CRIME OF THE CENTURY

Crime Of The Century is one of my all-time favourite albums. I love the blends of mainstream pop with jazzy art rock. The album remains very consistent throughout, and is packed with tons of great melodies, harmonies, chord progressions and variety. All of the musicians are talented, and work very well together, and Hodgson and Davies are excellent songwriters. They made a superb comeback here after the less impressive (but somewhat underrated) "Indelibly Stamped".

The album begins with "School", one of the best tracks on the album. On my first few listens, the harmonica intro (and the rest of the track in that case) dragged on a bit for me, but over time I've gotten to appreciate the length of it. The lyrics describe Hodgson's experience of school when he was younger, which I felt I could really relate to. There is some great musicianship on this song, especially the piano solo at around 3 minutes into it. The song also has a very nice beat and structure in the bass, holding it together well, and some great harmonies (though possibly some missed opportunities).

Again, "Bloody Well Right" has a bit of a lengthy intro, but I have grown to really like it. I suppose the whole song goes a bit too much into mainstream on the mainstream side. I think "Dreamer" itself got enough notability for them, and a second single wasn't really necessary, but nevertheless a great change from the 2 lengthy more "experimental" songs either side of it. I love the guitar on it though - some great wah-wah techniques, and lovely jazzy keyboard moments before the heavy verse kicks in, with Davies' wonderfully harsh vocals. On the whole, definitely catchy, and some very talented musicianship again. The piano, guitar, (and saxophones) work very well together. A great chemistry, and more brilliantly placed harmonies.

"Hide In Your Shell" and "Asylum" are both quite similar. They have very lush piano parts, and are perhaps being more experimental. Both have great lyrics and music, and are being quite experimental. This is contrasted by the relatively simple and more mainstream "Dreamer". Once again, great harmonies, lyrics, and an excellent feel comes through Hodgson's vocals and the chord progressions. An excellent way to start the 2nd side.

"Rudy" is a sort of concept song about a man on a train who's been essentially wasting his life, but there's lots of ideas you can get from it. I was writing a similar song myself, but sort of gave up when I first heard this - another little masterpiece, very underrated on the album. Also, great climaxes, and allows enough time for all of the instruments to play out, without dragging it on.

"If Everyone Was Listening", again has all of these things previously mentioned. The song itself is quite basic essentially and leaves a bit to imagination. On the whole, one of the weaker songs but still amazing, and has been my favourite on the album many times. Lovely theatrical lyrics open to interpretation, and musically great with the basic piano and vocal melodies/harmonies.

The final song "Crime Of The Century" sort of sums up the album in a way. It's really quite minor and looking at the world in a hopeless kind of way, almost apocalyptic. Quite difficult to explain. Looking back, this theme is maintained is every song. It's comes out strongly every now and then to give you something to think about, but it's always there in some way. The song itself begins with some quite interesting piano chords, and Davies taking helm on the vocals. After a couple of minutes, the song goes into an instrumental, bringing back in all of the instruments heard throughout the album (guitar, saxophone, and finally harmonica, neatly ending the album and referring to the beginning). On the whole, the song could be a little better, but I couldn't imagine the album without it.

A+ - Supertramp's greatest work without a doubt, and one of the greatest in prog rock. Every song gets 5 stars from me.