CRIME OF THE CENTURY

I don't expect to make this sort of discovery anymore, but back in the late 80s, I stumbled upon a dust-covered copy of this album among my uncle's collection. Short of a really lame Roger Hodgson solo track in which the protagonist " wished he was in London and really missed the queen" I knew nothing about Supertramp. And then I heard this ... a powerful, sweeping emotional work that has always stayed with me.

Crime Of The Century has the feel of a concept album ... even if I haven't got my finger on exactly what the storyline is (but then again, how many concept albums are clear based on just the songs?). Seems to me like the story of a persecuted young lad struggling through his grim schooldays. Certainly I expect that the lyrics will resonate with angsty, disenfranchised teenagers. What's more, I'll swear that the band's sound on this album influenced certain parts of Pink Floyd's subsequent concept album The Wall!

Supertramp's wonderful mixture of savvy pop and classically-tinged hard rock never reached greater heights than on pieces like School, Asylum, Rudy and the awesome title track, which has a lengthy outro (based on some simple minor key piano chords) that gets me all emotional every time I hear it. The (occasionally) hard-rockin' Bloody Well Right and Dreamer both have choruses that I'm still not fond of, but they are also excellent songs outside of that. Hide In Your Shell and If Everyone Was Listening are probably the tracks I enjoy least, but they work well within the context of this album.

Along with the Alan Parsons Project's Turn Of A Friendly Card and Jeff Wayne's War Of The Worlds, this is one of my favourite progressive pop-rock efforts, and is surely the greatest of Supertramp's albums. ... 72% on the MPV scale