Like Steely Dan's 1972 debut album Can't Buy a Thrill, Countdown to Ecstasy has a rock sound that exhibits a strong influence from jazz.

[8] It comprises uptempo, four- to five-minute rock songs,[9] which, apart from the bluesy vamps of "Bodhisattva" and "Show Biz Kids", are subtly textured and feature jazz-inspired interludes.

[10] Commenting on the album's style and production, music critic Tom Hull said it is "clean, almost slick", with "no dissonance, no clutter", reminiscent of 1940s bop and "the overproduced early 60s pop rock".

[15] "Your Gold Teeth" follows a jaded female grifter who uses her attractiveness and cunning to take advantage of others,[16] "My Old School" was inspired by a drug bust involving Walter Becker and Donald Fagen while they were students at Bard College,[13] "King of the World" explores a post-nuclear holocaust United States, and "Show Biz Kids" satirizes contemporary Los Angeles lifestyles.

He views it as the first in a trilogy of Steely Dan albums that, along with Pretzel Logic (1974) and Katy Lied (1975), showcase "a film noir tour of L.A.'s decadent losers, showbiz kids, and razor boys.

Club called the album a "dossier of literate lowlifes, the type of character studies that say, 'Why yes, the name Steely Dan is an allusion to a dildo described in Naked Lunch.'

[21] According to Ivan Kreilkamp of Spin, in the song "Steely Dan speaks to us from that 'cold and windy day' when the trappings of hipness and sexiness fall away to reveal a lonely figure waiting for a fix.

[7] Nonetheless, it spent 34 weeks on the chart[24] and was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 1978, recognizing the shipment of 500,000 copies in the U.S.[25] Reviewing the album in August 1973 for Rolling Stone, David Logan said that, while it might follow a "formula", the songs do not become "redundant or superfluous", and that, though the band's "playing is hardly unique and their singing is occasionally hampered by patently ridiculous lyrics, they exhibit a control of the basic rock format that is refreshing and that bodes well for the group's long-term success.

[14] Stereo Review called it a "really excellent album" with "witty and tasteful" arrangements, "winning" performances, "high quality" songs, and a "potent and persuasive" mix of rock, jazz, and pop styles.

[17] In Creem, Robert Christgau made reference to "studio-perfect licks that crackle and buzz when you listen hard" and "invariably malicious" vocals that back the group's obscure lyrics,[34] and he named Countdown to Ecstasy the ninth best album of 1973 in his year-end list for Newsday.