IN THE EYE OF THE STORM

I've been quite hesitant when it came to exploration of solo careers of different artists in the past but lately I've managed to overcome this barrier and began to uncover quite a few hidden gems!

Roger Hodgson is best known for his formidable career with Supertramp, a band that most of us have come to appreciate over the years. I wasn't even born when Hodgson decided to leave the band and so I obviously had a lot of catching up to do once I discovered the music of this wonderful band. After getting familiar with most of the band's repertoire up until Brother Where You Bound, it became quite obvious to me that my personal music preference had more resonance in the music of Roger Hodgson than Rick Davies. Both of the members had their musical ups and downs but overall Hodgson's ambitious melodies was undeniably the reason that made Supertramp the hit-selling band of the late '70s and early '80s.

Still, I wasn't exactly keen on exploring In The Eye Of The Storm due to a number of reasons. First off, I've never really had time to explore solo projects by some of rock historie's icons due to the time constrain that I've always felt. Whenever the choice fell between another album by a famous band or a solo album by one of the band's members I've always chose the former. The second minor problem was the fact that the record was recorded in the middle of the '80s, a decade that has generally not been kind to progressive rock. I remember reading a few review that mentioned that the production of this album had a distinct '80s sound to it, which wasn't exactly something I was keen on experiencing. Finally, I never read any reviews that had praised Hodgson's solo output to the iconic status that Supertramp's records have been lifted to over the years.

So why have I finally decided to give this record a go? Due to the invention of great streaming services such as Spotify, I was finally able to legally listen to and experience music that I might have previously have neglected. I've recently made quite a discovery by listening to the solo career of Paul McCartney and have followed it up by exploring other solo careers, Roger Hodgson among others.

I found my first experience of In The Eye Of The Storm to be a bit of a mixed bag since most of the songs really didn't feel as catchy as some of artist's previous work but after a few revisits it finally all started to make a lot more sense. The pieces finally fell into place and the minor masterpiece has began to take shape!

The intro to Had A Dream (Sleeping With The Enemy) sounds almost like something taken from a Pink Floyd song, which is quite unfortunate considering that the remainder of the composition is such an enjoyable piece of music. In Jeopardy and Hooked On A Problem are two pretty catchy tunes that I learned to love, even though they weren't all that enjoyable at first. Lovers In The Wind is a strong melodic ballad which reminds me of Supertramp songs like Even In The Quietest Moments and If Everyone Was Listening. Give Me Love, Give Me Life takes a while to get going but, once it does, the melodic hooks really bring a lot of joy to my ears. The only real miss comes in the form of the 7-minute I'm Not Afraid which should probably not have been longer than 3 minutes since it has little content to it. The final track is the crown jewel that brings In The Eye Of The Storm to a majestic conclusion; Only Because Of You reminds me of a Supertramp crossover between Don't Leave Me Now and Fool's Overtune, simply put one of the most gorgeous compositions that have been put to tape!

If you're like me and enjoy Hodgson's work in Supertramp but feel a stigma related to artist's solo albums then let me reassure you that you won't be disappointed by this debut solo album.

***** star songs: Had A Dream (Sleeping With The Enemy) (8:27) Only Because Of You (8:38)

**** star songs: In Jeopardy (5:58) Lovers In The Wind (4:14) Hooked On A Problem (5:09) Give Me Love, Give Me Life (7:33)

*** star songs: I'm Not Afraid (7:05)