Crime Of The Century - SUPERTRAMP*****

School/Bloody Well Right/Hide In Your Shell/Asylum/Dreamer/Rudy/If Everyone Was Listening/Crime Of The Century

After a couple of failed attempts the British progressive group Supertramp achieved their commercial breakthrough with Crime Of The Century. Features the UK No.13 hit single Dreamer. (US:38 UK:4)

“Most important for the album's success is the brave step deciding not to go for an all-out prog rock approach. Instead they took lessons from prog, but rather than trying to imitate their heroes, they crafted their own sound, bringing in prog-like instrumentation and complexity only when the material demanded it. As a result, each of the songs is a perfectly crafted pop-prog gem, undeniably catchy but at the same time with enough art rock twists to be of interest to prog fans.”

“How I wish I could have been there, growing up with albums of this kind, dreamy tones, sweet guitar solos, piano flows and funny but true lyrics, with echoes of pure brilliance.”

“Yes, this is definitely one of the classics, entirely deserving of its reputation. The big question is of course, is this prog or pop? You could call it highly ambitious, thought-provoking, superbly crafted pop. Or you could just call it outright prog, but with the discipline of pop sensibility. Certainly a ‘not a weak moment’ type of album.”

“Crime Of The Century came from out of nowhere, propelling Supertramp to stardom. A band that had shown little promise on their first two releases suddenly released a concept album that stood out with its clean production, catchy tunes and tales of alienation, madness and loss of soul.”

“Musically, this is one of the best prog rock albums I've heard, and I'm not sure there's any point in trying to describe it as anything else. Supertramp never seem to get mentioned when people discuss the genre, choosing instead to classify them under the broad umbrella of pop rather than rock. Everything about the music on here - the production, instrumentation, structure of songs, chord progressions, even the pitch of the vocals - is undeniably prog. And it's great.”

“From the blazing opening harmonica note to the final, beautiful symphonic instrumental, Supertramp created a majestic, maddeningly dark look at human emotions. The band overshadow their sometimes nonsensical wit by supporting it with lush melodies, harmonies and lyrics.”