Steely Dan - Countdown To Ecstasy (Reissue, Remastered) (1973 / 2023) [SACD]

Steely Dan's songwriter/musicians Walter Becker and Donald Fagan were "anti-rock & roll," defying all it's conventions with their sly lyrics and jazz/R&B leanings. 1973's Countdown to Ecstasy was a hit with the critics, but failed to generate a hit single, even though the reluctant band supported it with a tour - their last. Over the years, most fans agree that it's the best Steely Dan LP ever. The gold album includes the tracks "Bodhisattva," "My Old School" and much more.

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 fueled by Denny Dias's and Jeff Baxter's angular, bopping guitars, to the postnuclear 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