CRIME OF THE CENTURY

Ah, Crime of the Century. That album that I loved so much in my student days, that we all used to listen to in my room and sing along to. But it occurred to me that I haven't played it for over 10 years and I couldn't think why not. So I took it out and gave it a spin and the reason became clear - it's not actually that great.

Firstly the great prog debate - is it or isn't it? The answer is definitely yes - it's classic arty prog, full of keyboards and sax, driven along by some superb bass lines from Dougie Thompson. But they could do with more guitar to add variety - and Rick Davies isn't actually that good a guitarist - and the vocals are an acquired taste. To my ears, they're a bit strained and screechy.

There are some great tracks built around the theme of madness and alienation. School, Dreamer, Crime of the Century and particularly Hide in your Shell are wonderful. But Bloody Well Right, with its sing along lyric is actually quite crude and doesn't fit the album at all and Rudy is pretty boring. So it's a bit of mixed bag. Sure, it's an astonishing improvement on their previous two offerings, which were dire. At one time, I'd have given this 5* without hesitation. Now, I realise its limitations and faults all too clearly and it doesn't even quite rate 4*.