Steely Dan
The Royal Scam

THE REVIEW

Who knows if on the thirtieth anniversary of this album (which is celebrated in the coming months), there will be some deluxe edition on CD. For the enthusiasts of the duo in question, more than likely, more than listening to four versions of the same piece or playing with some piano-voice demos, they would be delighted to recover the splendid track "Here At The Western World," recorded during the same recording sessions of the album itself, but then excluded from the tracklist because its authors did not consider it in line with the rest of the material (so far it has only been available on an anthology). Hoping that this will happen for real, one can approach the original work without reservations, a sound collection composed of some truly shining pearls.

On the characteristics of Steely Dan's music, other reviewers have already written excellently: from my side, I can humbly add that in their productions, easy-listening has truly been elevated to an art form. Through an almost perfect recording technique and an instrumental base provided by some of the best session men around at the time, Walter Becker and Donald Fagen created absolutely irresistible songs that captivate from the very first listen and draw from the sources of many genres that have flowed into the great sea of American popular music from the post-war period to today. Here, there are many examples: from the sinuous and arabesque funky of the famous "The Fez" to the tense and electric one of the splendid "Green Earrings," from the refined pop-rock of the beautiful "Don't Take Me Alive" to the kind of dark and nocturnal blues of the enchanting title track. And here and there, reggae also makes an appearance: openly in the very graceful "Haitian Divorce" and more subtly in the insinuating "Sign In Stranger," masterfully supported by Fagen's piano, who also sings superbly on all nine tracks of "The Royal Scam."

An album that can accompany long car journeys as well as serve as a background for thoughtful and meditative evenings. A characteristic of Great Music, which for more than thirty years now, has been the faithful life companion of Steely Dan.