Countdown to Ecstasy—Steely Dan/Analogue Productions UHQR 45 RPM vinyl reissue
Countdown to Ecstasy is Steely Dan’s second studio album (after their brilliantly assured debut release, Can’t Buy A Thrill). ABC Records released Countdown in July 1973. Like Thrill, the album was recorded in LA at The Village Recorder and engineered by Roger Nichols.
Countdown follows on almost imperceptibly in style from their first album. Straight ahead driving rock and funky rhythms with serious jazz harmonic sensibilities. It’s beautifully arranged with all songs by Donald Fagen and Walter Becker, and features the same instrumental trio of original band members heard on Thrill:
Jeff "Skunk" Baxter – guitar, pedal steel guitar.
Denny Dias – guitar
Jim Hodder – drums, percussion, lead vocals, backing vocals.
Donald Fagen – piano, electric piano, plastic organ, lead vocals, backing vocals.
Walter Becker – electric bass guitar, backing vocals.
Unlike Thrill, no David Palmer as co-lead singer. Palmer was the co-lead singer at the beginning of the band due to the insistence of ABC Records. That soon changed and on Countdown he’s demoted to backing vocals.
Countdown to Ecstasy rear cover. A disinterested band of musicians. This does not translate to the incredible focus of the record.
This is the second UHQR 2 LP 45 RPM treatment of the Steely Dan catalogue. Steely Dan’s third album, Pretzel Logic was released on UHQR last month and has been roundly criticized for its lack of energy and coherence and rolled off top end. All for $150, the asking price for these superior-quality albums. This was most definitely not the case with Thrill (it made our Audiophilia Dream List ©). The same qualities are on this superb UHQR of Countdown to Ecstasy.
The UHQR box's bulky design still creates division. I’m of no mind, but the Stoughton jackets included are so superb, I use them in my record racks and relegate the UHQR boxes to the storage closet. The Clarity vinyl is flat and relatively quiet. I clean them before playing. For all three of my UHQRs, I’ve had to open up the too-tight spindle holes. That’s not to say the labels are not centred, they are, but 5 out of 6 record holes needed stretching!
For licensing reasons, Analogue Productions (UHQR) could not get the rights to the ABC Records or MCA LP labels, so we get Geffen. It looks very cool. And accurate.
Included is a cute note sheet with “liner notes” by the man himself. It must have taken him about 20 seconds to write a couple of paragraphs. It’s nice to have, anyway.
Sound
Reading some internet reviews of Steely Dan UHQRs, the reviewers, even the good professional ones, seem to be climbing over themselves to provide insider information insights and personal anecdotes. “I know this band so well, because…” Well, we have Wikipedia for that, and, though I feel as close to this seminal band as any, I’ll try and give them the most accurate assessment I can according to my ears.
One of the difficulties in judging any Steely Dan album is Roger Nichols' unique engineering. They are “studio” albums in the purest sense. And while Glyn Johns and other brilliant engineering minds/ears of the ’60s and ‘70s managed to create natural-sounding albums with instrumental separation, layering, and the individual players’ character intact, Nichols’ engineering is more of a combined effort. And as the music and instrumentation can be so complex, unless you have a really good system and a clean original pressing, some information is invariably missed. Congealed, possibly. And you’d never confuse Nichols’ idea of drum sound or placement as that of, let’s say, Rudy Van Gelder. That’s why this clinical but very musical UHQR Countdown to Ecstasy is so valuable and fun.
In general, I’m hearing better separation and accurate instrumental timbre such as the differences in Denny Dias and Jeff Baxter’s guitar sounds, intentional distortion, notwithstanding. (That’s when Jeff’s on standard guitar—his pedal steel guitar gets a veritable masterclass of mixing and EQ). And listen to Fagen’s smooth organ as he trades 2s with Dias. And Fagen’s overdubs are so clear.
Overall, Grundman is giving us a big sound. The energy level on “Bodhisattva” almost matched Steely Dan’s insane live version on Citizen Steely Dan.
“Razor Boy” rhythm is clean and tight but with weight. On my OG, you get two out of the three. Is it the crap Canadian pressing or Nichol’s engineering? I’m guessing the former.
Rhythmically, the players are so tight on the opening of “Your Gold Teeth” and with great instrumental timbres. Like “Deacon Blues” on Aja, the little electric piano flourishes still sound with some distortion. Then you hear one of their greatest lines to remind you the words are equal to the music:
Even Cathy Berberian knows
There's one roulade she can't sing
One of their most original lines is easily understood as are all the lyrics.
As I listened to “The Boston Rag”, it still sounds like a Nichols album but with more life and space around the solos and great timbre on the rhythm instruments. And all with better layering.
Bernie Grundman is respectful of Nichols’ work but allows the myriad of fleeting solos (“Show Biz Kids”) to pop out of the soundstage.
“My Old School” features four backup singers and four saxes (in unison). They are a little more forward in the mix than usually heard. It gives the sound some extra impetus. Doobie Brothers member and latter-day missile defence specialist Jeff “Skunk” Baxter sounds exceptional as usual, again, nicely forward in the mix.
If you have a Japanese pressing or a clean ABC original, you’re good to go. The quality is there. Are they as good as BG’s cut? Nope. This is special and is good as you’re ever likely to hear. As such, if you are a Steely Dan person and want the best, you’ll be plonking down your $150 for this gem of a 45 RPM.
Aja is next for release. But with my superb Kevin Gray Cisco Music 30th Anniversary All-Analog HQ-180 LP cut upwards of $600 on Discogs, I won’t be preordering. Then, on to the infamous DBX disaster, Katy Lied. I’m wondering if the magical touch of Mr. Grundman will be enough to save that little doggie?
