The Royal Scam (studio album) by Steely Dan

The Royal Scam by Steely Dan
Year: 1976
Overall rank: 1,040th   Overall chart historyOverall chart history
Average Rating: 
81/100 (from 329 votes)
  Ratings distributionRatings distribution   Average rating historyAverage rating history
Accolades:
Award Top 20 albums of 1976 (19th)
Award Top albums of the 1970s (227th)
Award Best albums of all time (1,040th)
Product Details
Availability

eBay
eBay
Steely Dan Vinyl Lot (Gaucho, The Royal Scam, Can’t Buy A Thrill)
Condition: Used


eBay
eBay
STEELY DAN The Royal Scam ABC LP AB 931 Vinyl Kid Charlemagne VTG CLASSIC ROCK
Condition: Used


eBay
eBay
Steely Dan – The Royal Scam Original Vinyl Record LP Album ABCD-931 1976
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 178 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 9,584.

Steely Dan album bestography « Higher ranked (905th) This album (1,040th) Lower ranked (1,392nd) »
Countdown To EcstasyThe Royal ScamKaty Lied

Upcoming concerts

Nov
30
Mon
00:00
Steely Dan Tribute by Pretzel Logic
The Canyon Montclair, Montclair, United States. United States
Tickets from $19.50 (Ticketmaster) Get tickets
 
Apr
14
Fri
20:00
An Evening With: Steely Dead
Mystic Theatre, Petaluma, United States. United States
Tickets from $20.00 (Ticketmaster) Get tickets
 
Apr
16
Sun
19:00
The Music of Steely Dan featuring Drew Zingg & Tom Scott
Music Box, San Diego, United States. United States
Tickets from $39.00 (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 (84 votes)Comments: 0
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6.
Rating: 83 (82 votes)Comments: 1
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9.
Rating: 83 (79 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 329 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 329 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
60/100
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03/24/2023 15:58 MW19704U  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 5,94859/100
 
75/100
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03/23/2023 23:04 Hyggevinyl  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 1,75374/100
 
35/100
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03/20/2023 19:52 Igtonumama  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 8,52960/100
 
100/100
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03/14/2023 05:25 TradeShark  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 36248/100
 
65/100
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02/25/2023 16:49 bonnequestion  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 1,29170/100

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 80.1/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 81.3/100. The standard deviation for this album is 14.2.

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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:  
75/100
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) | 0 votes (0 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) | 0 votes (0 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) | +1 votes (1 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) | +2 votes (2 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. 2112 by Rush (CA)
7. Desire by Bob Dylan
8. The Modern Lovers by The Modern Lovers
9. A Trick Of The Tail by Genesis
10. Hejira by Joni Mitchell
11. A New World Record by Electric Light Orchestra
12. Jailbreak by Thin Lizzy
13. Rising by Rainbow (UK)
14. Oxygène by Jean Michel Jarre
15. A Day At The Races by Queen
16. Rocks by Aerosmith
17. Moonmadness by Camel
18. África Brasil by Jorge Ben
19. The Royal Scam by Steely Dan
20. Sad Wings Of Destiny by Judas Priest
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