THE VERY BEST OF SUPERTRAMP - VOLUME 2

The one with the other track from "Crime of the century"

Having already included six of the eight tracks on "Crime of the century" on volume 1, that album is only represented by one track on volume two. The only track from COTC which does not appear on either collection is therefore "Asylum".

With Supertramp's singles and most accessible tracks already gathered together on said volume one, the tracks here are generally their better album tracks. With so many fine tracks available, it would be easy to question individual selections.

The highlight is undoubtedly "Fools overture" from "Even in the quietest moments" a true masterpiece of symphonic prog. "A soapbox opera" represents the best track on the slightly disappointing "Crisis what crisis", while "Free as a bird" is the nominal inclusion from the post Roger Hodgson era.

The best of Supertramp from a commercial point of view was swept up in volume one. Here we are starting to delve deeper into the album tracks, and it quickly gets to the point where it would be as well simply to buy the original albums (now re-released in remastered format).

Same again for this marketing hype I am afraid. Dedicated fans will have the songs already and the studio albums speak volumes for the wonder that they produced so it does not matter how much money they rake in releasing these it will not convince anyone that these albums are indeed anything better than ' Good'. I strongly recommend any studio album by Supertramp over these persistent disappointments.Going out on a limb here...' Gone Hollywood' takes the cake.

See my review for "Very Best of Supertramp Vol 1". The only difference between these two are that this one dives a bit deeper into the discography of Supertramp and collects more of their less known stuff. A bit odd put together but that's not an unusual case for compilations like this, however, the track selections are fine and includes classics like "Gone Hollywood" and the essential "Fool's Overture", the latter being the opus from the "Even In The Quietest Moments..." release back in 1977. Again, this one only merits three stars, but again I have to add another star for it's nostalgic importance for me.

As its title suggests, this is a sister collection to the excellent The Very Best Of Supertramp. However, while it does a great job of plugging up the gaps by giving us another 14 tracks from the masters of progressive pop, the truth is that most of the goodies were snapped by the original compilation. Thus while it's great to have if you've already picked up the first volume, this one doesn't necessarily cut the mustard on its own.

On the downside you have Lady, Oh Darling, Just Another Nervous Wreck, (the Barry Manilow-esque!) Downstream, the doo-wop effort My Kind Of Lady and the forgettable post-Hodgson effort Free As A Bird, which are passable pieces of pop that don't match the standards of Supertramp's better songs. A Soapbox Opera, on the other hand, is pretty creative but just doesn't strike the right chord with me.

On the positive side, you have one of Supertramp's greatest prog moments in Fool's Overture, which overcomes the considerable handicap of a cheesy synth sound to prove its class. My favourite track here is probably the vaguely psychedelic Even In The Quietest Moments (the track) which with its phased vocals and pastoral background is a great if atypical song. On the other hand Waiting So Long, Gone Hollywood and the mournful Don't Leave Me Now belong to that class of Supertramp epic that moves seamlessly between light pop and heavy rock. I should also say that there is an air of desperation about both If Everyone Was Listening and Babaji that prompts me to reach for the fast-forward button (even if both are decent songs).

Supertramp's brand of progressive pop may not be to everyone's tastes, and I would still suggest you start with the first volume or the Crime Of The Century album before coming to this one, but I must say (with apologies to the purists) that I'm pretty content with just the two "Best Of" volumes. ... 53% on the MPV scale

This CD is the perfect companion of "Best Of, Volume 1".

We get a lot of "Even..." tracks : with the title track, "Babiji", "Just Another Wreck", "Downstream" and finally, the great "Fool's Overture" (maybe the best and most elaborate 'Tramp song).

Here is my comment about this song in my review for the album : this is a true epic (forget about "Try Again" from their first album). Long keyboard intro (raise the level of your audio system to capture all the elements) !). This is a pure British (prog) song : Big Ben and Churchill on the same track ("we will never surrender") ! The song really kicks after this three minutes quiet intro. The beat goes on you are transported into another dimension from then on : glorious bass and keys work. Vocals start after 5' minutes 20" : probably the most beautiful 'Tramp vocal session. So delicate, intimate : one has the impression Hodgson sings just for you. I was lucky to see him live (in solo) and the emotional feeling one gets in his concert is HUGE. It is perfectly rendered here in this song.

It almost fully completes "Crime" with the very good "If Everyone Was Listening", provides two very good tracks from "Crisis" with "Lady" and "The Soapbox Opera" (a wonderful song).

The weaker numbers come (no surprise) from "Famous Lost Words" and "Free As A Bird".

All in all, if you are not a big Supertramp fan, these two compilations are great for you : you'll get most of their four legendary albums represented here (maybe too little from Crisis ?).

Three stars.

Having released the "Vol. One" of this compilation two years before, here it is, the second volume from "The Very Best of Supertramp". If the first volume was more a "Greatest Hits package", this second volume could be more interesting for the most dedicated fans of the band. At least, this second volume includes one song from their "Free as a Bird album" (the album title song), but again, nothing from their first two albums. But, were "Waiting So Long" and "Don`t Leave Me Now" from their "...famous last words..." album the best from that album? In my opinion, no, they weren`t. I think that "C`est Le Bon" and "Bonnie" deserved more to be in this compilation.

This "Volume Two" could be less interesting for the causal listener but more interesting for the more dedicated fans of this band, in my opinion. If you want a better compilation of the music from this band, more complete in historical detail, look for their "Retrospectacle" compilation.

Review Nº 540

"The Very Best Of Supertramp ? Volume 2" is the fourth compilation album of Supertramp, which was released in 1992. This one was released two years after the release of their previous compilation album "The Very Best Of Supertramp".

"The Very Best Of Supertramp ? Volume 2" contains tracks from five of their studio albums, which are in general regarded as their five best studio albums "Crime Of The Century" from 1974, "Crisis? What Crisis?" from 1975, "Even In The Quietest Moments?" from 1977, "Breakfast In America" from 1979, "Famous Last Words" from 1982 and "Brother Where You Bound" from 1985. In addition, it has also the title track from their studio album "Free As A Bird" from 1987.

"The Very Best Of Supertramp ? Volume 2" is the only compilation of Supertramp with new tracks, until that moment, because the first two "The Autobiography Of Supertramp" and "Classics, Vol. 9" have the same fourteen tracks, and the third "The Very Best Of Supertramp" has also the same fourteen tracks plus the additional fifteenth track, "School".

The front cover of "The Very Best Of Supertramp ? Volume 2", depicts the band's name in colours with the starry backdrop and gate from the cover of "Crime Of The Century", with the hand carrying the glass from the cover of "Breakfast In America", and the orange umbrella from the cover of "Crisis? What Crisis?", put in a black background. "The Very Best Of Supertramp ? Volume 2" has fourteen tracks from the following albums: "If Everyone Was Listening" is from "Crime Of The Century". "Lady" and "A Soapbox Opera" are from "Crisis? What Crisis?". "Even In The Quietest Moments?", "Babaji", "Downstream" and "Fool's Overture" are from "Even In The Quietest Moments?". "Oh Darling", "Gone Hollywood" and "Just Another Nervous Wreck" are from "Breakfast In America". "Waiting So Long", "Don't Leave Me Now" and "My Kind Of Lady" are from "Famous Last Words". "Free As A Bird" is from "Free As A Bird".

"Lady" is a song with a nice combination between piano and vocals. It represents to "Crisis? What Crisis?" the same that "Dreamer" represented to "Crime Of The Century". It was a big hit single that reminds me Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel. "Oh Darling" isn't a very memorable song and is, for me, a perfect failure because it failed as a great commercial song. "Even In The Quietest Moments?" has a melodic, an idyllic and a nostalgic sound, where the acoustic guitar and the piano combine perfectly well, as only the band could do so well. "Waiting So Long" is a great song, well arranged, very progressive and with great performances. The development of the song can be connected with the great classics made by them all over the years. "Babaji" is a powerful melodic song with spiritual lyrics and good arrangements. It shows the perfect combination of two styles, the prog and the pop. "Gone Hollywood" is a good melodic song and the interplay between Rick Davies' and Roger Hodgson's vocals is perfect, as always. "If Everyone Was Listening" is a melodic and beautiful song with an easy tune, beautiful vocal harmonies and great orchestration. It shows that is possible compose beautiful songs with quality. "Just Another Nervous Wreck" is a weak song, as happened with "Oh Darling". It's another song made to be a big hit and that has failed to do so, too. "Don't Leave Me Now" is another pearl, one of the best Roger Hodgson's songs. It's a sad song with pessimistic lyrics about solitude and fear of loneliness. This is a very powerful song. "My Kind Of Lady" is a Rick Davies' love ballad well sung by him, who harmonizes his natural voice with a falsetto vocal. It's a typical and decent Davies' song. "A Soapbox Opera" is a classic Supertramp's composition. It's a melodic song, with orchestra and choir, and it has also excellent progressive arrangements. "Downstream" is an acoustic beautiful and melodic ballad only performed by vocals and piano. It's a song with a simple structure but with a great charm. "Fool's Overture" is a lengthy song, probably their most progressive song in their entire career. It's a great song with an intense ambient, definitely a gem in Supertramp's career. "Free As A Bird" is an average sounding pop song with some meaningful lyrics and a choir added to the chorus. This isn't a bad song, really.

Conclusion: Like their previous compilation "The Very Best Of Supertramp", "The Very Best Of Supertramp ? Volume 2" is also a good compilation from the band. It doesn't repeat any song of that compilation and it also covers some of the other best material of their career. It covers some of their best songs released on their best six studio albums. The main difference between both compilations was the shift of a song from "Brother Where You Bound" for a song from "Free As A Bird", continuing without "Supertramp" and "Indelibly Stamped" be represented here. It's worth to have here the presence of one of their lengthiest, best and most progressive songs, "Fool's Overture". As I wrote before, when I reviewed the previous compilation, "The Very Best Of Supertramp ? Volume 2" is the perfect companion to "The Very Best Of Supertramp". If you want have a real anthology of Supertramp you need to buy both, or alternatively, buy their compilation "Retrospectable ? The Supertramp Anthology". Still, "Retrospectable ? The Supertramp Anthology" is probably a better option because is more representative and cheaper, and has songs from their eleven studio albums.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)