SUPERTRAMP

A very underrated album generally! The first Supertramp album has all the flair of being progressive, great jamming leads and a twist of dare I say it psychedlia at times. I am quite surprised it never did any better on release although by all accounts it caught up a bit in sales as people bought CD replacements etc and also capturing a new generations of fans.

" Surely if I lied could I love you, nothing of our lies could we share....." Hows that for hard hitting nasty lyrics? ' Surely' starts with a quick lyrical blow to the solar plexus.The rest of side one comprises of shortish songs but with great singing by Roger Hodgson. They have simple but pure sounding melodies and you can hear from their debut how Supertramp already had that basic ingredient that demaned an audience.' It's a long road', ' Am I not like other Birds of Prey' and the beautiful ' Words Unspoken' confirm this. Side 2 has a more rock and jam approach and for me the better of the two sides.' Nothing to Show' is great pure rock.' Shadow Song' reminds me of ' Harlequin' ( Genesis) and ' Bound for Infinity' ( Renaissance) with it's hypnotic but subdued undertones.' Try Again' is another 12 minute rocker but it sounds almost king Crimson like in the middle as it rambles off, almost psychotic at times.' Surely' returns as a reprise just to remind you/her/him that no matter how much we want to pretend it's a waste of time. Wham!another kick to the solar plexus. There were to be some personnel changes for Indelibly Stamped the follow up but this is a great debut album from Supertramp. Four and a half stars.