazz piano and tough guitar."{{sfn|Sheffield et al.|2004|p=778–89}} [[Stephen Thomas Erlewine]] of [[AllMusic]] found ''Countdown to Ecstasy'' to be "riskier" musically than the band's debut album, and called the songs "rich with either musical or lyrical detail that [Steely Dan's] [[Album-oriented rock|album rock]] or [[art rock]] contemporaries couldn't hope to match."<ref name="Erlewine">{{cite web|last=Erlewine|first=Stephen Thomas|author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/countdown-to-ecstasy-mw0000191882|title=Countdown to Ecstasy – Steely Dan|website=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=April 7, 2013}}</ref> Chris Jones of [[BBC Music]] said the ideas on the album are "[[post-modern]]" and "erudite", and asserted that the band was "setting a benchmark that few have ever matched."<ref name="Jones">{{cite web|last=Jones|first=Chris|date=January 4, 2008|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/3pjw/|title=Review of Steely Dan – Countdown To Ecstasy|publisher=[[BBC Music]]|access-date=April 7, 2013}}</ref> | ||
In his 1999 autobiography ''A Cure for Gravity'', British musician [[Joe Jackson (musician)|Joe Jackson]] described ''Countdown to Ecstasy'' as a musical revelation for him that bridged the gap between "pure pop" and his jazz-rock and [[progressive rock]] influences and influenced his subsequent songwriting.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jackson |first=Joe |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fQe_eCmmqaUC&pg=PA138 |title=A Cure For Gravity: A Musical Pilgrimage |date=October 9, 2007 |publisher=Hachette Books |isbn=9780306817083 |via=Google Books}}</ref> | |||
In 2000, ''Countdown to Ecstasy'' was voted number 307 in [[Colin Larkin]]'s book ''[[All Time Top 1000 Albums]]''.<ref name="Larkin">{{cite book|title=[[All Time Top 1000 Albums]]|author=Colin Larkin|author-link=Colin Larkin|publisher=[[Virgin Books]]|date=2000|edition=3rd|isbn=0-7535-0493-6|page=127}}</ref> The album was also included in the book ''[[1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die]]''.{{sfn|Dimery|Lydon|2010|p=301}} | In 2000, ''Countdown to Ecstasy'' was voted number 307 in [[Colin Larkin]]'s book ''[[All Time Top 1000 Albums]]''.<ref name="Larkin">{{cite book|title=[[All Time Top 1000 Albums]]|author=Colin Larkin|author-link=Colin Larkin|publisher=[[Virgin Books]]|date=2000|edition=3rd|isbn=0-7535-0493-6|page=127}}</ref> The album was also included in the book ''[[1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die]]''.{{sfn|Dimery|Lydon|2010|p=301}} | ||
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{{col-2}} | {{col-2}} | ||
;Steely Dan | ;Steely Dan | ||
* [[Denny Dias]] – guitar | * [[Denny Dias]] – guitar (solo on "Bodhisattva") | ||
* [[Jeff Baxter|Jeff "Skunk" Baxter]] – guitar, [[pedal steel guitar]] | * [[Jeff Baxter|Jeff "Skunk" Baxter]] – guitar, [[pedal steel guitar]] | ||
* [[Walter Becker]] – | * [[Walter Becker]] – bass guitar, harmonica, backing vocals | ||
* [[Jim Hodder (musician)|Jim Hodder]] – drums, percussion, backing vocals | * [[Jim Hodder (musician)|Jim Hodder]] – drums, percussion, backing vocals | ||
* [[Donald Fagen]] – [[piano]], [[electric piano]], [[synthesizer]], | * [[Donald Fagen]] – [[piano]], [[electric piano]], [[synthesizer]], vocals | ||
;Additional musicians | ;Additional musicians | ||
* [[Sherlie Matthews]] (5,6), Myrna Matthews (5,6), Patricia Hall (5,6), [[David Palmer (vocalist)|David Palmer]], [[Royce Jones]], James Rolleston, [[Michael Fennelly (musician)|Michael Fennelly]] – backing vocals | * [[Sherlie Matthews]] (5, 6), Myrna Matthews (5, 6), Patricia Hall (5, 6), [[David Palmer (vocalist)|David Palmer]], [[Royce Jones]], James Rolleston, [[Michael Fennelly (musician)|Michael Fennelly]] – backing vocals | ||
* [[Lanny Morgan]], [[Bill Perkins (saxophonist)|Bill Perkins]], [[Ernie Watts]], [[Johnny Rotella]] – | * [[Lanny Morgan]], [[Bill Perkins (saxophonist)|Bill Perkins]], [[Ernie Watts]], [[Johnny Rotella]] – saxophones (6) | ||
* [[Victor Feldman]] – [[vibraphone]], [[marimba]], percussion | * [[Victor Feldman]] – [[vibraphone]], [[marimba]], percussion | ||
* [[Ray Brown (musician)|Ray Brown]] – | * [[Ray Brown (musician)|Ray Brown]] – double bass (2) | ||
* [[Rick Derringer]] – [[slide guitar]] (5) | * [[Rick Derringer]] – [[slide guitar]] (5) | ||
* Ben Benay – | * Ben Benay – acoustic guitar | ||
* [[Jimmie Haskell]] – horn arrangement (6) | * [[Jimmie Haskell]] – horn arrangement (6) | ||
Latest revision as of 23:20, 30 December 2025
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Countdown to Ecstasy is the second studio album by American rock band Steely Dan, released in July 1973 by ABC Records. It was recorded at the Village Recorder in West Los Angeles, California, except for Rick Derringer's slide guitar part for "Show Biz Kids", which was recorded at Caribou Ranch in Nederland, Colorado.[1] After the departure of vocalist David Palmer from Steely Dan, the group recorded the album with Donald Fagen singing lead on every track.Template:Sfn
Although the album was a critical success, it failed to generate a hit single in the United States and consequently only charted at number 35 on the Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart, though it was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America in 1978. The album has received considerable acclaim from music critics in numerous retrospective reviews.
Musical style
Like Steely Dan's 1972 debut album Can't Buy a Thrill, Countdown to Ecstasy has a rock sound that exhibits a strong influence from jazz.Template:Sfn It largely comprises uptempo, four- to five-minute rock songs,[2] which, apart from the bluesy vamps of "Bodhisattva" and "Show Biz Kids", are subtly textured and feature jazz-inspired interludes.[3] Commenting on the album's style and production, music critic Tom Hull said it is "clean, almost slick", with "no dissonance, no clutter", and reminiscent of 1940s bebop and "overproduced early 60s pop rock".[4] Countdown to Ecstasy was the only Steely Dan album written and arranged for a live band.
Bebop-style jazz soloing is set in the context of a pop song on "Bodhisattva".Template:Sfn "The Boston Rag" develops from a jazzy song to unrefined playing by the band, including a distorted guitar solo by Jeff "Skunk" Baxter. "My Old School" features a saxophone section and aggressive piano riffs and guitar solos.[5] Jim Hodder's drumming on the album eschews rock music for pop and jazz grooves.[6]
Lyrics and themes
Countdown to Ecstasy has similar lyrical themes to Can't Buy a Thrill.[2] It explores topics such as drug abuse, class struggle, and Los Angeles excess.[7] "Your Gold Teeth" follows a jaded female grifter who uses her attractiveness and cunning to take advantage of others,Template:Sfn "My Old School" was inspired by a drug bust involving Walter Becker and Donald Fagen while they were students at Bard College,[5] "King of the World" explores a post-nuclear holocaust Southwestern United States, and "Show Biz Kids" satirizes contemporary Los Angeles lifestyles.[8] Critic Tom Hull described the lyrics as "a running paste together joke [...] sufraintelligent [sic], witty and slyly devious", citing as an example the following lyrics from "Show Biz Kids": "They got the booze they need / All that money can buy / They got the shapely bods / They got the Steely Dan T-shirt / And for the coup de grâce / They're outrageous."[4]
According to Rolling Stone critic Rob Sheffield, Becker and Fagen's lyrics on the album portray America as "one big Las Vegas, with gangsters and gurus hustling for souls to steal." He views it as the first in a trilogy of Steely Dan albums that, along with Pretzel Logic (1974) and Katy Lied (1975), showcase "a film noir tour of L.A.'s decadent losers, showbiz kids, and razor boys."Template:Sfn Erik Adams of The A.V. Club called the album a "dossier of literate lowlifes, the type of character studies that say, 'Why yes, the name Steely Dan is an allusion to a dildo described in Naked Lunch.' These characters hang around the corners of the entire Steely Dan discography, but they come into their own on Countdown to Ecstasy".[9]
Some songs on the album explore more spiritual concerns. The opening song, "Bodhisattva", is a parody of countercultural Orientalism and the idea that the disposal of one's possessions is a prerequisite to enlightenment. Its title refers to Bodhisattva, or people who are of the belief that they have achieved spiritual perfection, but remain in the material world to help others. Fagen summarized the song's message as: "Lure of East. Hubris of hippies. Quick fix".Template:Sfn "Razor Boy" is a bitter, ironic pop song with lyrics that subtly criticize complacency and materialism.[10] According to Ivan Kreilkamp of Spin, in the song "Steely Dan speaks to us from that 'cold and windy day' when the trappings of hipness and sexiness fall away to reveal a lonely figure waiting for a fix. 'Will you still have a song to sing when the razor boy comes and takes your fancy things away?' Fagen asks a generation stupefied by nostalgia and self-involvement".[10]
Title and packaging
The album's title was selected as a joke about attempts to rationalize a state of spirituality.Template:Sfn The original cover painting was done by Fagen's then girlfriend, Dorothy White. The president of ABC Records, Jay Lasker, disliked it and insisted it be re-drawn. The art proofs were subsequently stolen by Becker and Fagen during an argument over the final layout.[11]
Marketing and sales
Countdown to Ecstasy was released in July 1973 by ABC Records in the United States and Probe Records in the United Kingdom. It failed to generate a hit single[12] and was less commercially successful than Can't Buy a Thrill,Template:Sfn only charting at number 35 on the Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart.Template:Sfn Nonetheless, it spent 34 weeks on the chartTemplate:Sfn and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 1978, recognizing the shipment of 500,000 copies in the U.S.[13]
Critical reception
Reviewing the album in August 1973 for Rolling Stone, David Logan said that, while it might follow a "formula", the songs do not become "redundant or superfluous", and that, though the band's "playing is hardly unique and their singing is occasionally hampered by patently ridiculous lyrics, they exhibit a control of the basic rock format that is refreshing and that bodes well for the group's long-term success."[2] Billboard complimented the "studio effect" of the dual guitar playing and found the "grandiloquent vocal blend" catchy.[6] Stereo Review called it a "really excellent album" with "witty and tasteful" arrangements, "winning" performances, "high quality" songs, and a "potent and persuasive" mix of rock, jazz, and pop styles.[8] In Creem, Robert Christgau made reference to "studio-perfect licks that crackle and buzz when you listen hard" and "invariably malicious" vocals that back the group's obscure lyrics,[14] and he named Countdown to Ecstasy the ninth best album of 1973 in his year-end list for Newsday.[15] Tom Hull, in a review published in Overdose in April 1975, said the album is "perhaps the most representative, certainly the best realized," of Steely Dan's albums, as far as their "clean, almost slick" style is concerned, and called the overall effect "strange, strangely comfortable, queasy almost", and the band "a dangerous group, one that should be watched."[4]
In Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), Christgau said that, thanks to Fagen's replacement of Palmer, who Christgau felt did not fit the group, Steely Dan was able to achieve a "deceptively agreeable studio slickness" on the album.[16] Paul Lester described the album in an entry in The Encyclopedia of Albums (1998) as a progression from Can't Buy a Thrill, and wrote that "Becker and Fagen offered cruel critiques of the self-obsessed 'Me' decade", while their "blend of cool jazz and bebop, Brill Building song craft and rock was unparallelled at the time (only Britain's 10cc were creating such intelligent pop in the early Seventies)."Template:Sfn Pat Blashill wrote in a review in Rolling Stone in 2003 that the "joy in these excellent songs" and in the band's playing revealed Steely Dan to be "human, not just brainy," "like good stretches of the Stones' Exile on Main St."[5] In The Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004), Rob Sheffield called the album "a thoroughly amazing, hugely influential album" that consisted of "cold-blooded L.A. studio rock tricked out with jazz piano and tough guitar."Template:Sfn Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic found Countdown to Ecstasy to be "riskier" musically than the band's debut album, and called the songs "rich with either musical or lyrical detail that [Steely Dan's] album rock or art rock contemporaries couldn't hope to match."[3] Chris Jones of BBC Music said the ideas on the album are "post-modern" and "erudite", and asserted that the band was "setting a benchmark that few have ever matched."[7]
In his 1999 autobiography A Cure for Gravity, British musician Joe Jackson described Countdown to Ecstasy as a musical revelation for him that bridged the gap between "pure pop" and his jazz-rock and progressive rock influences and influenced his subsequent songwriting.[17]
In 2000, Countdown to Ecstasy was voted number 307 in Colin Larkin's book All Time Top 1000 Albums.[18] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.Template:Sfn
Track listing
Template:Tracklist Template:Tracklist
Personnel
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Charts
Album
| Chart (1973) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| align="left"Template:Album chart | |
| US Billboard Top LPs & Tape[20] | 35 |
Singles
| Year | Single | Catalogue number | Peak position |
Chart |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | "Show Biz Kids" (B-side: "Razor Boy") | ABC 11382 | 61 | US Billboard Hot 100[21] |
| 1973 | "My Old School" (B-side: "Pearl of the Quarter") | ABC 11396 | 63 |
References
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- ↑ Info from Countdown To Ecstasy at broberg.pp.se.
- ↑ Countdown to Ecstasy – Steely Dan > Charts & Awards > Billboard Album at AllMusic. Retrieved October 27, 2004.
- ↑ Countdown to Ecstasy – Steely Dan > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles at AllMusic. Retrieved October 27, 2004.
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Bibliography
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External links
- Template:Discogs master
- "Steely Dan: Reelin' in the Years" (Chapter on Countdown to Ecstasy) at Google Books
- "Top Ten Obscure Steely Dan Lyrics" Template:Webarchive by Stylus Magazine
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