Reaction to SUPERTRAMP - "Crime of the Century" (Side 2)

Their best album. Breakfast in America gets all the attention but this album blows it out of the water.

Probably one of the best albums ever

This album is an absolute masterpiece. You will like “Even in the Quietest Moments” as well.

For those of us who lived through this, you can understand why we find todays music lacking. On to 'Even in the Quietest Moment'!

One of the best albums ever to play from start to finish, no stopping.

All the masterpieces you read about from Yes, Genesis, Supertramp, Pink Floyd, Queen etc. all came out in a 2 year span around this time... I was a kid at the time... you couldn't keep up with album purchases or time to listen... was extraordinary... don't think it has been done before or since. It was a peak of creative licence and recording technology converging.

At last a reviewer who can listen to a song and appreciate what's going on and the skills involved, and with Super tramp there's so much to enjoy from this criminally underrated band, bravo young lady.

" Crime of the Century " perfect album ending song.

Hi Verdy, Excellent reaction. Supertramp does have a theatrical sound. Their music is like listening to a movie. I saw them in concert three times in the 1970s. They had a projector that showed a train going faster and faster during the song Rudy. It begins in the middle of the song when they go to the piano and build up from there. During the song Crime of the Century there is a small dot on a black screen that comes closer as Rick sings. When he is done singing you see earth and before the instrumental begins it blows up with a huge explosion. It was startling. That's why I remember it so well. During the instrumental for the rest of the song the parts of earth fly out until you see the album cover with the bars and hands at the end. All of the white dots are the remaining pieces of earth. This band is one of my all time favorites and I still listen to them on a regular basis after 48 years. The transitions and how they build up their songs is what I love the most. When I want to hear their hit songs I like to watch them in concert, mostly the Live in Paris performance. Rick, Roger and especially John Helliwell move around the stage during songs to play different instruments. During the song School, Rick starts out with the harmonica, then he plays the Wurlitzer electric piano and moves to the piano. Dougie Thompson, the bass player, starts out playing an organ and then gets up to play his bass. When I want to hear all of their songs I play their albums. No headphones. Loudspeakers like old time because I like to physically feel the music. Their next album, Crisis? What Crisis? would be a good choice if you choose to listen to another one. I heard them play songs from that album before it was released. I was about 15 feet away from Rick Davies and it was great to watch him sing. His real voice and how he sings is much better than studio albums.

little info about the album is, if Crime of the Century hadn't sold, it would have been the end of Supertramp's career, thank God it turned out differently! Certainly one of the best albums of all time after Dark Side of the Moon.... Greetings from Germany

Glad you liked this and are discovering that there is more to Supertramp than Breakfast in America. Please check out where they went next with ‘Crisis, what crisis’

You will always be a Supertramp fan now Verdy, and there's nothing you can do about it.

1970-1975 was the ABSOLUTE best music period ever, Genesis, Yes and Led Zeppelin in another level, another galaxy... plus the rest, Pink Floyd ELP Supertramp etc etc etc

Saw Supertramp 4 times, brilliant musicianship brilliant tunes and one of the better live groups around

When they were playing in Edmonton ,twenty thousand of us were all sitting there just transfixed and when Rudy came on they had a video of a train traveling through England but greatly speeded up and the crowd just erupted .Roger said " I guess you liked the fast train" The crowd erupted again and after that the concert got a lot more noisy and engaging. Great Musicians ,all of them.

This is my personal dilemma……..I “love “Pink Floyd”, they are incredible. Supertramp is equally as musically talented….but then they play a much larger number of instruments and rhythms. That’s why my heart goes back and forth as to who is my most favourite. I really can’t decide.

It's so good to see that this album still has the same effect on a first time listener all these decades later. Now you know how we all felt way back in the 70's. You asked why you had never heard it before? I think you should severely admonish your parents for not forcing you to listen to it in your teenage years. Just kidding. I sincerely hope you check out some of the live performances available on Youtube. Then you will see who is playing all the various instruments, & who does which vocals. Beautiful reaction as always. Bless you.

It is nice to see young people particularly girls discovering this classic music,

When you asked who was playing the piano in Rudy it was Rick Davies. One of the ways to tell who is playing keyboards is if you hear a guitar. If you hear a guitar, Rick is playing a keyboard and Roger Hodgson is playing the guitar. If there isn't a guitar then both Rick and Roger are playing keyboards. In the song, Dreamer, Roger is playing the Wurlitzer electric piano, the one you talk about, and Rick is playing an organ too. Each keyboard sound quite different from one another. They have a Wurlitzer electric piano, piano, another organ with I think three different keyboards and a V shaped synthesizer when they are on a stage. John Helliwell, Roger and Rick play that one at different times.. Sometimes Roger will stop playing his guitar and play the synth. The violin sounds come from the V shaped synthesizer when they are on the stage.

Supertramp is my all time favorite, this album in particular is so well done that you would never guess it was from 1974. The album Crisis. What Crisis? Is as well a good listen. You might want to check it out.