COUNTDOWN TO ECSTASY

Steely Dan

Jazz Rock/Fusion

4.07 | 264 ratings

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Flucktrot
Prog Reviewer

For their second album, Steely Dan have kicked up the punchiness, tightened up the production, and generally kept up the good songwriting.

However, beyond the hits and few additional songs, the general catchiness is a bit lacking.

Most of us know the hit singles (Bodhisattva, My Old School), but the rest is quite solid too. My Old School is one of my favorite by the Dan, particularly with that berry sax really digging in and piano ragging away throughout. King of the World is also an absolute classic, and classic rock stations did all their listeners a monumental disservice by not including this track in their regular playlists alongside Bodhisattva and My Old School.

As for the rest, nothing really grabs me. Sure, I'll hand-drum along with hand drums on Your Gold Teeth and chant in my head--in watered-down Zeuhl fashion--to Show Biz Kids, but they just lack that "something". Well played, produced, and arranged, but perhaps could benefit from a bit more classic rock and a bit less "yacht rock" flavor.

A solid album, and probably a progression from their debut: to butcher a phrase, good but only sporadically great.

Flucktrot | 3/5 | 2010-11-12

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