Released - September 1974
Genre - Progressive Rock
Producer - Ken Scott & Supertramp
Selected Personnel - Rick Davies (Vocals/Keyboards/Harmonica); Roger Hodgson (Vocals/Guitar/Piano); John Helliwell (Saxophone/Clarinet/Vocals); Dougie Thomson (Bass); Bob Siebenberg (Drums/Percussion)
Standout Track - Crime Of The Century
So, here it is - the album which, at age 16, I decided was the greatest album of all time. Admittedly, at that time of my life I knew comparatively very little about the broader scope of music history to what I know now, and the other major contenders for the position at the time were Elton John's Madman Across The Water, the Electric Light Orchestra's Out Of The Blue and Everything But The Girl's Amplified Heart (all of which still hover in or around my top ten). It says a lot about just how perfect I think Crime Of The Century is that, in the nine years since then, even with all the hundreds of hours of new music I've heard, and even trying very hard to be totally objective and base my decision on genuine musical merit rather than affectionate nostalgia, I've never once been tempted to change my mind (though, admittedly, these days I'm slightly more aware that trying to choose a "greatest album of all time" is inherently a rather limiting and redundant decision to make). Still, the fact remains - this has never budged from my number one spot.
I think what's made it such a lasting thing for me is how precisely it straddles the two sides of my obsession with music. Pretty much all music I love has ultimately either fallen into the broad categories of "atmospheric artistic statement" or "cool, catchy pop." Many fall down more heavily on one side than the other. Supertramp's first two albums probably went more for prog rock explorations than for radio-friendly pop hits, while their later albums became decidedly more commercial and glossy. On Crime Of The Century, they found a perfect synergy that has never been bettered by any other band. Every single song is an effortless earworm, with hooks and melodies and solos and dynamics that have etched themselves permanently in my mind. But the mood and tone of the album is decidedly experimental, finding time for stark, cinematic soundscapes and sonic invention that call to mind Pink Floyd's similarly dark and introverted The Dark Side Of The Moon.
It's enormously significant in the broader history of Supertramp not only because of the frankly incredible results it delivers, but also in the place it holds in their discography, being effectively the debut of the "classic" Supertramp. In their self-titled debut album and its followup Indelibly Stamped, the band had established themselves as promising peddlers of unusually catchy prog rock, but the critics and general public barely noticed. The albums sold poorly, and the band's Dutch investor, Stanley August Miesegaes (who, in a touching gesture, Crime Of The Century is dedicated to), decided to call it a day having not seen any return for his financial support. Without financial backing, the band quickly called it a day as well, leaving only the nucleus of the band, chief songwriters Roger Hodgson (also vocals, guitar and keyboards) and Rick Davies (also vocals, piano, keyboards and harmonica). Over the following few years a new lineup would slowly be found, including drummer Bob Siebenberg (credited as Bob C. Benberg on all their 70s album so as to avoid immigration issues), bassist Dougie Thomson and saxophonist John Helliwell. Helliwell was perhaps the most significant new addition - both Thomson and Siebenberg are hugely talented musicians who reliably put their stamp on Supertramp's music, but Helliwell's presence brought something totally new to the band. While saxophones, flutes and woodwinds had been present on their early albums, they had never been pushed to the fore, and Helliwell's great talent meant that his saxophone solos became a staple of Supertramp's music by the end of the 70s, and perhaps one of the things the band is best remembered for.
Prior to the release of Crime Of The Century, this new version of the band had released a single called "Land Ho" (with the B-side "Summer Romances,") which vanished without trace and didn't amaze anybody despite being a fun song. But with the release of their new album in 1974, an astonishingly confident and capable new band emerged that finally managed to capitalise on the promise of those early albums, courtesy of the success of singles "Dreamer" and "Bloody Well Right." One other major change for the band was the shakeup of Hodgson and Davies' songwriting methods - whereas the first two albums had featured genuine collaborations between the two of them, and they would continue to share writing credits throughout their partnership, here they more or less exclusively contributed their own solo compositions. Hodgson has later gone on record as saying all his songs were written note-for-note before being given to the band to play. Whether Davies' songs also came so prescriptively prepared before the band could have a go at them isn't known, and there's also yet to be any formal confirmation of which songs belong to which writer, though it's generally accepted that whoever sings lead vocals is the writer.
By and large, I tend to favour Davies' songs over Hodgson's, but on Crime Of The Century, as with a few of their other 70s albums, both hit gold every single time. Hodgson's opener "School" is a moody, atmospheric, ghostly piece of music that boasts one of the most doom-laden album intros ever with Davies' harmonica ushering the spidery guitar of the quiet opening which explodes into life with the thundering of Thomson's bass and the sound effects of screaming children in a playground. Davies' chittering, chiming piano solo that comes partway through is one of the finest of its kind. The song segues into "Bloody Well Right" which, after its chirruping, breezy keyboard intro erupts into a swaggering, brash piece of hard rock that, unusually for a Supertramp song, is driven principally by Hodgson's electric guitar riff. "Hide In Your Shell" is one of the album's longer songs, featuring an extended mid-section before exploding back into one of the most jubilant choruses Hodgson ever penned. Throughout the album, "School" aside, Hodgson's songs tend to be the more optimistic pop songs, while Davies' tend to be bleaker and more difficult. "Asylum" sticks to this pattern, being a paranoid piano ballad exploring mental illness that, after a few minutes of relative stability, eventually descends into a cacophony of scratchy guitar, orchestral fills, gibbered vocals and Davies' terrifying wail of "Not quite right!"
The album's second half kicks off with the immortal "Dreamer," possibly the very finest perfect pop song in a discography full of perfect pop songs. It's a song I fell in love with on first listen and still love every time I hear it, driven by Hodgson's trademark "Hammerhands" approach to the keyboard, practically punching the instrument to create the song's immortal bright, staccato sound. "Rudy" is another piece, like "Bloody Well Right," that flits between delicate balladry and angry hard rock and, like "Hide In Your Shell" and "Asylum," explores loneliness and social isolation via the outcast figure of Rudy as he attempts to make a simple train journey. Hodgson's guitar riffs, particularly the muted funk workout in the mid-section (complete with some phenomenal orchestral arrangements), trade off Davies' piano parts beautifully, and it's here that Helliwell's woodwinds are at their most cinematic and ornamental. It's followed by one of Hodgson's finest ballads in "If Everyone Was Listening," which is broken and timid in its verses and triumphant and defiant in its choruses, exploring a relationship through the images of an actor in a theatre.
The album's final piece is its title track, and perhaps the jewel in the Supertramp song. As the best song on the best album of all time, it's possible I consider it to be the greatest song of all time as well, though that's never really an equation I've tried to work out in my head. Regardless, "Crime Of The Century" is a peerlessly dark, brooding, terrifying, cinematic piece of work. Its opening lyrics are admittedly fairly obvious, but there's no denying their dramatic effect ("Who are these men of lust, greed and glory? Rip off the masks and let's see. But that's not right, oh no, what's the story? Look, there's you and there's me.") From there there's a cacophonous explosion into the finest, most incendiary guitar solo Hodgson ever played, which then quietly dies down and ushers in Davies' expertly reserved, chiming piano riff. As Siebenberg's thundering drums and the quiet buzz of synths slowly build, the apocalyptic droning of a water gong heralds one of the most spine-tingling moments in the history of music, and from there Helliwell's saxophones howl the whole thing back into quietness, rounding off one of the songs that never fails to make me tremble with excitement.
So often at this point in these reviews I then start to talk about my nitpicks with an album, with the things that don't quite work. Even nine years on, there is still nothing about Crime Of The Century that even comes close to annoying me, or feeling redundant. It represents one of those rare moments in music when a group of people made something utterly perfect, that never once drops the ball. Hell, even Dark Side has the relative tedium of "On The Run" to sit through. Crime Of The Century has you riveted throughout, and it's never been bettered. It's been a near-constant presence on my list of frequently listened to albums for the best part of a decade, and it's not likely to go away. While the album didn't end up being the band's biggest hit (that would be taken by the enormous success of Breakfast In America in 1979), it did finally give them some radio success and proper exposure, and confirmed them as one of the most exciting, and more accessible, prog acts of the 70s. The more pop-leaning stuff of their later albums means few people remember quite how vital and experimental and unique Supertramp's work was when at its peak, and Crime Of The Century is the perfect example of quite what they could achieve.
Track Listing:
All songs written by Rick Davies and Roger Hodgson.
1. School
2. Bloody Well Right
3. Hide In Your Shell
4. Asylum
5. Dreamer
6. Rudy
7. If Everyone Was Listening
8. Crime Of The Century
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