Supertramp - Crime Of The Century (1974)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Artist:  Supertramp

Title:  Crime Of The Century
Release: 1974
Format: LP
Label: A&M Records
Catalog#  88122 IT

“Crime of the Century” is the third album by English rock band Supertramp, released in 1974, and was their commercial breakthrough on both sides of the Atlantic, aided by the UK hit "Dreamer" and the U.S. hit "Bloody Well Right".

After the failure of their first two albums and an unsuccessful tour, the band broke up, and Rick Davies and Roger Hodgson recruited new members, drummer Bob C. Benberg, woodwinds player John Helliwell, and bassist Dougie Thomson. This new line-up were sent by their record label, A&M, to a seventeenth-century farm in Somerset in order to rehearse together and prepare the album.
The album was recorded at a number of studios including Ramport Studios (owned by The Who) and Trident Studios with co-producer Ken Scott. While recording the album, Davies and Hodgson recorded approximately 42 demo songs, from which only 8 were chosen to appear on the album. Several other tracks appeared on later albums (“Crisis? What Crisis?”, “Famous Last Words”).
The album was named after the final song, "Crime of the Century", which the band members felt was the strongest song on the album. Hodgson and Davies both stated that communication within the group was at a peak during the recording of this album, while drummer Siebenberg stated that he thought it was this album on which the band hit its "artistic peak".
Crime of the Century deals loosely with themes of loneliness and mental stability, but is not a concept album. Davies consciously linked the opening track "School" to "Bloody Well Right" with the line "So you think your schooling is phoney", and according to Hodgson, any unifying thread beyond that was left to the listener's imagination. The sound of the train in "Rudy" was recorded at Paddington station, while the crowd noises in the song were taken from Leicester Square.

Side one

1. School (5:35)
2. Bloody Well Right (4:32)
3. Hide in Your Shell (6:49)
4. Asylum 6:45

Side two

1. Dreamer (3:31)
2. Rudy (7:17)
3. If Everyone Was Listening (4:04)
4. Crime of the Century (5:32)

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