BB's Album Rankings - Supertramp

Supertramp - Album ranking - Least to Most Favorite

Time again for another artist album ranking! And here we have another one of my favorite bands, Supertamp. Supertramp is known for their own brand of melodic progressive rock, blending catchy pop melodies with a jazz and blues-influenced prog rock sound, as well as for their keyboard-dominant songs and the dual vocal and songwriting interplay of Rick Davies and Roger Hodgson, not to mention the sax and winds contributions of John Helliwell. A great, underappreciated band with a unique style and sound, they fleshed out their pop vocal melodies with dynamic musicianship and magical extended instrumental sections. Moving from a more progressive aesthetic to a more pop-rock-oriented style over time, Supertramp released 11 studio albums over a 30-plus year period, but they are primarily known for their 5 album mid-career 'classic' period from 1974-1982, containing their prog rock masterpiece Crime of the Century (1974) and culminating in their commercial success breakthrough with the smash hit Breakfast in America (1979). Supertramp was originally formed in London by Rick Davies (songwriter-keyboards-vocals) and Roger Hodgson (songwriter-guitar-bass-vocals) with the backing of a Dutch Millionaire, Stanley August Miesegaes (SAM), under their original name Daddy, which was changed to Supertramp in 1970. Roger and Rick came from very different backgrounds and musical inspirations, with Rick devoted to blues and jazz and Roger favoring pop music, but they hit it off, and their mix of bluesy jazz and pop would form the foundation of their 'progressive pop' sound. The band went through various lineup changes (at bass, guitar, and drums) in the early years, and appeared to be done following the failure of their first two albums, Supertramp (1970) and Indelibly Stamped (1971), to have any impact, leading to the loss of their recording contract, their financial backing, and the backing band. But Rick and Roger weren't finished yet and had some new songs that they considered their best ever, and thus re-grouped to form a new band around their 2-man core. By 1973, the revised lineup featured Dougie Thomson (bass), John Anthony Helliwell (sax, clarinet, backing vocals), and American drummer Bob Siebenberg, alongside Rick and Roger, which would constitute the 'classic' lineup in place until 1983. The band took their time creating the first album with the revised lineup and new songs, and brought in noted engineer-producer Ken Scott, and the result was the phenomenal prog-rock masterpiece Crime of the Century (1974). More great albums followed with Crisis? What Crisis? (1975) and Even in the Quietest Moments (1977). Through this time, however, Rick and Roger were growing farther apart, each separately writing their songs in increasingly divergent styles, with Roger pursuing more commercial pop songs and Rick sticking with bluesy and jazzier influences. In 1979, they released Breakfast in America, which combined both aspects but presented in a slick and effective radio-friendly style, drawing great critical and popular success and acclaim, producing 4 hit singles, multi-platinum sales, and winning Grammy Awards for best pop vocal performance, best engineered album, and album of the year. But the disputes and differences between Rick and Roger continued to grow, and they would record just one more album, the less well-received Famous Last Words (1982) before Roger Hodgson left the band to go solo. Rick carried on Supertramp with all the other members remaining, and with Roger gone, wrote all the songs and focused on a more progressive rock sound, still melodic, but built around his jazz and blues background, with the release of Brother Where You Bound? (1985). But because many fans preferred the pop stylings and production of the previous couple albums (and didn't accept a Supertramp without Roger), the album was much less successful. A further ill-fated attempt to update their sound and regain some pop success with Free as a Bird (1987) fell flat, leading to the dissolution of the band for several years. But Rick got the band back together in 1996 (with Helliwell and Siebenberg plus a new guitarist and bass player) and released Some Things Never Change (1997) featuring a breazy, laid-back jazzy feel. One more album was released a few years later with the same lineup, Slow Motion (2003), featuring a slow jazz-pop feel. Reunions with Roger and Rick were attempted a couple times, but always dissolved before ever fully materializing, first in 1993, then in 2005, and since then both Roger and Rick have stated that it was not likely to ever happen. But the band continued to tour off and on through the years, most recently in 2010-2011 as part of a 40th Anniversary tour. Their last show was in July 2011. Although a further tour was announced for 2015, that tour was cancelled due to Rick Davies' health issues, battling multiple myeloma. Although Rick has since mostly recovered, he has said that it is unlikely they would ever perform again as Supertramp.  

Here, then is my ranking of the 11 studio albums released by Supertramp. They also had a couple live albums (including the best-selling Paris in 1980) and numerous compilations, but I deal only with the studio albums here. Once again, these rankings are based only on my own personal preferences, that is, my favorite albums, from least to most favorite. And with this band, there are no bad albums, several very good to great albums, and a few real masterpeices. Although it is a common perception that those middle 5 albums from 1974-1982 are the only ones that matter or are worth listening to, I think that is very misguided, in that they made very good albums all throughout their history, and if you ignore those earlier and later albums, you are missing out on a large part of what makes them great (as well as a lot of great music). I know that for many, it was just not Supertramp anymore without Roger Hodgson. But for me, personally, although certainly Roger was an important part of Supertramp, I always preferred Rick's songs and style, and so I was OK with a Supertramp led by Rick without Roger (and much preferable to if Rick had left leaving Roger running Supertramp), so I like the post-Roger albums just fine. But I do have to say that, although I am very familiar with all these albums and like them very much, it was quite difficult to actually rank them. Sure the top four and the bottom two were pretty much set in stone, but all those albums in the middle are quite good, but also have some flaws, and are all quite different, and I have gone back and forth many times with them, but this is the order I have settled on (at least for now).              

11. Free as a Bird (1987) 

Definitely their weakest album overall. Here the band took a decidedly wrong direction, as they tried to update their sound to be more 'modern' and incorporated liberal use of synthesized dance beats and drum machines and other slick '80's era production tricks, giving many of the songs a cheesy, superficial pop feel. Nevertheless, despite the poor arrangements and production, there are still some pretty good songs here, catchy hooks and melodies, so it is still not a bad album, just certainly not the album we want from Supertramp. Best tracks: You Never Can Tell With Friends, An Awful Thing to Waste, It Doesn't Matter, It's Alright. Weakest tracks: Free as a Bird, Where I Stand, I'm Beggin' You, Thing For You. Rating: 3ó

10. Famous Last Words (1982) 

Considering that this was the follow-up to their hugely successful album Breakfast in America, as well as the final album with Roger Hodgson, the result is greatly disappointing. At this point, Roger was focused on doing more commercial pop songs, while Rick still wanted to explore more jazz and progressive rock-influenced music, and more pop won out here. And the production is tacky and overblown throughout. The album starts weakly with the first 3 songs being vapid pop songs, catchy but irritating and pointless. However, the album improves greatly in the 2nd half, finishing strongly with the last 3 tracks, Roger's C'est Le Bon being a beautiful and heartfelt ode to his music, followed by Rick's Waiting So Long, with its more proggy tendencies, and Don't Leave Me Now, a strong and emotional closer. So, overall, it is about half of a very good album, but the weak pop songs really bring it down, so it is just pretty good, a nice album with many weaknesses. Best Tracks: C'est Le Bon, Bonnie, Waiting So Long, Don't Leave Me Now. Weakest tracks: It's Raining Again, Crazy, Put on Your Old Brown Shoes. Rating 3ó

9. Indelibly Stamped (1971)

Their second, and often maligned album, which is much better than its reputation, as it contains a variety of pretty good songs. Unfortunately, the only attention it received was for its controversial album cover, which didn't do it any favors. Following the lack of success of their more progressive debut, the band retreats away from progressive rock on this 2nd album. The band is searching for an identity and style on this album, and so tries a bit of everything hoping to find something that sticks. They hop around from pop to rock to folk to jazz to blues and even some country without landing on a distinctive sound or style. But the songs are pretty good, except for the misguided straight-rocker, Popper, which is one of the worst songs in their whole catalog. Overall, a nice enjoyable album. It's a bit all over the place in sound and musical direction, but you can definitely hear bits and pieces of the band they would become. Here they are still searching for their sound, but its a nice journey. Best Tracks:Your Poppa Dont Mind, Travelled, Coming Home to See You, Forever. Weakest tracks: Popper, Times Have Changed. Rating: 3.5ó

8. Slow Motion (2002) 

Rick Davies brings the band back for one more album, and seemingly just does what he wants, without necessarily trying for hits or commercial success. A breezy, laid-back affair, as Rick settles into some bluesy jazz grooves with fun melodies and extended instrumental jams (some songs are quite reminiscent of later Steely Dan). This gives sax and woodwinds man John Helliwell more chances to shine, as well as Lee Thornburg on trumpet, Mark Hart on guitar, and of course, Rick on keyboards. The extended tracks Tenth Avenue Breakdown and Dead Man's Blues shine the brightest, but most of the rest, including Little By Little, Broken Hearted, and a revived song from early in the band's history, Goldrush, a sort of Southern Cajun Country track, are just lovely. Overall, just a very nice, pleasant album that may not have the thrills and dynamism of their most acclaimed work, but is still a wonderful album nonetheless. Best Tracks: Tenth Avenue Breakdown, Broken Hearted, Dead Man's Blues, Little By Little, Bee in Your Bonnet, Goldrush. Weak Tracks: Over You, Slow Motion. Rating: 3.5ó

7. Supertramp (1970)

A strong debut, but was completely ignored at the time. Probably their most 'progressive' sounding album, as it seems heavily influenced by the Prog albums of its time, especially Genesis' Trespass. It has a similar pastoral quality, with some quite nice songs and melodies. Overall, a gentle and beautiful album, however, it also never quite soars, with several pleasant but not fully memorable songs. The lengthy more freeform and meandering Try Again drags the album down a bit as it just doesn't justify it's 12 min length. This was before they had developed their dominant keyboard sound (much more guitar featured here) or their dynamic vocal style and interactions between Roger and Rick (and Roger sings in a style most certainly inspired by Peter Gabriel on most of the songs). Nonetheless, an overall quite good, but not yet great album. Best Tracks: It's a Long Road, Aubade, Words Unspoken, Shadow Song. Weak Tracks: Try Again (too long), Nothing to Show. Rating:3.5ó

6. Some Things Never Change (1997) 

Coming back after a ten-year break since their last album, Rick and the band re-set and revert back to a sound and style closer to their classic days, but again, with more of an easy-going jazz and blues feel throughout blending with Rick's smooth melodies. Rick brings Mark Hart (guitar,keyboards,vocals) and Lee Thornburg (trumpet, trombone, vocals), who had played on their last tour, into the band to round out their sound. Here we get a variety of wonderful songs, ranging from the catchy pop of You Win I Lose to the Santana-like Latin Jazz of Sooner or Later, the slow swing of Get Your Act Together to the bluesy Help Me Down That Road, The rock-funk of C'est What? to what almost seems like a lost Randy Newman song in Where There's a Will. The only missteps here are the sappy love song Live to Love You, and the choice to open the album with the nearly 10-min It's Hard World, which is not a bad song, but it takes forever to get started, goes on too long, and just doesn't work as an opening track to the album. Overall, a really good album, well worth checking out. Best tracks: You Win I Lose, Sooner or Later, C'est What?, Some Things Never Change, Get Your Act Together. Weak tracks:Live to Love You, It's A Hard World (too long, poor opener). Rating 3.5ó

5. Brother Where You Bound (1985)

For Their first album after the departure of Roger Hodgson, Rick Davies was now able to steer the band more toward his own musical style and tastes, and thus a return to a more progressive rock style with jazz and blues influences, and it is a much stronger album than the final album with Roger. Leading off with a dynamite opening track Cannonball, which returns to the classic Supertramp sound and driving energy. Rick is also able to show his progressive leanings with the 16 minute multi-part epic Brother Where You Bound (which he had wanted to put on the last album but was thwarted by Roger). Overall, a very strong album that deserves a place among their best albums. Best Tracks: Cannonball, Better Days, Brother Where You Bound. Weak tracks:none (except for one relatively weak mid-section in Brother Where You Bound).  Rating 4ó

4. Breakfast in America (1979)

This was their big commercial success, with multiple hit singles and awards. But when this album first came out, I was quite disappointed with it's overtly commercial pop direction and production, most prominently in Roger's singles Breakfast in America and The Logical Song. And although I did like many of the other songs on the album, I didn't listen to it for many years and generally dismissed it when others touted it. However, going back to it years later, it is clear that it is a great album, with numerous wonderful songs, and aside from those couple weak tracks, does stand among the band's best albums. Rick's contributions, starting with the great opener Gone Hollywood, and then Goodbye Stranger and Oh Darling, save side 1 from Roger's lightweight pop, and side 2 continues with strong songs from both Rick and Roger, with Roger's heartfelt Lord is it Mine and Take the Long Way Home and Rick's more edgy Just Another Nervous Wreck and Casual Coversations, culminating in the big finale of Child of Vision. Best Tracks: Gone Hollywood, Oh Darling, Goodbye Stranger, Take the Long Way Home, Child of Vision. Weak Tracks: Breakfast in America, The Logical Song. Rating:4ó

3. Even in the Quietest Moments (1977)

The band continues their hot streak with another fantastic album, with this one having a new producer (Peter Henderson) and a bit warmer and gentler sound than previous albums. Filled with great melodies and appropriately proggy instrumental flourishes, the album produces lovely soundscapes and atmosphere. Highlights include Roger's beautiful Even in the Quietest Moments followed by Rick's personal solo piano and vocal love song, Downstream, so moving and pure, and absolutely captivating. The album concludes with the  sensational From Now On, with it's evocative moods and atmosphere followed by the epic production of Fool's Overture, with its multiple sections and collages of sounds and styles. Overall, a more subtle album than the previous two, but just as magnificent. The only let-down is the just OK pop opener, Give a Little Bit. Best Tracks: Downstream, From Now On, Even in the Quietest Moments, Fool's Overture, Loverboy. Weak Track: Give a Little Bit. Rating:4.5ó

2. Crisis? What Crisis? (1975)

Sensational follow-up to Crime of the Century, with more great blending of Prog influences with pop sensibilities. Brilliant opening with the light touch of Easy Does It flowing seamlessly into the bright and breezy energy of Sister Moonshine, continuing with strong songwriting throughout and side 1 later culminating in the rousing rocker Another Man's Woman, giving the band a chance to soar through the extended instrumental sections. Then comes Lady, which starts as a bouncy pop song before morphing into a dynamic proggy middle section and ending as an occapella barbershop quartet. Both Davies and Hodgson have some wonderful tunes in the subsequent tracks before ending with Roger's earnest love song, Two of Us. Although this album doesn't have any unifying styles or themes, or quite the power and exhilaration of  'Crime', it still is a compelling and magnificent album from start to finish. Best Tracks: Another Man's Woman, Sister Moonshine, Lady, Ain't Nobody But Me, Just a Normal Day. Weak Tracks: none. Rating:4.5ó

1. Crime of the Century (1974)

A true Masterpiece. Whether you consider Supertramp to be progressive rock, classic rock, or just pop music, IMHO this is quite simply one of the greatest albums ever recorded of any type. It is sheer perfection from start to finish, as every aspect of the album, every sound, vocal, instrument, and note is absolutely perfect, from the songwriting, musicianship, and performance, to the engineering, production and sound quality. The album deals with themes of loneliness, isolation, alienation, mental stability, and ultimately personal responsibility, presented in a stunning display of musicianship and musical prowess. Although the band has stated that it was not created as a concept album, it certainly maintains some consistent themes throughout. From the opening plaintive harmonica wail of School to the haunting closing piano riff and orchestral fade-out of Crime of the Century, the songs flow through from one to another as a continuous musical journey. And the songs are so vibrant and evocative. On the album opener, School, it starts with a magnificent slow build through the opening section and through the first couple verses and beyond, until it explodes into a joyous piano solo in the middle that has to be one of the greatest single musical moments ever recorded, before then taking another turn into a whole different section of musical wonder. My absolute favorite thing about Supertramp, which is beautifully exemplified on this album, is how they build their songs beyond the usual verse-chorus structure, taking the songs in different and varied musical directions, letting the songs evolve in various unexpected ways, and with the extended instrumental breaks going far beyond just solos, but exploring new musical directions, and then bringing it all back home for satisfying conclusions. That is what makes them truly 'progressive' beyond any other aspect. This is done especially well throughout this album, but perhaps the best example of this is Rudy, a magnificent journey with multiple sections, evocative and thrilling, each more wonderful than the last, telling the story of a lonely soul lost in the world. Every song on the album is superb, with great vocals, dynamic musical flourishes, and interesting instrumentation and arrangements throughout. The engineering and production from the legendary Ken Scott is also superb, with crystal clear sound, precise instrument separation, and extremely effective use of orchestration and off-beat instrumentation (musical saw, bells, clarinet, etc.). Other album highlights include Asylum, a piano-led journey through an individual's struggle with mental health, with a great build-up to the end, Dreamer, a bouncy pop stunner that just keeps growing into something magical, and then there's If Everyone Was Listening, a staggeringly beautiful song that culminates in the perfect clarinet solo (that's right, clarinet!) from John Helliwell, leading into probably the most powerful song of all, the concluding Crime of the Century, where after a short main vocal section enters the stunning and haunting extended outro, starting with a repeated piano riff that slowly builds into a full grandiose orchestra, horns, and sax solo over the top, before the final fade-out which contains a subtle return of the opening harmonica wail as a way of coming full circle. Best Tracks: Rudy, Crime of the Century, School, Asylum, If Everyone Was Listening, Hide in Your Shell, Dreamer. Weak Tracks: none. Rating 5+ó

BB’s Rating scale:

1ó – Terrible, torturous to have to listen to

1.5ó - Poor, not worth your time

2 ó – Fair, maybe a couple half-way decent songs, but sub-par overall

2.5ó – Average, OK, meh, not bad but not that good either

3ó – Good, solid album, several good songs, but not spectacular. Certainly worthy, but may not be something you come back to very often

3.5ó – Very good album. Some stellar tracks, very enjoyable overall

4ó – Great album, filled with great songs, one that you will want to come back to over and over again

4.5ó – Excellent album, beyond great, superb in every way, just short of a masterpiece 

5ó – A Masterpiece, among the greatest albums of its type, and has stood the test of time

 

OK, well that's what I think of the Supertramp discography, for me at least, one of the all-time great rock bands, producing some of my favorite albums. So, what do you think? What are your favorite Supertramp albums? Your least favorite? Let me know what you think in the comments.