Buckingham recorded his guitar parts on a Fender Telecaster with fuzz and a variable speed oscillator (VSO).

During the mixing process, producer Tom Lord-Alge attempted to thicken the sound of the guitar, although Buckingham convinced him to abandon the idea, insisting that the instrument should "sting like a bee.

"[4] Mike DeGagne of AllMusic commented that "Countdown" possesses the "pop-catchy appeal of past hits like "Trouble" and "Go Insane" at one level, yet it maintains an enriched, dynamic feel, as if Buckingham has progressed and bettered himself as a solo artist.

"Countdown" is an excellent delegate to the kind of music Buckingham is capable of, and it contains a lot of the same constituents that made him such an integral part of the second wave of Fleetwood Mac.

"[5] Jean Rosenbluth of the Los Angeles Times wrote that it was "hard not to be swayed by the singer’s practically palpable optimism" on "Countdown".