Supertramp - Crime Of The Century (1974)

Artista: Supertramp

Álbum: Crime Of The Century
Año: 1974
Género: Rock Progresivo
Duración: 43:25
Nacionalidad: Uk

Lista de Temas:

1. School
2. Bloody Well Right
3. Hide in Your Shell
4. Asylum
5. Dreamer
6. Rudy
7. If Everyone Was Listening
8. Crime of the Century

Alineación:

- Bob C. Benberg / batería y percusión
- Roger Hodgson / voz, guitarras y pianos
- John Anthony Helliwell / voz, saxofón y clarinete
- Dougie Thomson / bajo
- Richard Davies / voz, teclados y armónica

Crime of the Century es el tercer álbum de estudio de Supertramp, este es junto con Breakfast In America uno de los picos mas altos de esta banda, fue el primer CD que tuve a comienzos de lo 90’ (lo había tenido en Vinilo) y lo que sorprende es que aparte de ser un trabajo de excelente nivel la mezcla que se realizo en ese momento lo hace hoy sonar con una actualidad que tienen pocas bandas de los 70’.
Un álbum conceptual excelente, una obra maestra que roza el pop desde el sonido progresivo, sin querer realizar comparaciones odiosas en un nivel este trabajo es a Supertramp lo que Dark Side.. fué a Floyd o Machine Head a Deep purple, su momento creativo de mayor esplendor, una mezcla de estilos unida por el concepto de un álbum excelente desde el contenido hasta el arte de tapa.

Altamente recomendable para quienes no conozcan esta banda y para quienes no lo tengan y lo quieran en una versión AAD (creo que una de las primeras) sin la molesta compresión de la actualidad.

 

Supertramp came into their own on their third album, 1974's Crime of the Century, as their lineup gelled but, more importantly, so did their sound. The group still betrayed a heavy Pink Floyd influence, particularly in its expansive art rock arrangements graced by saxophones, but Supertramp isn't nearly as spooky as Floyd -- they're snarky collegiate elitists, an art rock variation on Steely Dan or perhaps a less difficult 10cc, filled with cutting jokes and allusions, best heard on "Bloody Well Right." This streak would later flourish on Breakfast in America, but it's present enough to give them their own character. Also present is a slight sentimental streak and a heavy fondness for pop, heard on "Dreamer," a soaring piece of art pop that became their first big hit. That and "Bloody Well Right" are the concise pop moments on the record; the rest of Crime of the Century is atmospheric like Dark Side of the Moon, but with a lighter feel and a Beatles bent. At times the album floats off into its own world, with an effect more tedious than hypnotic, but it's still a huge leap forward for the group and their most consistent album outside of that 1979 masterwork, Breakfast in America.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine

 

Supertramp began as the wish fulfillment of a millionaire rock fan. By the late 1970s, the group's blend of keyboard-heavy progressive rock and immaculate pop had yielded several hit singles and a few platinum LPs.

In the late 1960s Dutch millionaire Stanley August Miesegaes heard Rick Davies in a band called the Joint. When that band broke up, Miesegaes offered to bankroll a band if Davies would handle the music. Davies placed classified ads in London newspapers for a band. The first response was from Roger Hodgson, who was to split songwriting and singing with Davies in Supertramp, the name they took from W.H. Davies' 1938 book, The Autobiography of a Supertramp. Drummer Bob Miller suffered a nervous breakdown after their first LP's release; he was replaced by Kevin Currie for the next, but like the first, it flopped.

After a disastrous tour, the band (except Davies and Hodgson) broke up. Davies and Hodgson recruited Bob Benberg from pub rockers Bees Make Honey, and John Helliwell and Dougie Thomson from the Alan Bown Set, and A&M sent them to a rehearsal retreat at a seventeenth-century farm. Their next LP, Crime of the Century, was the subject of a massive advertising/promotional campaign, and went to #1 in the U.K. but didn't take off commercially in the U.S., though it did sow the seeds of a cult following.

In 1975 the singles "Dreamer" and "Bloody Well Right" from Crime achieved some chart success in both the U.K. and the U.S. Supertramp toured the U.S. as a headliner, with A&M giving away most of the tickets. Crisis? failed to yield a hit single, but was heavily played on progressive FM radio and solidified the band's audience base, as did Even in the Quietest Moments (#16, 1977), which included "Give a Little Bit" (#15, 1977). Supertramp's breakthrough was Breakfast in America, a #1 worldwide LP, which eventually sold over 4 million copies in the U.S. and contained hit singles in "The Logical Song" (#6), "Goodbye Stranger" (#15), and "Take the Long Way Home" (#10). The Paris live double LP hit #8; and ". . . famous last words . . ." included another hit, "It's Raining Again" (#11, 1982). In early 1983 Hodgson announced he was leaving the group for a solo career. His first solo release, In the Eye of the Storm (#46, 1984), contained his only charting single to date, "Had a Dream (Sleeping With the Enemy)" (#48, 1984). His subsequent work was not as well received.

The group's next album, Brother Where You Bound (#21, 1985), contained Supertramp's last charting single to date, "Cannonball" (#28, 1985). Late in 1985 Supertramp embarked on a six-month tour of the United States. Hodgson briefly rejoined to promote the U.K. Top 10 compilation The Autobiography of Supertramp. Free As a Bird (1987) missed the Top 100 by one and included a dance hit, "I'm Begging You." In 1997 Davies, Helliwell, and Benberg regrouped Supertramp —minus Hodgson —and, with the aid of studio players, released Some Things Never Change.

This biography originally appeared in The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll (Simon & Schuster, 2001).