Supertramp

In 1979 we lived in a cabin in the Santa Cruz mountains. One day we were blasting Goodbye Stranger as loud as the Sanyo receiver could drive the Advents. It sounded great. My nearest neighbor was far away but after the song ended he shouted down the canyon "would you please turn that down?" This was not studied critical admiration but thoughtless visceral total enjoyment-the best kind maybe.

A few months ago, I bought the Supertramp 2-Disc Cd "Retrospectacle-The Supertramp Anthology" and it has become one of my favorite Cds. Excellent band, excellent songs. I have almost all of their albums on vinyl too.

My favorite is Crime of the Century. I think Supertramp got a little overexposed later in their career. That being said, their first few albums stand the test of time and
Paris captures a lot of that spirit.

I have a sealed copy of Paris as a back up to my nearly worn out copy. Great album. Also a big fan of Crime of the Century and Some things Never Change.

Big Supertramp fan here. Unfortunately never did see them live in their original form but did see Roger a few years back in a very small venue - great show! Retrospectacle is a great compilation but shame on them for not including "Hide in your Shell"...

"Crisis, What Crisis?," their follow up to Crime, is one of my favorites. It is often difficult to write the next album after the big one that put the band on the map, but with this one I think they succeeded. "A Soap box Opera" is amazing in its writing and performance. And then of course a couple of records later they hit the big, big time with Breakfast and it seemed every Honda Accord in 1979 in a parking lot was blasting this out the back with the hatch open.

One of favorite bands of all time. Glad another finds "Soapbox Opera" special. Crime of the Century was the album gold standard to test dynamics in my local hifi shop in the mid-70's. This music began my quest as an audiophile and drove me to purchase my first quality piece of gear - a brand new Marantz 2275. Luckily, I saw Supertramp at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in 1974 where they performed the Crime album in its sequential entirety live. I still remember near the end of the show as that title cut began, the auditorium went even darker showing a large video behind the band of the cosmos coming toward you "Who are these men of lust, greed, and glory? Rip off the masks and let's see" and in the vast distance one begins to make out the tiny image of hands gripping a set of jail bars while the striking piano riffs and pounding drums assault the audience as the gripping hands coming slowly closer and closer view until they eventually take up the screen. It blew me away. I saw them a few years later at the Great Western Forum on their Breakfast tour. Also great. I remember Elton John and Alice Cooper joining in on the Hide in Your Shell finale. Never really did care much for the Logical song, but there are so many others I really enjoy such as Asylum, If Everyone Was Listening, Fool's Overture, etc. I do wish the boys would get along and tour again - they are better together.

Crime of the century is a masterpiece and I have been jamming it in my car off and on for the past few months. Even in the quietest moments has some good material but lacks the overall quality of crime.

Bianchi,
Your post makes no sense.

"Crime of the Century" and "Breakfast in America" belong to a category I'd label as perfect. And they sound absolutely amazing.

I'm glad to hear that Supertramp fans like other records outside of the two I mentioned. I thought Crime and Breakfast were the only two worth having. I'll look for the other records mentioned in this thread.

They were great from the start but I do agree with the OP. The Paris album is imo a maturation where they got it just right on the prior Breakfast tunes. Definitely one of the 10 best of all time bands.

I've always enjoyed Crisis, What Crisis? and Even in the Quietest Moments. Maybe all cuts aren't as polished and brilliant as Breakfast or Crime but still excellent and fresh. They have not been so over played on the radio. Sonics are excellent on both. No doubt about that. I have 3 versions of the albums original lp, first generation cd, and cd reissues. I'd rank them this way for SQ.
MFSL LP Crime of Century
Then all 4 regular issue LPs
Original CD releases
CD Reissues

It is not that the reissues sound bad, they sound fine, I just think the original CDs are truer to the original CDs.

Another Supertramp fan here. The LP that did it for me,
"Even in the Quietest Moments". The title track &
'Fool's Overture' are favorites from that. ("There's a
lot of me got to go under before I get high." -
profoundly true in so many ways.) I listened to it over and
over back in the day before the internet and CDs. I don't
think I even knew what other recordings they had out until
Breakfast In America came around. I don't own, "Crisis
What Crisis?" or "Crime of the Century"!
Guess I'll have to fix that. I tend to like the long track,
e.g., Fool's Overture, Breakfast in America, Bro. Where You
Bound that seems a hallmark of the recordings I do own. So
do the 5 I have (mix of LPs and CDs) cover enough of their
discography? I have a cassette a buddy made of the Paris
recording. Guess that should be added to the list.
Anything else? Good thread, Donjr.

Wait to you hear Crime of he Century. You'll be amazed.

I recorded the simple striking piano chords of Crime into a ring tone and wonder if some will be able to identify it.

Hey all (again, good thread started by Donjr). I'm wondering if any of you have followed Roger Hodgson's solo work. I think I prefer his contributions to Supertramp vs those from Davies. Expect I will order "Eye of the Storm" and "Open the Door". If any of you have those, please let me know your opinion. Donjr, I hope you will not object to this minor hijack. Does seem in keeping with the spirit of your original post. Ciao.

I don't mind at all. The man whom so eloquently sang Hide in Your Shell deserves a plug. I haven't followed Roger so I hope some people chime in. I'm always looking for new music.

Well, I will let you you know, Don. Ordered a used "like new" CD (pricey!)of Open The Door from Amazon and a factory sealed vinyl version of Eye of the Storm off Ebay. Had listened to some samples and for me many had the same vibe that I liked when he was with Supertramp.

Donjr - if you like Supertramp, I think you will like both Open the Door and Eye of the Storm. I probably prefer EotS a little more than OtD but that is based on just 1 listen to each. Recordings (Lp and CD) both seem a little "hot" (emphasized treble) to my ear but not terribly so.

Big Supertramp fan here, too. Those guys could write melodies that would keep you up at night. And nobody defined their sound like Roger Hodgson.

Rebbi - if you don't have them, the solo stuff I mentioned by Roger Hodgson is very enjoyable.

Yes, loved Supertramp and got the kids listening to and talking about them at an early age, which in part got them playing instruments. They're teens now and much more into music than their peers. I credit the home music system and a steady diet of classics like 'Tramp for that

Hodgson was great but Rick Davies piano work (Rudy, School, Child Of Vision) and deep, low vocals were what hooked me. The musicianship of the group in general--they had an extraordinary drummer in Bob Benberg (?) and the winds/sax, Helliwell. They reminded me of Tull and ELP, just lighter, frothier and more pop centered. Their music remains accessible and vibrant. Definitely still holds up today. Thanks for the reminder, time to pull out Quietest Moments and Crime again!

Samuel,

I got my 10 year old daughter hooked on Supertramp just playing it in the car on the way to school. She was fascinated by the vocal harmonies and strong melodies.

I saw them live twice way back when, once indoors and once outdoors. The indoor concert was one of the best I ever attended, esp. the train ride during Rudy. Of course, a little "medicinal" help didn't hurt either.