Steely Dan
180-gram black vinyl: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
UHQR Vinyl Box: Acoustic Sounds
Hybrid Stereo SACD: Acoustic Sounds
Are you gonna do it without the fez on? 1976's The Royal Scam, Steely Dan's fifth album featuring "The Fez," "Kid Charlemagne," and "Green Earrings," is returning in a variety of formats to conclude the band's reissue campaign which began in November 2022 with Can't Buy a Thrill. Like the past titles in this series encompassing the Dan's ABC/MCA discography, The Royal Scam will be reissued on 180-gram vinyl from Geffen/UMe while an audiophile-aimed UHQR 45 RPM, 200-gram vinyl edition and a hybrid stereo SACD (playable on all CD players) will arrive from Analogue Productions. All formats have been newly remastered; Bernie Grundman has mastered the UHQR and SACD iterations from the original tapes while Joe Nino-Hernes at Sterling Sound handles the standard 180-gram LP. The latter has been sourced from high-resolution digital transfers of the tapes, and pressed at Precision. Nino-Hernes' remaster will also be released digitally.