Pretzel Logic was praised by contemporary critics.
Critical reception Retrospective professional reviews Review scores On September 7, 1993, Pretzel Logic was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), having shipped one million copies in the United States. After the disappointing performance of Countdown to Ecstasy, the album restored their radio presence with the single "Rikki Don't Lose That Number", which became the biggest pop hit of their career and peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100. It charted at number eight on the Billboard 200 and became Steely Dan's third gold-certified album. Pretzel Logic was released by ABC Records on February 20, 1974, to high sales. "Charlie Freak" recounts the tale of a vagrant drug-addict who sells his only possession, a gold ring, to the narrator, to buy the final fix that kills him. Music critic Robert Christgau wrote that the solos are "functional rather than personal or expressive, locked into the workings of the music".
Certain songs incorporate additional instrumentation, including exotic percussion, violin sections, bells, and horns. Louis Toodle-oo", he imitates a muted horn solo. Parker's band." Baxter's guitar playing drew on jazz and rock and roll influences. "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" appropriates the bass pattern from Horace Silver's 1965 song " Song for My Father", while "Parker's Band" features Charlie Parker–influenced riffs and a lyric that invites listeners to "take a piece of Mr. Steely Dan often incorporated jazz into their music during the 1970s. The syncopated piano line that opens " Rikki Don't Lose That Number" develops into a pop melody, and the title track transitions from a blues song to a jazzy chorus. It also relies often on straightforward pop influences. The album's music is characterized by harmonies, counter-melodies, and bop phrasing. Steely Dan considered it the band's attempt at complete musical statements within the three-minute pop-song format. Pretzel Logic has shorter songs and fewer instrumental jams than the group's 1973 album Countdown to Ecstasy. She shot the photo on the west side of Fifth Avenue and 79th Street, just above the 79th Street Transverse (the road through Central Park), at the park entrance called "Miners' Gate". The cover photo featuring a New York pretzel vendor was taken by Raeanne Rubenstein, a photographer of musicians and Hollywood celebrities.
Steely Dan's Jeff "Skunk" Baxter played pedal steel guitar and hand drums. They enlisted prominent Los Angeles-based studio musicians to record Pretzel Logic, but used them only for occasional overdubs, except for drums, where founding drummer Jim Hodder was reduced to a backing singer, replaced by Jim Gordon and Jeff Porcaro on the drum kit for all of the songs on the album.
The album marked the beginning of Becker and Fagen's roles as Steely Dan's principal members. It was produced by Gary Katz and written primarily by Walter Becker and bandleader Donald Fagen, who also sang and played keyboard. Pretzel Logic was recorded at The Village Recorder in West Los Angeles. Pretzel Logic was reissued on CD in 1987 and remastered in 1999 to retrospective critical acclaim. Its hit single " Rikki Don't Lose That Number" helped restore Steely Dan's radio presence after the disappointing performance of their 1973 album Countdown to Ecstasy. The album was a commercial and critical success.
It was the final album to feature the full quintet lineup of Becker, Fagen, Denny Dias, Jim Hodder, and Jeff "Skunk" Baxter (who left to join The Doobie Brothers) and also featured significant contributions from many prominent Los Angeles-based studio musicians and the last to be made and released while Steely Dan was still an active touring band. It was written by principal band members Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, and recorded at The Village Recorder in West Los Angeles with producer Gary Katz. Pretzel Logic is the third studio album by American rock band Steely Dan, released on February 20, 1974, by ABC Records.