Forgotten Music Thursday: Supertramp - ...Famous Last Words (1982)

After the smash success of their Breakfast in America album, Supertramp bought themselves sometime by releasing the live album, Paris in 1980 and re-grouped in 1982 for what would be Roger Hodgson's final album with the band.

While not as commercially or critically successful as Supertramp's seventies material, ...Famous Last Words is still a strong album and is still very faithful to the sound and musical style that the band had made their own in the previous decade.

The biggest hit from this album, It's Raining Again is perhaps one of the weaker songs on the album.  It has that fun whimsical style but it also comes across as the band merely going through the motions.

The real meat & potatoes of the album are some of the deeper cuts like Crazy & Put On Your Old Brown Shoes.  Both of which take full advantage of the vocals of both Hodgson & Davies not to mention the superlative woodwind skills of John Helliwell and apparently the band thought well enough of both of those songs as they did make it onto the setlist of Hodgson's farewell tour with the band.

While both Hodgson & Supertramp would later find some success separately there was a lightning in a bottle magic that crystallized on Crime of the Century and remained present through Hodgson's final show with the band in Munich in 1983.  And admittedly, this album isn't as good as Crime of the Century, Breakfast in America, or even Crisis?  What Crisis?! but it is still quite enjoyable and remains a worthy bookend to Roger Hodgson's tenure in the band.

Related Links & Media
Supertramp Crisis? What Crisis?! (1975) review
Supertramp Even In the Quietest Moments (1977) review
Supertramp Breakfast in America (1979) review
Roger Hodgson In the Eye of the Storm (1984) review
Supertramp It Was the Best of Times (2000) review
Roger Hodgson Open the Door (2000) review
Something Else Reviews: Featured Artist - Supertramp

Forgotten Music Thursday - Roger Hodgson - In the Eye of the Storm (1984)

Debut solo albums by former members of notable groups tend to come in one of two varieties-- restrained and tentative or explosive brilliant bursts of creative energy. 

After his tremendous success in Supertramp, Roger launched his solo career with this creative explosion of a debut.  Not only did Roger write, arrange, and produce his debut he also played most of the instruments.  This is a solo album in one of the purest senses of the word.

The album opens with ambitious and cynical eight plus minute Had a Dream (Sleeping with the Enemy).  There was a single edit, however it barely cracked the Billboard charts.  This is likely because any editing of the song would do/did do it a huge disservice.  The song is best enjoyed in its entirety, as are all seven of the songs on this rather auspicious album.

The album then shifts to In Jeopardy which at times hints at the Greg Kihn band hit from a year or two before this album's release...  That is to say it sounds like how the Greg Kihn hit might have sounded had it been recorded by Supertramp instead of the Greg Kihn Band.  Despite the similarities it is a different song that hints and insinuates the other song without ever really plagiarizing it.

Lovers in the Wind is the album's shortest song at four minutes, thirteen seconds.  It has a slow building piano intro reminiscent of Fools Overture from Supertramp's Even In the Quietest Moments.  The vocals are also reminiscent of Fools Overture.  There's a wistful melancholy undercurrent throughout the song that keeps in line with Hodgson's at time biting and cynical and other times laidback and melancholy vibe on this album.

Hooked on a Problem and Give Me Love, Give Me Like sound like they could have come straight off of Supertramp's Crisis? What Crisis?!  Hints of Sister Moonshine and A Soapbox Opera are evident on both songs and musically it is from the same vein of most of the material from that album.

I'm Not Afraid sounds like Roger picking up right where he left off with Supertramp on Famous Last Words.  There are hints of Crazy that can be heard at different times throughout the song. 

The album closes with the haunting melancholy of Only Because of You.  The song shows off Roger's multiple talents (vocalist, keyboardist, arranger, percussionist, songwriter, producer, etc.)  Perhaps moreso than any other song on the album this is an example of all of those talents coming together just right.  Musically it's also an excellent bookend for the album.  It complements the opener, Had a Dream (Sleeping With the Enemy) quite beautifully and gives the listener sense of coming full circle and gives the album a sense of completion.

As already stated, the Supertramp influence throughout the album is unmistakable to the point where it could easily be argued that Roger sounds more like Supertramp after leaving the band than they sounded after continuing on without him.  All that's missing are the trademark Davies/Hodgson collaborations that made those albums so enjoyable.  And given the somewhat divergent direction that Supertramp went following Roger's departure evidence would indicate that he was largely responsible for their trademark sound.  Their sound suffered more from his departure than his sound/style did.

Despite having only seven songs, the album clocks in at just over seven minutes.  Only one of the songs falls under five minutes with several being over six minutes and a couple are even over eight minutes long.  While not progressive rock in the purest sense of the word the album could certainly be described as progressive pop-- the somewhat more accessible "little brother" to prog rock. 

Unfortunately, Roger's 1987 follow-up Hai Hai would lack the brilliance and creativity of his debut and an injury would curtail his career until the late 90s.  Thankfully he finally did show a return to form in 2000 with Open the Door.

While Roger's career in Supertramp is still well respected his solo career, given its sporadic nature, has gone largely forgotten by all but his most die-hard fans since his departure from the band.

This album is a "must-have" for any fan of Supertramp and it's even a little bittersweet as one wonders what material they could have continued recording had Roger never parted ways with them and its easily better than any of their post-Roger output.

Related Links
Other Roger Hodgson/Supertramp reviews
Roger Hodgson (official site)
Roger Hodgson (wikipedia)
Roger Hodgson (AllMusicGuide)

Supertramp - Even In the Quietest Moments (1977)

While, on the whole not as strong or consistent as Crime of the Century or Crisis? What Crisis?!; Even in the Quietest Moments has some absolutely brilliant moments and gave glimpses of the musical brilliance yet to come with their 1979 masterpiece, Breakfast in America.

The album starts with a bit of a surprise, Give a Little Bit. Supertramp has never been considered much of a guitar-oriented band-- so starting an album off with the acoustic guitar driven Give a Little Bit is a rather ballsy move. A move that however paid off as Give a Little Bit remains an FM classic rock radio staple to this day. The album also closes with a bang; arguably one of their most adventurous and daring songs, Fool's Overture. Clocking in at just under eleven minutes, Fool's Overture is an homage to all the prophets of history who were seen as fools in their own time, their brilliance often not realized until after their prophecies came to fruition. The song is beautiful, melodic, and quite touching.

Supertramp has never been a band that's been easy to pigeonhole. They've often been considered "progressive rock" by the mainstream, but at the same time rarely do the get mentioned in the same breath as groups like Yes, King Crimson, ELP, Genesis, Rush, Caravan, or even Starcastle. Perhaps the biggest difference between Supertramp and groups that are traditionally considered to be progressive rock is the emotive level of Supertramp's music. Most progressive rock is considered "thinking man's music" largely due to the technical prowess of the musicians which perform it. Supertramp in contrast have often been able to generate not just an appreciation of their technique but also genuine emotion. And even though it's not as strong as many of their other albums, Even In the Quietest Moments is no exception. The music is poignant, almost like an old friend reminding you he/she is there. You may not need that old friend right now, but it's always nice to know you have a friend like Supertramp when you need it.

Perhaps what keeps this album from attaining the high quality of Crime of the Century or Crisis? What Crisis?! is that with only seven songs clocking in at only forty-three minutes, the album merely whets the appetite whereas the two previous albums not only whet the appetite but sated the musical hunger of the listener. With the album ending on such a strong note with Fool's Overture it really leaves you wanting more making the album feel as though it has ended far too abruptly.

Related Links
Give a Little Bit


From Now On

Fool's Overture

Supertramp - Breakfast in America (1979)

Despite initially getting off to a rocky start with two albums that were essentially ignored by the public in the early seventies (their debut and it's immediate follow-up, Indelibly Stamped), Supertramp more than made up for it with 1974's Crime of the Century and with that album the band also seemed to find it's footing-- putting out a series of exceptional albums; Crisis?! What Crisis?, Even In the Quietest Moments, and then this-- their smash hit, the pinnacle of their success, Breakfast in America.

While this isn't their best album, it is their most accessible and radio friendly. Spawning the hits Goodbye Stranger, Breakfast in America, The Logical Song, and Take the Long Way Home radio and the general public could not get enough of this gem.

And listening to the album start to finish, it's not difficult to understand why. The album is infectious, it grabs hold of the listener on Gone Hollywood and doesn't let go until Child of Vision.

Despite this not being their best album, it is certainly still one of their better, in the succession of albums they released between 1974 and Roger Hodgson's departure in 1983. The vocal chemistry between Hodgson and Davies is the best it had been since Crisis?! What Crisis? The songs are crisp and exceptionally executed and capture the overall dour melancholia that was so pervasive in that era.

This album could not be duplicated today, it's a capsule of a place in history and perhaps better than just about any other album from that era, Breakfast in America is a snapshot of the overall mood of the western world at the time of the album's recording. What was not captured in the album's lyrics was certainly captured in the music and the overall performance of the album as a whole.

Related Links
Roger Hodgson - Open the Door (2000) review
Supertramp - Crisis?! What Crisis? (1975) review
Supertramp - It Was the Best of Times (1999) review

Goodbye Stranger

Breakfast in America

The Logical Song

Take the Long Way Home

Roger Hodgson - Open the Door (2000)

Roger Hodgson's output since his departure from Supertramp can best be described as "intermittent." Thirteen years elapsed between his 2nd studio release, Hai Hai and Open the Door. But this album has been well worth the long wait.

This album is easily the most Supertramp sounding album since Famous Last Words, the last album Hodgson did with his former band before embarking on his solo career. It's even safe to say that this album sounds more like Supertramp than even Supertramp sounds without Hodgson.

Open the Door was recorded in the French countryside and the influences of Hodgson's setting and his use of French musicians in his backing band give the album a style all its own.

At times Christopher Negre's sax playing is so startlingly reminiscent of John Helliwell and the keyboarding tandem of Hodgson and Arnaud Dunoyer de Segonzac hearkens back to the chemistry that Hodgson shared with Rich Davies.

This is one of those rare albums where there's nary a bad track. It is truly seamless in its exceptional quality. But with the striking resemblance to classic Supertramp, it does leave us begging the question, When is the reunion? Hopefully this album will "open the door" on the possibility of a Supertramp reunion.

Supertramp - Crisis? What Crisis?!?! (1975)

Most of Supertramp's big hits ended up on 1974's Crime of the Century or 1979's Breakfast in America. Indeed, Crisis? What Crisis?!? doesn't contain any of those fun hummable and singable tunes that made those other albums such huge sellers. That being said, this album has something both those albums, lack-- CONSISTENCY.

While it lacks the big hits, it also lacks the clunkers that often fall victim to the "skip" button.

Every song on the album is trademark Supertramp, with Roger Hodgson's soaring tenor and Rich Davies' more somber melancholy vocals gracing every track.

There aren't many albums I can say this about, but Crisis? What Crisis?! is an album I never tire of. As much as I love Supertramp's hits, this album seems to have a little something extra their other albums lack. They start the album firing on all pistons and they don't let up on any song.

Why songs like Sister Moonshine and Soapbox Opera never got the airplay or acclaim that songs like Bloody Well Right and The Logical Song received is beyond me. The songs on this gem of an album are as good as anything else Supertramp has ever done.

If you're familiar with and enjoy Supertramp's hits, I dare you to take an excursion into this gem of an album to hear 10 pieces of aural candy that remain largely undiscovered outside the circle of Supertramp's more dedicated fans. And if you're already familiar with this album, maybe it's time to take a trip down memory lane by giving it another spin or two. You won't be sorry you did!