CRIME OF THE CENTURY

The duo of Richard Davies/Roger Hodgson seemed to follow a similar path paved by Van Der Graaf Generator where the band was active in the early '70s but then took time off during 1972-73, i.e. the golden years of prog, only to regroup a few years later. Unlike Peter Hammill & co, Supertramp managed to overcome this misstep by creating gorgeously entertaining pop tunes which made their Art Rock styled approach style famous even to this day. Ultimately, we can only imagine what great wonders these two great collectives could have achieved if they kept their formations together during those highly creative years of music history.

Fortunately for Supertramp, the band still managed to get some of the creative magic of the time by releasing their most ambitious album to date, just barely making the release date in time for the latter half of 1974. It would indeed have been a Crime Of The Century if the band postponed this album any longer since one of the record's biggest appeals is its rich early '70s sound, which to me is already worth the price of admission. Just add a bunch of excellent compositions into the mix and you get one of the masterpieces of progressive rock music!

Unlike most fans, I happen to consider the first two songs to be the weakest of the bunch. Don't get me wrong, School and Bloody Well Right would have easily made it to a masterpiece status on most other albums, but Crime Of The Century is already a great album which actually makes these two compositions look slightly weaker in comparison. The real magic begins with my all-time favorite Supertramp composition called Hide In Your Shell and doesn't stop until the final notes of the title track. I'll restrain from going in detail about these compositions since many much more competent reviewers have done an excellent job of covering just that.

I hope that my humble contribution will only add to the already established opinion about Supertramp's masterpiece called Crime Of The Century. If you still haven't given it a chance then you're definitely missing out on some great moments!

***** star songs: Hide In Your Shell (6:52) Asylum (6:30) Dreamer (3:19) Crime Of The Century (5:20)

**** star songs: School (5:35) Bloody Well Right (4:26) Rudy (7:07) If Everyone Was Listening (4:05)