Description
The Royal Scam — Steely Dan's platinum-selling fifth studio album now on UHQR!
Definitive reissue Ultra High Quality Record, the pinnacle of high-quality vinyl!
45 RPM LP release limited to 20,000 numbered copies
Mastered directly from the original master tape by Bernie Grundman
Pressed at Quality Record Pressings using 200-gram Clarity Vinyl®
Steely Dan's platinum-selling fifth studio album The Royal Scam, was produced by Gary Katz and was originally released by ABC Records in 1976. The Royal Scam features more prominent guitar work than the prior Steely Dan album, Katy Lied, which had been the first without founding guitarist Jeff Baxter. Guitarists on the recording include Walter Becker, Denny Dias, Larry Carlton, Elliott Randall and Dean Parks.
The Royal Scam was certified platinum-selling and peaked at No. 15 on the Billboard 200. The album is known for its intricate arrangements, sophisticated musicianship, and cynical lyrics, and is considered one of the band's most musically adventurous works.
The album features a diverse range of musical styles, from the funky and up-tempo "Kid Charlemagne" to the Latin-influenced "The Caves of Altamira" and the jazzy "Don't Take Me Alive." The lyrics explore themes of deception, corruption, and disillusionment, with characters that are often morally ambiguous or outright villainous.
In common with other Steely Dan albums, The Royal Scam is littered with cryptic allusions to people and events both real and fictional. In a BBC interview in 2000, Becker and Fagen revealed that "Kid Charlemagne" is loosely based on Owsley Stanley, the notorious drug "chef" who was famous for manufacturing hallucinogenic compounds, and that "Caves of Altamira," based on a book by Hans Baumann, is about the loss of innocence, the narrative about a visitor to the Cave of Altamira who registers his astonishment at the prehistoric drawings.
Musically, the album is notable for its use of complex harmonies and intricate instrumental arrangements, with the band utilizing a wide range of instruments including guitars, keyboards, horns, and percussion. The production is polished and professional, with a clean and precise sound that emphasizes the band's technical proficiency.
Rolling Stone, in its review of the album, described The Royal Scam, as Steely Dan's "mostatypical record, possessing neither obvious AM material nor seductive lyrical mysteriousness. It also contains some of their most accomplished and enjoyable music.
