CRIME OF THE CENTURY

Crime of the Century is perhaps one of the more accessible albums in the prog canon, but that is no detriment to its quality. This album has one "radio hit" after another but still retains its prog identity, which is truly admirable. The songs are short, yet structurally diverse, keyboard is used frequently, and the guitar and vocals help mold this into a rather unique sound.

The highlights for me are 'School' and 'Bloody Well Right.' The former has an obvious prog feel, especially the part that begins in the middle which builds up beautifully to a gliding piano melody. The latter is one I'd heard constantly out of the context of the album, so surely it gets a bit of radio play. Regardless, it's a great song with some fun vocals and keyboard/sax parts. And of course there's 'Rudy,' a structurally diverse song with equally strong vocals and instrumentation.

The remaining songs are also great; in fact, this is actually a pretty consistent album from beginning to end. However, as a whole it doesn't have the same wow factor that many other prog albums do. There aren't many extended instrumental passages or complex parts, and sometimes it just doesn't please my more adventurous side. But overall, this is a melodically rich prog album that should please prog and pop-rock fans alike.

6/10