Quad LP/Tape Poll Steely Dan: Countdown To Ecstacy [QS/Q8]

QuadraphonicQuad

Help Support QuadraphonicQuad:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Rate "Countdown To Ecstacy


  • Total voters
    22

EMB

2K Club - QQ Super Nova
Since 2002/2003
Joined
Feb 8, 2004
Messages
4,101
Location
The Top 40 Radio of My Mind
Their second, from '73. Command CQD-40010.

Side 1:

1. Bodishattva
2. Razor Boy
3. The Boston Rag
4. Your Gold Teeth

Side 2:

1. Show Biz Kids
2. My Old School
3. Pearl Of The Quarter
4. King Of The World


ED :)
 
Somebody needs to comment on this one, so what the heck...

It would be hard for me to pick a favorite Dan album, but this one is definitely a contender, with "Bodhisattva", "Your Gold Teeth", "Show Biz Kids", and "My Old School" all classics -- the last an FM staple, and the first a tune that pops up everywhere (trust me, you've heard it). Come to think of it, I'm attached to every song on this one.

I don't have the quad "Can't Buy a Thrill" yet, but to me this is a lot more aggressive than "Pretzel Logic" -- the "Show Biz" back up vocals in the rears, and the guitar bits in "Old School" jumping to the right rear, for example. "Bodhisattva" is more cymbals and chimes (or whatever they are) in the surrounds, a nice effect.

To me, this is a 10, and it's going to be spinning a lot once I get through listening to this stack of acquisitions!!

Mark Z

QS LP in PLIIx -- anybody wanna donate a variomatrix?? :D
 
Last edited:
It's a great steely dan lp..sadly the quad lp has inferior sound quality to the stereo lp..(as distinct from the Jim Croce ABC quad QS lp's which generally sound much better than the stereo versions)....

That said there are some good quad effects on this release..and the Q8 is ok...I give it an 8
 
A great album. Unfortunately, there are some flaws with the quad release. To start with, the sound quality is far inferior to the stereo release, which is quite frustrating. Also, King of the World, my favorite song off this one, is a huge letdown. The vocals are covered in reverb, which just doesn't sound right, the effect on the vocal in the middle section is completely missing, and the synth part at the end stops early, and it just in general isn't as good a mix as the stereo. I do enjoy the quad mix on the rest of the album. I have to take points off for the lack of sound quality and the bad mix on king of the world, so it gets a 7.
 
I voted a 8 on this one, but I have to say it could be a lot better mix in quad. Show Biz Kids has the final harmonica solo too loud sometimes I think it could blown my speakers...:mad: and guitar solos in My Old School are like ghosts in the mix, you can hear it only if you remember there is one actually!:howl
I can't figure out why they mess with this great title...:confused:
 
Quad mix is far from bad, but could be better. The music could not be better if they tried. I've owned the QS, Q8, 2ch LP, CD and Citizen Steely Dan box. I prefer Can't Buy a Thrill, but this is nearly as good and more closely points the way for all that comes after. Some great guitar work by Denny Dias and Skunk Baxter. Nice vibes from Victor Feldman on Razor Boy, one of my all time fave Dan tunes. Great horns and lyrics on My Old School.

Sounds best while smoking cobalt cigarettes!!
 
Quad mix is far from bad, but could be better. The music could not be better if they tried. I've owned the QS, Q8, 2ch LP, CD and Citizen Steely Dan box. I prefer Can't Buy a Thrill, but this is nearly as good and more closely points the way for all that comes after. Some great guitar work by Denny Dias and Skunk Baxter. Nice vibes from Victor Feldman on Razor Boy, one of my all time fave Dan tunes. Great horns and lyrics on My Old School.

Sounds best while smoking cobalt cigarettes!!

apologies in advance for going off on a slight tangent.. but still, it is regarding "Countdown to Ecstacy".. do you have the original MCA CD or the 1999 remaster?

I've both, including a "Mastered by Nimbus" UK original CD pressing that the SH guys love of any of the SD classic CDs.. but I always feel that sonically this album isn't in quite the same super-impeccable-sound-league as most of their other albums.

is the original "Countdown" stereo LP similarly not quite as wonderful as the rest of the SD catalogue? *

*(Katy Lieds' weird so-called noise reduction issues from the original recording process notwithstanding.. I don't even know what people are on about on that score, KL sounds terrific to my ears! Ho hum..!)
 
I had the original Countdown CD, but ditched it when I got the Citizen box, which has every SD album in its' entirity. The original LP had some distortion in spots, but was pretty clean overall. Despite anomalies in the mix, I think the QS Countdown is the one.

Katy Lied, on the otherhand was pretty crappy to begin with. It was one of Mofi's first 1/2 speed mastered releases. That did wonders to clean it up. Later CD issues, including Citizen sound pretty good.

Avoid the Japanese SHM SACD of Aja like the plague. It sounds lousy. I've had the US LP, Canada LP, Japan CD, Mofi 1/2 speed LP, Mofi Gold CD, Japan SHM SACD and Citizen CD box.

apologies in advance for going off on a slight tangent.. but still, it is regarding "Countdown to Ecstacy".. do you have the original MCA CD or the 1999 remaster?

I've both, including a "Mastered by Nimbus" UK original CD pressing that the SH guys love of any of the SD classic CDs.. but I always feel that sonically this album isn't in quite the same super-impeccable-sound-league as most of their other albums.

is the original "Countdown" stereo LP similarly not quite as wonderful as the rest of the SD catalogue? *

*(Katy Lieds' weird so-called noise reduction issues from the original recording process notwithstanding.. I don't even know what people are on about on that score, KL sounds terrific to my ears! Ho hum..!)
 
I had the original Countdown CD, but ditched it when I got the Citizen box, which has every SD album in its' entirity. The original LP had some distortion in spots, but was pretty clean overall. Despite anomalies in the mix, I think the QS Countdown is the one.

Katy Lied, on the otherhand was pretty crappy to begin with. It was one of Mofi's first 1/2 speed mastered releases. That did wonders to clean it up. Later CD issues, including Citizen sound pretty good.

Avoid the Japanese SHM SACD of Aja like the plague. It sounds lousy. I've had the US LP, Canada LP, Japan CD, Mofi 1/2 speed LP, Mofi Gold CD, Japan SHM SACD and Citizen CD box.

Ah thats very interesting you got rid of them all when you got the Citizen Sd Box! I know it is quite highly regarded by some but most of the SH guys don't rate it and reckon the box has a unique mastering with lots of no-noising and compression on it.

I've never heard an original LP of Katy Lied but i managed to find SH's mastered Katy Lied MCA CD and it is wonderful! The '99 remaster is also pretty nice though, so it just a ll seemed like a fuss over nothing but I completely take your word for it if the LP back in the day was poor, that's good enough for me!

I'd heard the SHM-SACD Aja wasn't up to much. Whats your go-to version of Aja now? Or did you get rid of all your other copies when you ditched your other SD and bought the box?

I've already got the bog-standard Aja remaster which I quite like and Roger Nichols' original digital transfer on MCA cd from the mid 80's and that sounds lovely to me! I can't hide my disappointment at the no-show M/C SACD Aja though.. oh how I wish they'd find those master tapes and get that one out in 5.1..!!
 
The Citizen box sounds better than the Mofi Gold CD of Aja, so I'll stick with either that or the 1/2 speed Mofi LP as the best.

Ah thats very interesting you got rid of them all when you got the Citizen Sd Box! I know it is quite highly regarded by some but most of the SH guys don't rate it and reckon the box has a unique mastering with lots of no-noising and compression on it.

I've never heard an original LP of Katy Lied but i managed to find SH's mastered Katy Lied MCA CD and it is wonderful! The '99 remaster is also pretty nice though, so it just a ll seemed like a fuss over nothing but I completely take your word for it if the LP back in the day was poor, that's good enough for me!

I'd heard the SHM-SACD Aja wasn't up to much. Whats your go-to version of Aja now? Or did you get rid of all your other copies when you ditched your other SD and bought the box?

I've already got the bog-standard Aja remaster which I quite like and Roger Nichols' original digital transfer on MCA cd from the mid 80's and that sounds lovely to me! I can't hide my disappointment at the no-show M/C SACD Aja though.. oh how I wish they'd find those master tapes and get that one out in 5.1..!!
 
I voted a 8 on this one, but I have to say it could be a lot better mix in quad. Show Biz Kids has the final harmonica solo too loud sometimes I think it could blown my speakers...:mad: and guitar solos in My Old School are like ghosts in the mix, you can hear it only if you remember there is one actually!:howl
I can't figure out why they mess with this great title...:confused:

Just received today. Disappointed. Stereo version IS better. This QS has no SQ (sound quality). My old school in particular is flat and lifeless and agree with Lucana totally about the guitar solo. For me it ruined my favorite part of the song. And, is everything cut off after about 12K? Maybe my album is worn out, but it looks good and is pretty quiet. Really dead on the top. A generous 7.
 
An echoy smeared mess of a mix on LP. I never heard the Q8.

Slightly improved separation, but the mix was always the problem here, as it was with the other Steely's and Jim Croce quads. Which makes one pine all the more for the remixes that were never released.

ED :)
 
I love their music on this, especially "Show Biz Kids" and "My Old School". Such sarcastic and biting lyrics and the guitar solo in the outro to "My Old School" is, in my opinion, the best of any SD song.

Unfortunately, the sound quality and mix are pretty mediocre. Also, I have to return my copy to the seller as there are tiny striations radiating from the center to the edge of the record all the way around which causes atrocious surface noise. It was a plastic flow problem at pressing. I have seen this on one other CD-4 record. Has anybody else? 7

Doug
 
OK the mix is a little too muddy and conservative, compared to Can't Buy a Thrill, which I think is their most discrete, but this is my favorite of their albums. The quad era managed to capture many artists at their peak, and SD is one of them. I never cared for much they did after this, including Aja, which I know is heretical to SD fans. Their quad albums songs are so perfect to my ears. Now. About the sound quality. Why oh why did ABC roll off their QS releases? Almost (but not quite) all of them sound like they were recorded in the closet. This one is no exception. So I am torn. I give the material a 10, the mix an 8 and the sound a 6.Averages to an 8, I guess.
 
Interesting read thanks, humprof.
I have that Pynchon novel on bluray ,well actually the movie .

Noteworthy that they have a tune from the QS Quad broadcast of Southland.
 
Back
Top