A great, complex, multi-layered album. Not a bad cut throughout.

From start to finish, this album is absolutely fantastic. My second favorite Steely Dan album after Aja.

Another killer record from Steely Dan.

Along with, aja, countdown to ecstasy, is my favourite Steely Dan album. The follow up to debut, can't buy me a thrill, the band quite rightly dispensed with the services of David Palmer. He's a good vocalist but he doesn't have that cynical sneer that Donald Fagen has. As for the songs, every one is a stunner. Bodhisatta, kicks off the LP, and the album never lets up. Razor boy, my old school, and, the Boston rag, are all excellent, but best is the ironic, showbiz kids. It's a brilliant song, probably my favourite Steely Dan song of all time. Countdown to ecstasy, is another quirky masterpiece from one of the best bands of the seventies.

My second favorite Steely Dan album. On the heels of Can't Buy A Thrill comes this glimpse of what would come. It's rougher around the edges than the Aja/Gaucho material, but the framework is here: set up a good song structure, give it a cynical east coast flair, and then give it a west coast polish. "Razor Boy" and "King of the World" stand out for me.

Their second album, when the Dan were still an actual group. Maybe the hardest rocking offering in their catalogue and also the least heard.

Those who have only ever listened to Aja might be shocked by this album. It is sophisticated, brilliantly played but it rocks. Show biz kids and particularly Bodishitva really rock along and our great. Throw in the wonderfully creepy Razor Boy and the base of a great album is there

"Countdown to Ecstasy" was the follow-up to Steely Dan's very successful debut album "Can't Buy a Thrill."

The album was partially recorded during rapid studio sessions between live performances and the group was initially not fully satisfied with all of the performances on the record.

The album contains the two singles "Show Biz Kids" and the "My Old School", which both made it close to number 60 in the charts. Especially "My Old School" is an unforgettable classic, which still appears on the group's live sets. So does the fast blues / rocker "Bodhisattva", which despite some energetic guitar has never been among my favorites - the melody is simply too monotonous

In contrast, the album contains one of my alltime biggest Steely Dan favorites, namely the beautiful melodic ballad "Pearl of the Quarter".

A little in the same vein are "The Razor Boy" and "Boston Rag", both songs that help making this album an undeniable classic.

The long funky and slightly monotonous "Your Gold Teeth" have some great improvisational piano and guitar, and its a number that is likely to grow on you.

The final number is "King of the World" sounds a bit like an outtake from the first album - a slight funky disco style - but a nice track, too.

This is my favourite Steely Dan album. Yes, I like it more than Aja. Is that so wrong? Your Gold Teeth, Bodhisattva, and Boston Rag among others are just great.

It infuriates me that this album by Steely Dan, who pretty much invented the annoyance that is adult contemporary, is so damn likeable. I think I've always had a ciopy of this somewhere in some form. Can't help coming back to songs like "Show Biz Kids" and "My Old School".