Steely Dan – Countdown To Ecstasy (1973)

Steely Dan's second album is probably one of the ones I visit the least, and one which didn't really make as much of an impact when I completed my Dan collection by borrowing this from a friend of a friend while at university.

I probably picked this up in a charity shop, but I don't recall when or where.

It's not a bad album, but there aren't more than a couple of tracks you'd call Dan greats (most 'best of' compilations contain Show Biz Kids and one of Bodhisattva or My Old School).

Opening with some solid rock'n'roll in Bodhisattva, it's a banging start before the Latin beat of Razor Boys and the mellow but uninteresting Boston Rag. Your Gold Teeth is a bouncy, if ordinary, end to the first half.

The second half kicks off with the caustic swipe at the biz which is Show Biz Kids, followed by the solid My Old School. These were the two singles, both very minor US hits, with the very country Pearl Of The Quarter and the more lively King Of The World closing things down.

There's nothing bad here, and even in the less interesting songs, there's the trademark Dan perfection in the soloing. But it's clear there was far more to come.

Link to full album

3* - some nice stuff, but far from the band's finest hour.