Steely Dan - Katy Lied - VINYL LP

The Royal Scam - Steely Dan's gold-selling fifth studio album now on UHQR!Definitive reissue Ultra High Quality Record, the pinnacle of high-quality vinyl!45 RPM LP limited to 20, 000 numbered copiesMastered directly from the original master tape by Bernie GrundmanPressed at Quality Record Pressings using 200-gram Clarity Vinyl®Purest possible pressing and most visually stunning presentation and packaging!Tip-on old style gatefold double pocket jackets with film lamination by Stoughton PrintingSteely Dan's gold-selling fifth studio album The Royal Scam, was produced by Gary Katz and was originally released by ABC Records in 1976. The Royal Scam features more prominent guitar work than the prior Steely Dan album, Katy Lied, which had been the first without founding guitarist Jeff Baxter. Guitarists on the recording include Walter Becker, Denny Dias, Larry Carlton, Elliott Randall and Dean Parks.The Royal Scam was certified gold-selling and peaked at No. 15 on the Billboard 200. The album is known for it's intricate arrangements, sophisticated musicianship, and cynical lyrics, and is considered one of the band's most musically adventurous works.The album features a diverse range of musical styles, from the funky and up-tempo 'Kid Charlemagne' to the Latin-influenced 'The Caves of Altamira' and the jazzy 'Don't Take Me Alive.' The lyrics explore themes of deception, corruption, and disillusionment, with characters that are often morally ambiguous or outright villainous.In common with other Steely Dan albums, The Royal Scam is littered with cryptic allusions to people and events both real and fictional. In a BBC interview in 2000, Becker and Fagen revealed that 'Kid Charlemagne' is loosely based on Owsley Stanley, the notorious drug 'chef' who was famous for manufacturing hallucinogenic compounds, and that 'Caves of Altamira, ' based on a book by Hans Baumann, is about

Katy Lied, Steely Dan's fourth studio album, originally released in 1975 by ABC Records, was certified gold-selling and peaked at No. 13 on the U.S. charts. The single 'Black Friday' also charted at No. 37. Pitchfork noted '(Katy Lied) captures Steely Dan in the thick of it all, still hungry and energized by their early burst of creativity but not taking anything for granted. Before Katy Lied, Steely Dan was a rock band, but this is the record where they became something else.'Founded by core members Walter Becker (bass) and Donald Fagen (vocals, keyboards), Steely Dan's popularity rose throughout the late 1970s on, and their seven albums throughout that period of time blended elements of jazz, rock, funk, R&B, and pop. Steely Dan created a sophisticated, distinctive sound with accessible melodic hooks, complex harmonies and time signatures, and a devotion to the recording studio. Becker and Fagen, with producer Gary Katz, gradually changed Steely Dan from a performing band to a studio project, hiring session musicians to record their compositions. The duo didn't perform live between 1974 and 1993. But their popularity nevertheless grew throughout the '70s as their albums became critical favorites and their singles became staples of Adult Oriented Radio and pop radio stations.Katy Lied was notable for Becker and Fagen being intially unhappy with the album's sound quality owing to an equipment malfunction with the then new dbx noise reduction system. Working with engineers at dbx, the sound was corrected and the album ultimately became successful, but Fagen and Becker still refused to listen to the completed version.Katy Lied also marks the first appearance of singer Michael McDonald on a Steely Dan album. Best known for his soulful voice as a member of the Doobie Brothers, McDonald is a five-time Grammy winner and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a

Vinyl LP pressing. Aja is the sixth studio album by Steely Dan, originally released in 1977. On the album, band leaders Donald Fagen and Walter Becker pushed Steely Dan further into experimenting with different combinations of session players, enlisting the services of nearly 40 musicians, while pursuing longer, more sophisticated compositions and arrangements. Album Tracks 1. Black Cow 2. Aja 3. Deacon Blues 4. Peg 5. Home at Last 6. I Got the News 7. Josie