BREAKFAST IN AMERICA

Hi again everyone! It's been a long time since I wrote a review, but I plan on changing that. This time I'll be reviewing ''Breakfast In America'' by Supertramp. I'm currently home from school with a high fever, and I decided to pop this in just to listen. It struck me how great this album is. However, a fair warning: Supertramp are IMO not very proggy. This album is very poppy, save for the Child of Vision song. Nonetheless, the melodies here are outstanding. But let's get on with the review, shall we?

01. Gone Hollywood (5:19): A slow fade-in piano riff is heard as soon as you press play, just to explode into the first great verse. Rick and Roger share vocals here, and it's lovely. The lyrics are very interesting, written by Roger. At 1 minute in, the best part of the song kicks in. A sad piano riff is played, with some lovely saxophone soloing over that. The eerie synthesizer playing in the background is great as well. Rick shouts out ''Ain't nothing new... In my life today! Ain't nothing true... It's all gone away''. The bass guitar soon kicks in, and Rick sings it again. A catchy, yet dark section comes, and then climaxes when the loud synth plays in collaboration with Rick screaming the great lyrics again. Roger then takes over, stating ''If we only had time... only had time for you.'' The same piano riff as from the beginning kicks in again, but now with a distorted guitar riff along with it. The great verse comes in again, and after this the song suddenly leads into a happy sounding section, quite the surprise. Anyway, the song slowly fades out after this.

02. The Logical Song (4:10): The Logical Song starts out with one of the greatest synth riffs I've ever heard. Roger is tapping away at those keys, and it's awesome. The lyrics kick in after that, and Roger's vocals are in amazing shape, and the lyrics are very interesting. ''When I was young, it seemed that life was so wonderful. A miracle. Oh it was beautiful, magical''. Recognize it? After the first verse, the second verse comes into play now with drums. Again, extremely lovely vocals. The chorus is lovely after this, and utilizes some great chord playing. Some loud guitar playing leads into the amazing third verse, where Roger sings the best lyrics in Supertramp's catalogue. He sounds angry while still calm. Finally, we hear him sing ''Oh... Tick tick tick'' which leads into the incredibly loud saxophone section. The piano chords are played amazingly here, it just has to be loved. Easily the best part of the song. The chorus kicks in again, and the loud guitar riff is played while Roger screams ''Who I am!'' and this leads into a bizzare section, with loads of sound effects and the song settling in a darker mood. Roger wanks away at the lyrics, it's awesome. Again, the loud saxophone comes into play. The song fades out after this.

03. Goodbye Stranger (5:50): This is a very commercial song, but still lovely. Rick has such a lovely voice. The first verse has great singing, though the lyrics are a bit optimistic. A lovely synth riff is played after the first two verses, and Roger Hodgson then sings with his regular high key vocals. It actually sounds like a woman. Anyway, he sings ''Goodbye stranger'' and such, with Rick then kicking in as well, which works lovely. The intro riff plays out again, with a wah-wah dominated guitar collaborating with it as well. Rick then sings one more verse, with some great drumming as well. After this, the ''Goodbye stranger'' section kicks in again. It goes on for quite some time, a minute or so, with the drumming increasing in quantity. After this, there comes a very jazzy section which is great. Some awesome guitar playing in here, and again, the song slowly fades out.

04. Breakfast In America (2:39): The shortest and most commercial song on the album. I myself love it. It starts out immediatly with a great, dark piano chord riff. The awesome verse kicks in, with superb vocals by Roger. I just love his crisp, high vocals. The chorus kicks in after this, which is pretty cool but not of such high standard as the verse. Another great verse kicks in after this, followed shortly by another chorus. This leads into a cool section with some strange instruments. The third verse is the best, with Roger screaming ''Don't you look at my girlfriend! She's the only one I've got''. Shortly thereafter comes another chorus, and the same section with strange instruments kicks in again. After this, the song ends.

05. Oh Darling (4:02): A pretty boring song. Very commercial. There's not a whole lot to say about it. The cool bluesy guitar riffing in the second verse is cool though. The song is not very memorable, and thus I won't really say much about this.

06. Take The Long Way Home (5:08): It starts out with eerie synth playing, followed shortly by some loud piano playing. Some amazing harmonica playing fills in along with the lovely piano riff. The first verse comes in after this, with nonsensical lyrics. Still, great vocals by Roger as always. Some great drum fills leads into the amazing chorus with great chord progressions. Multitracked vocals make it even better. Another catchy verse kicks in after this, again with pretty nonsensical vocals. Another chorus comes in after this, with great ride cymbal playing by Bob Siebenberg. After this, some great saxophone and harmonica soloing kicks in, followed shortly by another lovely chorus. A new interpretation of the verse riff kicks in after this, quite cool to hear how one can bend a riff like that. After that, Roger sings ''long way home... long way home...'' for a good 30 seconds, and then the song ends.

07. Lord Is It Mine (4:09): This one is lovely. Emotional piano playing introduces us to the first verse, where Roger sings some sad vocals. When he sings ''Is it mine? Oh Lord, is it mine?'' it makes me crack up. Another verse kicks in after this, again with the lovely vocals. An amazing bridge comes up after this, with catchy drumming. It sounds very unlike Supertramp, yet it is undeniably them. This leads into another verse, with great lyrics. Again, the bridge comes up after that, louder this time. The vocals are so great here that I can't explain it. Some mellow tenor saxophone soloing comes up after this, playing over the main riff. A completely new section arises after this, and the song climaxes with Roger screaming after this. After this, another new section comes up, which is lovely as well. Suddenly the intro riff plays up again, only to die out shortly thereafter. Great song.

08. Just Another Nervous Wreck (4:25): A cool synth riff plays, followed by Rick's great vocals. The lyrics are pretty cool. A sweet chorus drives into gear after this. Some unfitting drumming is followed by this in the second verse. I don't really like it. Anyway, another great chorus is played after this. The bridge comes up after this, with a lovely chord progression, and Rick's usual loud vocals. The album's only guitar solo is played after this, and though nothing amazing, it is lovely. The chorus comes up after this, and another bridge comes after this. Ride cymbal playing is introduced to us in the chorus that follows shortly, and after this the song fades out.

09. Casual Conversations (2:59): This song is another short one. Some jazzy chord playing takes up the first verse, with Rick's melancholy vocals fitting the mood perfectly. The chorus is pretty cool, with lovely percussion playing. A stunning saxophone solo kicks in at 1:30, and after that, the song sort of repeats itself. It ends after that.

10: Child of Vision (7:28): The only song on the album to have considerable length, it is nothing short of amazing. An awesome and stunning synth riff is played immediatly as the song starts. Slowly going down in key, ending on a chord, the loud drumming is heard. More synth layers on top of this leads into a catchy section with some great fill's on the synth. After this, the verse kicks in. One of the most awesome riffs ever occupies the first four bars of this, followed thereafter by Roger's most amazing vocals and lyrics. ''Well who you think you're fooling? You say you're having fun! But you're busy going nowhere, just lying in the sun!''. The lyrics are the best, apparently about Rick Davies (How Supertramp's succes had changed him''. The bridge comes in after this, with Roger singing ''How can you live in this way?''. Ironically, Rick answers the questions that Roger asks. After this, the chorus kicks in. Choir-like multitracked vocals make it nothing short of amazing. The second verse is as amazing as the first one was, with more lovely lyrics. The bridge again has Question-Answer lyrics, and another great chorus kicks in after this. At three minutes in, this is where the instrumental section begins. An awesome piano solo plays above the chords of the verse, loudly and in high key. It's pretty bluesy in a way, great in contrast to the dark verse riff. I must say that the bass playing is great here. Of course, the piano solo carries on for a long time, getting better the longer it goes. The synth also gets more intense the longer it goes. After four minutes of piano soloing, the song slowly fades out along with the saxophone and catchy drumming. Amazing.

Thank you for reading this review. If you interested in more Supertramp reviews, I've written a review for Crime of The Century and Brother Where You Bound as well. Anyway, this album is recommended for everyone who enjoys 70's pop with art rock touches. And Child of Vision is an amazing song in it's own right. Cheers! //Axel