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The Royal Scam
 
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The Royal Scam

~ Steely Dan (Artist)
4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
Price: £6.18 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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The Royal Scam + Katy Lied + Can't Buy A Thrill
Price For All Three: £17.14

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Product details

  • Audio CD (24 April 2000)
  • Number of Discs: 1
  • Label: Universal / Island
  • ASIN: B0000259EY
  • Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 5,881 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Songs from this album are available to purchase as MP3s. Click on "Buy MP3" or view the MP3 Album.

Extraits
Song Title Time Price
Listen  1. Kid Charlemagne 4:38£0.59
Listen  2. The Caves Of Altamira 3:33£0.69
Listen  3. Don't Take Me Alive 4:15£0.69
Listen  4. Sign In Stranger 4:23£0.69
Listen  5. The Fez 4:01£0.69
Listen  6. Green Earrings 4:05£0.69
Listen  7. Haitian Divorce 5:51£0.69
Listen  8. Everything You Did 3:55£0.59
Listen  9. The Royal Scam 6:31£0.69


Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review
Ever the primary conceit of mainstays Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, 1976's The Royal Scam marks the first time the Steely Dan duo actually owned up to the fact. Musically, it's their edgiest, most guitar-driven record (thanks to Becker and a murderer's row of session greats that includes Larry Carlton, Elliot Randall, Dean Parks, and Denny Dias). Lyrically, the songs cut an ever-sardonic, presciently discomforting slice of modern life that was a couple decades ahead of the game (who else was extolling the virtues of condom-couture, à la "The Fez", mid-Me Decade?). Though it didn't garner the radio attention of Aja, its more jazz-suffused, multi-platinum follow-up, Scam boasts a diverse, occasionally muscular musical rhetoric and some of the Dan's most telling portraits (the deranged, yet all-too-familiar killer of "Don't Take Me Alive", "Kid Charlemagne"'s drug-culture celebrity, the tropical convenience of a "Haitian Divorce"). Small wonder many Dan fans consider it their best. --Jerry McCulley

CD Description
It was the year of America's bicentennial celebration, but on 1976's THE ROYAL SCAM, Steely Dan masterminds Fagen and Becker did not share in the exultant spirit of the times. Thetitle track--a vision of fallen America from the point of view of immigrants--has a mock-celebratory chorus: "See the glory of the Royal Scam", which typifies SCAM's heartfelt cynicism. In their next two releases (their last), Steely Dan'ssound would smoothen and incorporate less rock. This is perhaps their darkest record, and for a band known for its archmixture of L.A. cool and ennui, that's saying something.
Guitar heroes were roundly worshipped in the '70s, and two of the record's standout tracks, "Kid Charlemagne" and "Don't Take Me Alive", feature incendiary axe work by Larry Carlton. Interestingly, both glorify outsiders: The former tells the story of legendary drug chemist Owsley Stanley, and the latter is a first-person account of a murderer on the lam. Other highlights: the crisp "Green Earrings" the lounge-chairfunk of "Haitian Divorce" and the inscrutable "Fez", whose principal lyric is "I'm never gonna do it without the fez on/don't make me do it without the fez on".

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Customer Reviews

13 Reviews
5 star:
 (12)
4 star:    (0)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.8 out of 5 stars (13 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Essential, 31 Jan 2006
By Chuck E (UK) - See all my reviews
  
To the uninitiated comments about Becker and Fagen’s attention to detail and the demonstration quality of their sound might imply some absence of passion, but their perfectionism is never to the detriment of the soul of the music (at least, up to Aja). The most notable feature of their approach is the way they are able to mould a disparate band of session players into a bona fide band – irrespective of the changes in personnel or the meticulous re-recording involved.

Many see Countdown to Ecstasy or Aja as the Dan’s twin peaks, but I would have to add this as the mid-panel of a triptych of stunning musical masterpieces. Veering more towards West Coast rock, the songs run the gamut of subject matter from LSD merchants, through double-dealing desperadoes, to marital bust-ups and racial tensions, encompassing a range of idioms, but from the opening bars of Kid Charlemagne to the close of the majestic Royal Scam, there is a unity and pulse that binds them all together into one kaleidoscopic vision of America.

As with all Dan’s albums, there is so much going on, lyrically and musically, so many outstanding contributions (even if just a few bars) that these songs stand the kind of repeated listening that few other artist’s material could bear. Well, I’ve been listening to these songs for nearly thirty years and they still sound as fresh as they did in 1977. The guitar parts alone are just as riveting – a masterclass in how to play coruscating breaks without hogging the limelight!

If you only buy three Dan albums, this HAS to be one – but you really NEED all from Can’t Buy a Thrill to Aja.

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Top Notch Dan, 15 May 2006
By S J Buck (Kent, UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This was the first Steely Dan album I ever heard/bought (many decades ago), and although Aja is now my favourite (just) this remains the one I return to the most.
There are many great moments but the high point for me is the wonderful guitar solo, played by Larry Carlton, at the end of Kid Charlemagne.
Kid Charlemagne is typical of the whole album, which is full of fantastic grooves typified by The Fez and Green Earrings. However these grooves are actually played by musicians rather than machines (as is the tendency these days).
I'm not great on lyrics, but even I can spot some of the humour in these songs.
So to sum up, quality song-writing, top quality musicians and great production means an essential purchase for either the Steely Dan fan who has somehow missed this album, or if you're of a younger generation and want to try something different.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing album that still sounds current., 31 Aug 2001
This is probably the best album recorded by the band. The coupling of Chuck Rainey on Bass and Bernard Purdie on Drums is without doubt the perfect rythmn section. For example, sit back and marvel at the way these two lift the middle section of "Green Earrings".. pure bliss..!. Every song is perfect with a twist around each corner and the whole album is beautifully drawn to a close by the superb title track. An absolute classic that desrves a place in every collection. Enjoy.
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Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Dan's greatest?
The consistancy of the Becker/Fagan output never ceases to amaze me. It's difficult to choose a favourite from the first six offerings, however it just all came together on this... Read more
Published 7 months ago by R. Hudson

5.0 out of 5 stars Yet Another Classic
For some reason when I first heard this album (and I've been a Dan fan for a long long time) it didn't really grip me, but as these things tend to do once I bought a new copy on... Read more
Published 11 months ago by F. Boddy

5.0 out of 5 stars Never gonna do it without the fez on
That line from The Fez has always struck me as wonderfully cool. As a piece of music its pretty infectious too. Read more
Published 16 months ago by D. J. H. Thorn

3.0 out of 5 stars Worth it for "Kid Charlemagne" and "Haitian Divorce"....
Rating: 6.5/10

Best tracks: "Haitian Divorce", "Kid Charlemagne", "Don't Take Me Alive", "Everything You Did". Read more
Published 18 months ago by New Gold Dreamer

5.0 out of 5 stars Re-discovery
Many years ago I owned this album on vinyl. I was a Dan fan, but The Royal Scam wasn't my favourite. Last Christmas a friend gave me it as a present. Read more
Published on 4 Mar 2007 by Wah Wah Banjo

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply brilliant
This album is nothing short of pure brilliance. The songs, muscianship, melody, production are all faultless. Read more
Published on 27 Jan 2004 by R. Harris

5.0 out of 5 stars In my top 5 of all time.
As with some of the other reviewers of this album, I was first hooked by Haitian Divorce. I bought the vinyl, and began my love affaire with the Dan. Read more
Published on 6 Jan 2004 by Mr. P. F. Whistlecroft

5.0 out of 5 stars A "Masterwork" from the 70's...
In the last part of 1976 I heard on the radio a song called "Haitian Divorce", the sound that attracted me to the track was the use of a vocal/guitar effect that "Peter Frampton"... Read more
Published on 18 Dec 2003 by Milt Ingarfield

5.0 out of 5 stars My Favourite album
I first heard this in a bar in Sheffield back in the mid to late 70's - and began a love affair thats never faded with Steely Dan. Read more
Published on 4 Jul 2001 by snhague@aol.com

5.0 out of 5 stars A Masterful Work of Brilliance. Superbly Entertaining.
As an avid Dan Fan, I have all their albums, even when they were only available on vinyl(showing my age, I know).. Read more
Published on 26 Jan 2001

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The Royal Scam
69% buy the item featured on this page:
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