10 Legendary Rock Bands With Sophomore Slump Albums

In the wake of Can't Buy a Thrill, it was still up in the air as to what Steely Dan was even supposed to be. Though they did play live shows and tour like a traditional rock band, Donald Fagen and Walter Becker were never content to make the same style over and over, with most of the band members revolving throughout the years. Before they found their sweet spot though, Countdown to Ecstasy is the world's greatest dad rock band going through some growing pains.

It's not like they had lost their chops or anything though. From the start of the album, the musicians on here can play their asses off, incorporating bits and pieces of jazz and other non rock and roll elements and creating some great songs out of it like My Old School and Bodhisattva. Since this was made after coming off the road though, some of these songs feel half baked, as if Fagen and Baker had the right idea but not the resources to actually make what they heard in their head.

Compared to the yacht rock classics they would make later down the line, this just feels like the band trying on a bunch of different styles and seeing what fits their sound. Some of them end up sticking, but you can definitely hear the clashing a little bit more this time around.