Album : Steely Dan – Count Down to Ecstasy

I’d heard Steely Dan on the radio. ‘Reelin In the Years’ and ‘Do it Again’ both really cool-tunes.   Somehow this is the album I chose to get and neither of those tunes was on it.  From the opening cut CB was in familiar territory.  Really liked this music. They had their own sound and it was different from the other stuff I was listening to.  No idea what ‘Bodhisattva’ was or meant but I didn’t give a shit the music sounded great.  They lay down a great up beat tempo and then take off with some good playing.  Some real nice guitar licks on this one.  There was no warming up to this record, CB was into it right away.  Jazzy vibe.  Donald Fagen’s vocals and lyrics fit the music.  Great opening tune.  ‘Razor Boy’ also has a jazzy vibe with some vibe work.  Lots for the ear to like in this one.  Their music was really setting the hook.  ‘Boston Rag’ has lots going on.  Fagan’s vocals get in your head.  Some more good guitar work.  Definitely their own unique sound.  Good listening.  Lots of changes in this song.  Soft then it gets a bite to it.  What a great intro to ‘Gold Teeth’.  Cool groove.  They jam out in this one.  Good keyboard work and more slick guitar.  Not a bad cut on side one.   CB was loving this music.

Another great riff opens ‘Show Biz Kids’ and side two.  SD gets in a groove and pull off a great tune.  The guitar is wicked.  Repeating myself but Fagen’s vocals and lyrics are so cool.   They both get into the brain. Love this tune.  Lots of edge to it.  Don’t know which guy’s playing the guitar but it is great,  These guys knew how to open a song and they do it again with ‘My Old School’.  A  catchy tune with everything working for CB’s ears.  All the elements from the previous tunes with some added punch from some horns.  This one sticks with you.  It has that Steely Dan sound.  Little funky, jazzy and a lot of other things.  They slow things down with ‘Pearl of the Quarter’.  Nice tune.  The album ends with ‘King of the World’.  We get a funky groove at the start.  It’a mixed bag of a bunch of  creative influences.  Guitar work is phenomenal with more great vocals and lyrics.  Even a little ELP like interlude.  4 more solid tracks.  All the songs were written by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen

CB still liked old school rock n roll but he’d been expanding his musical horizons for a while and Steely Dan was more of that stretching out for him.  Another good band in his growing music pile.  He wasn’t going to stop at this album.  He was in for more from these guys.