The Royal Scam/Aja

"John Cale, I recall, once remarked of Steely Dan that, while their music struck him as attractive and beautifully put together, it was, after all, made my just another conventional rock band playing for a conventional rock audience." -- Melody Maker

"If future historians want to find artifacts that perfectly define the strange, detached '70s, they won't have to look past Steely Dan's chilling repertoire. The Dan is simply the best rock band in America." -- Anon.

"Steely Dan have made it in the way Poco should have done. After all, their music is similar." -- Record Mirror

Katy Lied's release in 1975 proved to be something of a turning point in Steely Dan's career. Even though the writing had been on the wall for quite some time, it was, by all accounts, the last album to feature a "collective unit" of musicians all working together under the Dan umbrella.

With live work already a thing of the past, between Katy Lied and the planning of the next album, the decision had been taken to abandon the idea of assembling a group to carry on the Steely Dan tradition.

From now on, Becker and Fagen were to use a plethora of session musicians to perform their music in the studio and in 1976 their fifth LP, The Royal Scam, became the first album to rely entirely upon the inclusion of these musical musclemen.

Despite Denny Dias's namecheck on the record sleeve for this album, his playing contribution, on closer inspection, seems small, and henceforth even Donald and Walter took a voluntary bck seat to the people they chose to surround themselves with. (Walter Becker once said that it wouldn't bother him at all not to play on his own record.)

In short, a "musical nucleus" no longer existed. Included among the 27 people who play on this album are names long associated with the band, but if one pays close enough attention, one notices a shift in the Steely structure.

One significant absentee is Jeff Porcaro, already temporarily jettisoned for the syncopated rhythms of Bernard Purdie and Rick Marotta, and the other major changes included the promotion to the forefront of such highly respected musicians as Larry Carlton, Chuck Rainey and Victor Feldman and the more frequent use of horns.

The extensive use of these "hired hands" not only heralded the introduction of a slicker, denser, more orchestrated sound, but also gave Fagen and Becker extra control over their material, allowing them the opportunity to shape their songs in accordance with the musicians intended for use on each individual track.

Indeed, more care and attention was being lavished on the Dan's product than ever before, but due to Fagen and Becker's reluctance to appear outside the confines of the studio, stories proliferated about their working methods. One magazine described how, for the new LP, they would not think twice about flying players from New York to L.A. just to experiment with a 30-second solo and the NME, in a backtrack of their career to date, wrote the following: "At this point, it was clear that Becker and Fagen wanted no part of the conventional trappings of rock 'n' roll fame, and were running the risk of trying the patience of even the most committed fans.

Word filtered through of their in-studio intransigence and Rick Derringer, for one, confirmed their insistence on perfection.

Perfectionists they may be, but Walt, Don and Gary have always managed to bring out the best of the people they have worked with, and the flawless musicianship on this album is but one facet of a record that marked a welcome return to form after the disappointment of its predecessor.

Zig Zag offered the following observation: "The cruiser and his crony out for a last fling? No way. This is Becker and Fagen back on the form that made them the most exciting exponents of the rock idiom to emerge in the '70s."

For those whose fears that the departure of Messrs. Baxter and Hodder were exacerbated by the slickness and willful obscurity of Katy Lied, this is a complete reassurance. For those who saw future potential in the new format, Scam is a majestic fulfillment of that potential.

But the Dan's decision to emply the creme-de-la-creme for this record met with the inevitable mixed reaction from the critics. There were many who felt that the old five-piece line-up could never be replaced, and that anything else simply would not do. The NME were among them: "If Steely Dan are ever to recapture the intoxicating excellence of their first three albums, they'll probably have to do it by once again working as a more cohesive unit."

"In reality, the new Steely Dan is even less of a group than the one which made Katy Lied. But The Royal Scam packs more unified musical punch than any Steely Dan record since Countdown to Ecstasy." --Zig Zag

"Part of the problem with this record may be the degree to which Steely Dan has stopped being a rock band in favor of becoming a vehicle for Becker and Fagen's music and lyrics. Thus what seemed like an adventurous and startingly successful rock act has become one more singer/songwriter studio concept." --Dave Marsh.

James Wolcott called Steely Dan "the smartest American band ever," but complained not only of "the musical wanness of this LP" but criticized individual performances too. Hence Donald Fagen's singing was "hoarsely monotonous" and the drumming, heaven forbid, was "heavy-fisted." In other reviews, Fagen was called "the quintessential white pop voice" and "one of the most inventive singers in pop." Wolcott concluded by commenting that the musicianship had "the spiritless professionalism of session work." This division of opinion can be applied to the overall reception which greeted the LP's release. (Donald Fagen himself, when questioned in a Music Gig interview about the apparent disappointment with which The Royal Scam was received, said, "The reason critics were disappointed was that they get tired. The first LP is always the easiest to like, the second they still like, the third they think is pretty good. The longer you last as a group the harder the critics are. That accounts for some of the disappointment. Myself, I think it's one of the best ones we've done. I think, in fact, that each record is a little better than the last.")

It sold in ever-increasing quantities (no. 11 in the UK album charts), yielded a surprise hit single, Haitian Divorce, and was generally more popular than anything that they had done previously (despite observations that the album was less overtly commercial than its predecessors). But for every "thumbs-up" the album got there was an equally negative opinion to be found elsewhere, especially in the States.

In (England), most of the music papers fell over themselves in their haste to review the album by using white-label copies. Consequently, the reviews in question tended to lack information and were based on premature reaction. Street Life (supposedly the English equivalent of Rolling Stone) offered the following: "The Dan hve just released their fifth immaculately brilliant album, and quite frankly, chaps, it's not good enough!"

The reviewer then went on to utilize Becker and Fagen's own tongue-in-cheek sleeve notes for Can't Buy A Thrill to open his review, then drew this parallel: "It has been asked whether what the world really needs now is another Steely Dan album? This could very well be the beginning of the end of the promise of the pundits' rock 'n' roll band. And this is so, despite an album which as is safely pluperfect as The Royal Scam, an album perhaps subjectively better than their last. Five albums in and the law of diminishing returns is in full operation. Any band having survived their first two or three albums needs to pull a rabbit or two to stop the arteries hardening. Steely Dan are in great danger of creative sclerosis. In isolation in a time capsule this album would be an exemplary work. In perspective, it's not sufficiently an advance or a progression or a lateral shift to be anything other than beautiful, superlative redundancy. This is only averagingly -- and worryingly -- excellent.

Street Life was not the only publication to judge the Dan by their own exceptionally high standards. International Musician and Recording: "Steely Dan don't surprise any more -- never again the sheer amazement of hearing a Do It Again or a Bodhisattva for the first time."

"For this listener, Steely Dan, for the first time, inspire reservation more than awe. It lacks the drive of Countdown to Ecstasy and the affability of Pretzel Logic." -- Downbeat.

It's always easy to judge a new record by preconceived ideas obtained by listening to older material. Some critics sat on the fence, whilst others simply part company with the band at this point, no doubt still yearning for the simplicity of the first LP. Despite these misgivings, Music Gig called it an album that is "everything a Dan addict could have hoped for."

Crawdaddy: "The most consistently satisfying album by this distinctive, innovative group."

Records and Recordings: "Seventies rock at its most incisive and, as such, indispensible."

Circus: One of the finest LPs of the year.

The critics at least agreed on one thing. In direct contrast to the brow-beating incomprehensibility of previous records, Becker and Fagen's verbals were much easier to follow.

"The Dan's lyrics are as stunning as ever, and more straightforward than of old." -- Street Life

"Melody dominates lyric in the sense that the former pushes into new rhythmic areas for the group while the verbal content is clearer, even mundane by previous Dan standards." -- Rolling Stone

"This LP is more human and accessible than anything they've ever done. There's little of the in-jokiness, cynicism and unfathomable obliqueness that has characterized the other albums, and in its place, Becker and Fagen seem to have acquired what amounts to a social conscience. Certainly, the Royal Scam suggests more genuine concern and sympathy for the human condition than I had ever thought likely." -- Zig Zag

Perhaps the most interesting idea, however, is that due to the similarity of the lyrical themes explored on this record, the Dan had, no doubt inadvertantly, released a "concept" album.

Street Life expanded this theory: "Scam is the Dan's best thematic album yet. From the great expressionist cover inwards, the album presents a procession of outlaws, antiheroes, outcasts, outsiders and loners."

Rolling Stone: The Royal Scam may not be a concept album, but every song concerns a narrator's escape from a crime or sin recently committed. Becker and Fagen have really written the ultimate "outlaw" album here. But it lacks ready-made Top 40 fodder. It also widens their already considerable parameters. Their next LP, if one can speculate about this lovably perverse bunch, should be a pop killer."

In October 1977, one rather irate journalist began his review of Aja thus: "Face it, lovers of tense, wittily neurotic rock, Becker and Fagen are now confirmed jazzheads. Vive Pretzel Logic.

Steely Dan's latest "pop killer" appeared some 18 months after The Royal Scam. Rumored, originally to be a double album in order to fulfill their contractual obligations to ABC, it was apparently remixed 13 times in five months. It came in a gatefold sleeve that included, for the first time, individual musician credits (almost 40 of 'em).

Inside, one finds an album that shows yet another extension of musical ideas, despite the fact that several of the songs could have fitted neatly onto The Royal Scam. One reviewer, Dean Sciarra, suggested "50 percent of the tunes on this album could have fit quite inconspicuously on a number of their previous LPs, from Countdown to Ecstasy onwards."

Most of the songs on side two cover musical territory already explored on Scam, but there are one or two subtle differences to be found.

NME: "Space is given over to instrumental prowess and complex arrangements while Becker and Fagen evince more than ever their jazz leanings, be it contemporary jazz or big band swing."

These "jazz leanings" are perhaps best exemplified by the fact that Tom Scott was brought on board to assist with the horn arrangements for the album, a move which displeased Creem magazine: "The horn charts -- arranged by Hollywood's Mr. Homogeneity Tom Scott -- are tasteful and boring. However, if the Royal Scam was a guitar fetishist's delight, then Aja devoted an equal amount of time to the woodwind and reed players. (Even the guitar solos have a "Djangoesque" quality to them.)

But the inclusion of the two extended tracks on side one cause most interest. A song that pays romantic homage to the life and times of a jazz musician, Deacon Blues is arguably their finest composition.

The title track, on the other hand, all eight minutes of it, is undoubtedly the most adventurous piece recorded by the band. A sprawling song-cycle (written in three movements), it caused quite a stir among the reviewers of the album.

"Aja is undoubtedly the finest piece of music I've heard all year and for Steely Dan represents a milestone; it extends deep into jazz-rock territory without forsaking the Dan's skill as craftsmen of fine songs" -- NME

"The title cut is the one song on the album that shows real growth in Becker and Fagen's songwriting capabilities and departs from their previous work. It may be the longest song they've recorded but it fragilely holds our attention with vaguely Oriental instrumental flourishes and lyric references interwoven with an opiated jazz flux. Aja may prove to be the farthest Becker and Fagen can take certain elements of their musical ambition." -- Rolling Stone

Largely on the strength of this track, Music Gig called the album "One of the best fusion jazz records ever recorded" while Crawdaddy wrote quite the opposite: "This definitely ain't no jazz album nor is it (God forbid) a fusion/crossover. I'd prefer to leave the labeling to someone else. Don't let anyone tell you that Aja is Steely Dan's jazz album. The cuts are longer than usual and soloists are credited, but the only reasonable jazz analogue is big band swing, not the bebop so dear to the Dan's lyricists. If anything, Aja edges closer to mainstream pop than Steely Dan have recently cared to go. They're so far removed from any competition that perhaps their only amusement comes from outdoing themselves."

This affinity for the pop mainstream was also commented upon by Dave Fudger of Sounds: "Steely Dan have been slowly turning their music into very sophisticated MOR, and that's no insult. To me, the Eagles, for example, are not very sophisticated MOR. Steely Dan, on the other hand, are the superior MOR band."

Elsewhere the album was criticized for being glib, a critique not doubt caused by the inclusion of even more hand-picked talent than before.

Circus: "The solos on this record are somewhat sober. When combined with the slick rhythm tracks and the icy veneer of Gary Katz' production, these ingredients make for an album virtually squeezed dry of vitality. In short, Aja is boring."

In direct contrast, the NME wrote: "Strangely enough, considering the number of musicians employed, they sound like a band again. And it's been a long time since you could say that."

Nevertheless, as befits a so-called "middle-of-the-road" record, Aja sold. And it sold extremely well, entering the top 5 in England. By rights, this should not have been possible. Rolling Stone commented on the album's "carefully manipulated isolation from its audience with no pretense of embracing it."

Record Review: "Steely Dan occupy a unique niche in contemporary music. They're a rock group sure, except that 1) they really aren't a jazz group and 2) the music they play owes more to jazz traditions than it does to rock 'n' roll roots. A rock group that isn't then, and a popular one at that."

Most bands, of course, would fade away if they couldn't promote their recordings with live shows, but Steely Dan are an exception to that rule, too. They simply refine and expand their craft as they see fit and release albums when they feel like it.

Downbeat, for one, were glad of their success: "In an era when a gaze at the album charts understandably elicites comments about the lack of maturity exhibited by many record buyers, it is a pleasure that Steely Dan are around to pursue their unique art."

Now at the height of their popularity, Steely Dan's "unique art" continued to be closely scrutinized by members of the music press. Among the reviews of their latest album, there were several lengthy attempts at summarizing their career into neatly arranged paragraphs that seem almost like epitaphs to the band, in retrospect.

The Dan were not dead just yet, though it was to be a long time before we were to hear what was to prove to be their final album.

In conclusion we leave the final words to Rollington Stone: "Aja will continue to fuel the argument by rock purists that Steely Dan's music is soulless and by its calculated nature antithetical to what rock should be. But this is in many ways irrelevant to a final evaluation of this band, the only group around with no conceptual antecedent from the '60s. Steely Dan's six albums contain some of the few important stylistic innovations in pop music from the past decade. By returning to swing and early bebop for inspiration -- before jazz diverged totally from established conventions of pop song structure -- Fagen and Becker have overcome the amorphous quality that has plagued most other jazz-rock fusion attempts. What underlies Steely Dan's music is its extreme intellectual self-consciousness, both in music and lyrics. Given the nature of these times, this may be precisely the quality that makes Walter Bcker and Donald Fagen the perfect musical antiheroes for the '70s.