Sunday Spins: Steely Dan, 'The Royal Scam'

Happy Spring Forward Sunday! As we look forward to more sunlight in the evening hours, another week is in the books. It's hard to believe we are headed toward the middle of March.

For this week's Sunday Spin vinyl review, a look at Steely Dan's The Royal Scam. I found my original 1976 pressing at my beloved antique store for $6. What a steal! The cover has edge wear, but I am not concerned about that - I only care if the album plays clear and mine does! The Royal Scam is a brilliant effort by the "Dan" and ranks right up there are one of my favorites from the band. Well, one of my favorite albums, period. Songs like "Kid Charlemagne" and "The Caves Of Altamira" are very special to me. "Sign In Stranger" is in my top 5 Steely songs and "Don't Take Me Alive" has one of the best guitar solos ever recorded. Larry Carlton was pure genius here! Thanks to Larry's work, The Royal Scam has the most guitar-forward songs of any Steely Dan release. Probably another reason why I love it so much.

The thing about Walter Becker and Donald Fagen is that they were studio perfectionists. They were absolutely obsessed with creating songs with perfect sound. This means any good quality vinyl of Steely Dan is going to sound great, whether an expensive audiophile remaster or just a fun bargain find like my copy of The Royal Scam.

But back to the songs here. Seriously, if you don't own a copy of The Royal Scam on some format, please rectify that immediately. The guitar work and horn sections are just impeccable. The groove on songs like "The Fez" will have you tapping your foot, I swear. Then there's the amazing "Haitian Divorce," largely regarded as one of the finest efforts by the band.

Most critics regard Aja as Steely Dan's most important album, but I would argue The Royal Scam shows an elevated songwriting ability and slickness that proved that Aja was even possible.

The Royal Scam is one of my most-played albums of all-time, and I don't just mean on vinyl format. I know I've listened to Aja more, but I think The Royal Scam will surpass it at some point. The songs are just that good. They never get old to me.