The Royal Scam (studio album) by Steely Dan

The Royal Scam by Steely Dan
Year: 1976
Overall rank: 920th   Overall chart historyOverall chart history
Average Rating: 
81/100 (from 359 votes)
  Ratings distributionRatings distribution   Average rating historyAverage rating history
Accolades:
Award Top 20 albums of 1976 (15th)
Award Top albums of the 1970s (195th)
Award Top 1,000 albums of all time (920th)
Product Details
Availability

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eBay
Steely Dan The Royal Scam ABC 1976 US Press Complete W/Original Sleeve! Nice
Condition: Used


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eBay
Steely Dan - The Royal Scam (booklet)
Condition: Very Good


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Steely Dan - THE ROYAL SCAM - ABC MP-6.040 (1977 IMPORT LP - Portugal) VG+
Condition: Used


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Steely Dan bestography

The Royal Scam is ranked 6th best out of 21 albums by Steely Dan on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by Steely Dan is Aja which is ranked number 161 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 9,362.

Steely Dan album bestography « Higher ranked (883rd) This album (920th) Lower ranked (1,341st) »
Pretzel LogicThe Royal ScamKaty Lied

Upcoming concerts

Nov
30
Tue
00:00
Steely Dan Tribute by Pretzel Logic
The Canyon -Montclair, Montclair, United States. United States
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Jul
07
Mon
20:00
Gyedu-Blay Ambolley + Dan Steely
The Pyramid Scheme, Grand Rapids, United States. United States
Tickets from Ticketmaster Get tickets
 
Aug
06
Wed
20:00
Steely Dead
Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, United States. United States
Tickets from Ticketmaster Get tickets
 
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The Royal Scam track list

  Track ratingsTrack ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 84 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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5.
Rating: 83 (93 votes)Comments: 1
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6.
Rating: 83 (92 votes)Comments: 1
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9.
Rating: 83 (89 votes)Comments: 0
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Track pick Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.

The Royal Scam rankings

The Royal Scam collection

The Royal Scam ratings

Average Rating: 
81/100 (from 359 votes)
  Ratings distributionRatings distribution Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 359 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
80/100
 Report rating
40 hours ago traistboar  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 1,12780/100
 
90/100
 Report rating
06/13/2025 19:20 imimesis  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 1,92881/100
 
60/100
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06/09/2025 18:15 Invader666  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 2,62765/100
 
70/100
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06/06/2025 07:29 Juneof44  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 2,50469/100
 
90/100
 Report rating
06/05/2025 04:42 AAL2014  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 3,08975/100

Rating metrics: Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album is rated in the top 1% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 81.0/100, a mean average of 80.2/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 81.2/100. The standard deviation for this album is 14.0.

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The Royal Scam comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 24 comments |
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Rating:  
100/100
From 03/14/2023 05:07
American banks are Scam? ? I didn’t know that.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 11/07/2022 19:45
Damn, great tracks from 1 to 7 then slacks off on the last two (not bad though). The production is maybe a bit too... "clean" for me? Anyway, great record for sure.

A-
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 04/24/2022 22:15
Another very chill and relaxing SD album but it does fall a little short of their better albums for me. This record is front heavy with the 2 massive songs coming right at the start with Kid Charlemagne and The Caves Of Altamira. Both have fantastic instrumental performances on and I love the guitar solos that really give these songs an edge. The album then remains consistent in its style but the quality does drop a little. Every song contributes to the record though and altogether they build this fantastic environment for the listener to enjoy. After the slight dip you then get Haitian Divorce which is brilliant and it acts as a peak that keeps me entertained during the slower part. Overall, this album is very good and has moments of excellence but can't keep that up on this record unlike some of their other work.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 04/14/2022 13:18
One of my favorite bands, albeit for many SD is too clean, but not for me. I do appreciate good production, great sonics, and musicianship.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 01/09/2022 06:51
For me, their second best, after the epic Aja. Countdown to Ecstasy also ranks way up there. Oh, and Gaucho. OK, I love SD.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 01/04/2022 16:53
Fine 70s chill album with great opener. The sound is nice on ears, vocals are really good.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 02/18/2021 17:29
Probably their least spotty record, not a bad song on here.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 10/22/2020 11:10
This is my all time fav Steely Dan album. I have the original release of this one from the 70s where the album sleeve has no barcode on the back. Plays perfect. Haitian Divorce is at the top, then Caves of Altimira.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 09/24/2020 23:28
this is my favorite SD album. Has a quirkier, rockies vibe that I like better than the jazzy albums. Can't Buy a Thrill is 2nd favorite folloeed by Aja and Katy Lied. Pretzel Logic is in 5th place.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 06/02/2019 14:53
I want to say that it's better than Aja but it was such a long time since I listened to that record so I would have to give it another shot before making a determination. But. I do maintain that I believe it would have more of an emotional impact if it was less over-produced, though I do understand what people are saying about Steely Dan "doing it right". The album sounds a lot like a mix of Billy Joel and Stevie Wonder, but much more jammy than both. Kid Charlemagne is a real hit. The songs with a little more grove in them, like the fOnk on this one, serves the record well and cancels out a bit of that over-produced "esteem" that they have going on. The two following songs are also brilliant, Caves of Altamira and Don't Take Me Alive. And the album remains incredibly consistent all the way through. The mouth-guitar on Haitian Divorce is really cool. Lots of different sounds on this. Brilliant musicianship all the way through. Opened my eyes to these guys I have to say.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +4 votes (4 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

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Best Albums of 1976
1. Songs In The Key Of Life by Stevie Wonder
2. Station To Station by David Bowie
3. Ramones by Ramones
4. Hotel California by Eagles
5. Boston by Boston
6. Desire by Bob Dylan
7. 2112 by Rush
8. Hejira by Joni Mitchell
9. The Modern Lovers by The Modern Lovers
10. A New World Record by Electric Light Orchestra
11. A Trick Of The Tail by Genesis
12. Jailbreak by Thin Lizzy
13. Rising by Rainbow
14. Oxygène by Jean Michel Jarre
15. The Royal Scam by Steely Dan
16. A Day At The Races by Queen
17. "Rocks" by Aerosmith
18. África Brasil by Jorge Ben
19. Moonmadness by Camel
20. Small Change by Tom Waits
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