Steely Dan’s 1976 LP The Royal Rip-off has been out of print on vinyl for 45 years, however that’s about to vary. A brand new repress of the album is coming June 6 as a part of Geffen/UMe’s intensive reissue marketing campaign, which additionally consists of current reissues of Can’t Purchase A Thrill, Countdown To Ecstasy, Pretzel Logic, Katy Lied, Aja, and Gaucho.
The Royal Rip-off is one other implausible chapter in Donald Fagen and Walter Becker’s storied songwriting historical past, exhibiting off the duo on the peak of their sharp, cynical wit and complex musical imaginative and prescient. The album boasts beloved tracks like “Kid Charlemagne,” “The Fez,” “The Caves of Altamira,” and the title monitor; although not obtained as an instantaneous basic upon preliminary launch, it has since been embraced by followers and critics. Rolling Stone gave it 5 stars in a 2004 Corridor of Fame evaluate, whereas Stereogum later ranked it because the second greatest album of Steely Dan’s profession, praising it as “their fiercest, funkiest record in their entire catalog, a classic that transitioned them from the uneasy company of the yacht-rock smooth to a mean unit that grooved like Stevie for pessimists.”
The Dan’s longtime producer Gary Katz was as soon as once more behind the boards, and Fagen and Becker are backed as common by a crack staff of session musicians, together with Larry Carlton, who contributes all-time nice guitar solos to songs like “Kid Charlemagne” and “Don’t Take Me Alive.” The Royal Rip-off marked the band’s first album with drummer Bernard Purdie, and the soulful voice of Michael McDonald could be heard within the background all through.
The album’s new vinyl reissue is out there in a number of codecs. The usual 33 1/3 RPM 180-gram model was remastered by Joe Nino-Hernes at Sterling Sound from high-resolution digital recordsdata and pressed at Precision. There’s additionally a restricted version premium 45 RPM model on Extremely Excessive-High quality Vinyl (UHQR) remastered by Bernie Grundman from the unique analog tapes, pressed at Analogue Productions, the audiophile in-house reissue label of Acoustic Sounds. Analogue Productions can be releasing the Steely Dan reissue sequence on Tremendous Audio CD (SACD).
Purchase Steely Dan’s The Royal Rip-off on vinyl now.
