CRIME OF THE CENTURY

My very first contact with Supertramp and, boy, what a original sound! Ok, you can say they are not really prog in that of the symphonic way. But, really, they were good, unique and very, very talented. And the music on Crime Of the Century is surely progressive in the very broad sense of the original word. Some of the arrangements are simply gorgeous and, once again, unique (the bass and drums parts are quite impressive and very underrated). The fact that this album (and those which susequently followed until the early 80´s) was a big seller tends to overshadow its greatness as an important piece of art rock. Their first two releases were rather tentative and sometimes derivative, but here they sound like no one else, even though their songs were very accessible. This, I must point out, is a rarety.

This album has been a long favorite and, at the time it was released, one of the very few that was praised by nearly everyone I knew. Although it was the very first one with the classic line up, it is also their best ever. From the very first notes of the hauting harmonica of School to last the fading bars of the title track, this is a remarkable record. One that appears once in a lifetime. Ok, some songs are better then the others, but none is bad. In fact, it all comes down to personal taste, for while I never really enjoyed If Everyone Was Listening as much as the other tracks, my closest friend at the time considered it to be the album´s best tune.

This semi concept album has too many great moments to tell them all, but I should mention some: the greatest piano solo I ever heard (on School), the fine sax fade out in Hide In Your Shell and the distinctive electric piano riff of Dreamer (saddly, this is a much overplayed track). With a very good production and fantastic cover, this CD is a must have for anyone interested in prog music. The swapping lead vocals, the great musicanship of all band members, the diverse and creative arrangements were key elements to the final result, but nothing would have worked so well without the songwriting skills of Roger Hodgson and Richard Davies. Even the lyrics are an importante part of the whole project and showed that rock music could be meaningful, intelligent and accessible. Few songwriters could deliver such classics with words that most of people could relate to so easily.

Before I started writing this review I tried hard to find something to give it less then 5 stars, but to no avail. This is a damn good CD! I could keep on writing about it for hours on end, but I suggest you to put it on and just listen to it. Good trip.

An essential masterpiece in prog music.