FAMOUS LAST WORDS

Almost every single progressive rock band was affected in some way, trivial or otherwise, by the eighties. Phil Collins took Genesis into a whole new pop direction, Roger Waters left Pink Floyd, and Jethro Tull delved into the vein of 'synthpop', among other things. One of these disappointing changes that did happen was Roger Hodgson departed Supertramp, leaving a large dark whole where he once was. Not to say that onward Davies did a bad job leading the band by any means, but it was noticeably downhill afterwards. Hodgson did perform on one last studio album before he exited; the 1982 record titled "...Famous Last Words...."

As a whole the record is aesthetically pleasing, featuring some humorous artwork by Mike Doud depicting a hand cutting away at the rope under a tightrope walker's feet, living well up to the title. It is in fact the inside that is for the most part stale. A compilation of songs ranging from 'A' material to the less desirable. Lackluster pop tunes are prominent, hoping for a stand at the popularity of the ones from the 70's. One did manage to give it a crack; 'It's Raining Again' was a massive hit. Even though the title would seem to be indicating a somber attitude (or at least as I would think), it is quite the contrary- and by god it is annoying. A Sesame Street tune barely powered by Tramp's playing abilities that drags down the album's small amount of fluidity if it had. This sort of brings up that most of the tracks are happy tunes, seemingly without care or even creativity which leads to just bland material. In my mind there's two tracks that stand out: one being the opener 'Crazy' and 'Waiting So Long'. These two bring out the best of both sides; Hodgson's catchy playing and exquisite lyrics, and Hodgson's amazing Floydian style of arena rock and thundering control of his keyboard for the jazziest playing you'll hear. These two tracks are undoubtedly one of my favorite Supertramp songs, and those combined with some alright tracks makes for an album that would otherwise get a 2.5 but I'd round up to a 3.