CRIME OF THE CENTURY

Supertramp's 'Crime of the Century' is the piece de resistance as far as the band goes, reaching a peak in their career and becoming their one and only super smash hit, although 'Breakfast in America' made a huge impact with the smash hit single 'The Logical Song' (my absolute favourite).

COTC features some of the all time greatest Supertramp blockbusters such as 'Dreamer' that is found on every compilation and features in many pop culture forms on TV. 'Bloody Well Right' is the angst driven rocker where we can't get that wretched chorus out of our heads. The music is infectious and catchy hooks are prevalent. Both are well known outside of prog circles of course, but does this album have anything to offer to the prog fan? The answer is very little. There is a kind of running theme on the ideas of education, loneliness and alienation. This is debatable and I see very little connection to the songs really. The lead vocalist Roger Hodgson is as high pitched as Jon Anderson, and he is balanced by Rick Davies. The keyboards are a main focus played deftly by Davies and there are some delightful soaring saxophone passages by Helliwell. The musicianship is very innovative and replete with driving rhythms and soft ambience interspersed in each track.

Other highlights include 'School' and the majestic showstopper 'Crime of the Century' where Helliwell takes off in full flight on sax.

Overall it is a solid commercial sounding album with great production and sound but it is not as good as hyped. It is not really prog though has elements in the crossover genre. This soft AOR rock never really appealed to me and although this is Supertramp's best album 3 stars is the most I can give this.

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