CRIME OF THE CENTURY

After the lacklustre Indelibly Stamped, Supertramp's lineup disintegrated for a second time, leaving Davies and Hodgson with the unenviable task of rebuilding the band from scratch for the second time in as many years. In doing so, the pair clearly seem to have given some thought to the band's musical direction, and after a few years honing their craft and cooking up no less than 42 songs - the cream of which were selected for the album - they came out with the brilliant Crime of the Century.

Most important to the album's success is the brave step taken by the duo in deciding not to go for an all-out prog rock approach; they would take lessons from prog, but rather than trying to imitate their heroes they would craft their own mainstream-friendly sound and bring in prog-like instrumentation and complexity only when they felt that the material truly demanded it. As a result, each of the songs on Crime 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.

Granted, the lyrical theme of "modern life is rubbish" might be a mild rehash of Dark Side of the Moon, but I'd say that the emotional arc described by the lyrics is a lot more coherent than Pink Floyd's classic, so the band do at least have something new to say there. And when faced with compelling songs like Hide In Your Shell, Rudy and the title track, even hardened avant-garde fans may find themselves warming to Supertramp's crossover magic. The band's masterpiece by a mile.