Crime of the Century

A little theatrical, a little prog, I liked it

Pretty cool album. Especially the song Crime of the Century at the very end.

Sounded like pretty standard issue 70s prog rock to me. Fine but not a standout.

I am thrilled with the atmosphere, the tense build up and dramatic transitions on this album. When the songwriting is at its height (School, Dreamer, Crime of the Century) it all comes together in a compelling package. There’s something stopping me from absolutely loving it, perhaps that I’m a bit cooler on some of the songs than others, but I can’t deny that it’s had much more of an effect on me than a typical listen. Very cool.

I have nothing to contribute to the world of music hobbyists and journalism. My perspective is severely limited. I'm picky, stubborn, and there's likely thousands of "classic" albums that I have never heard before. I did this project to broaden my tastes. An attempt to understand myself and my tastes better, and to be able to articulate why I like or don't like something.

Today, on album #4, I encounter my first obstacle: why do I really dislike Crime of the Century?

It feels unfair to say something as dismissive as "I don't like prog rock." Even if I added a stipulation and said "I don't like 70's prog rock" that still doesn't get to the heart of it. I still enjoy some Pink Floyd, and I love Roundabout by Yes, which is quintessential 70's prog rock. So what's going on here? Am I unable to get into its musical theater stylings? Do I not like the thin sound of the keyboards? It's hard to say exactly what turned me off from the album, but from the beginning, nothing even turned me on. I wasn't sold.

I found Dreamer more obnoxious than anything. In fact, I found a good chunk of the album obnoxious. The album as a whole is not bland, boring, or offensive, and I'm not inclined to call it anything particularly mean. But in the course of any music hobbyist's life, there comes a time. A time when you have to admit to yourself...you don't like (most) 70's prog rock.

This album can be found discarded in many dollar bins which makes me suspicious of its quality.
They seem to be working within some sort of prog rock genre and for the most part pretty much all of these songs are pretty interesting.
However there’s a certain blandness that kind of creeps in by the end of the album.
I am curious to hear some other albums by them to see how they fare against this one.
Something tells me though that they might be one of those bands with one or two great songs per album therefore making a best of compilation the best way to hear this band.

Ive never really checked out Supertramp, they never seemed all that interesting to me, and I admittedly wasn't that excited about listening to this, but Crime Of The Century was a lot better than I expected. This feels like it has a combination of well-written pop, funk, glam, and a tasteful smattering of prog that feels like it almost gels into disco sometimes. Yet it's also grounded in good rock fundamentals and willing to play in uncharted territory like the best of prog. The lengthy songs are dynamic and well paced, the arrangements are enjoyable, and the full package still has some immediacy. School is one of the songs where the disparate parts of this album feel like they are most well balanced. Asylum and Rudy are dense rock epics. Bloody Well Right and Hide In Your Shell hit like great pop songs. Dreamer and If Everyone Was Listening are some very welcome tender moments. And Crime Of The Century is an austere, epic end of the project. I will say that matter of taste does keep me from going 5 here. And I will also say that I dont think these songs are all equally interesting. But think they are all well presented. And I think the best ones are *real* stand outs. Rudy, School, Asylum and Crime Of The Century are particularly compelling. This was a pleasant surprise, and a surprisingly great album.

*Supertramp has such a unique and cool sound, but I like Breakfast in America a little more

A little more hard edged than other stuff from them that I've heard. It still works. Favorite track: Bloody Well Right

This is some excellent prog that I simply don't see myself revisiting! Instrumentally, there are numerous *moments* that are phenomenal, but there are just as many passages that feel forgettable. Then there's the singer's boomer-rock accent -- I might be petty, but it grates me just enough that the album falls short of the 4-star!

Standouts: School • Dreamer • If Everyone Was Listening

Only song I knew on here was "Dreamer," and I don't like it. Still don't like it, but I like all the other ones!

I’m at a 10.

I mean, it’s just because “Crime of the Century” feels like a perfect closing track for the whole thing. The entire album’s crusade against authority with Rudy leading the way, only to realize that he was alone in that crusade the whole time, with everyone else upholding the status quo in their own ways… it’s really well done, and “Crime of the Century” as a sort of dour closing instrumental with a lot of weight behind it, built up brilliantly over the course of the album, makes its somber little sax solos & percussive drops feel like punches to the gut, in a good way.

I’ve only ever really known Supertramp as the “Goodbye Stranger” band, and I was fully expecting to see “Breakfast in America” on the list, given the acclaim it has. I’m very glad the book’s editors picked this one (although “Breakfast in America” could’ve probably still been in, I dunno), as it’s a really strong showcase of some Pink Floyd-esque prog rock. It’s not as conceptually tight as “Dark Side of the Moon” is, given the loose tissue connecting these tracks & a minimal amount of transitions, but it more than makes up for it with some clever writing & allegories. “Bloody Well Right” feels prescient as hell in a world of incompetent nepo babies & evil billionaires, and the monologue that starts “Crime of the Century” feels especially apt given some recent revelations about online astroturfing in a certain set of files. The strength of the writing just really makes each track that much better to me.

It also helps that these are fantastic instrumentals. Sure, there’s not a crazy sick / iconic guitar solo I can point to here (though there are some really good piano / sax solos), but this album knows when to lift up instrumentals & drop them perfectly, in a way where the pacing of each track feels more thought out & intentional at points. Getting that push/pull right in a way that gives the listener some heavy dopamine is something a lot of ‘70s albums have struggled with, and thankfully, it’s something that most prog bands seem to get right. In this case, with Supertramp, it’s honestly comparable to Yes’s “Close to the Edge”, though on a smaller & less bombastically technical scale. Ironically, this album is longer than “Close to the Edge”, but that’s just a testament to how good Yes is.

Of course, I’ve probably overanalyzed this album in my own way, as it never takes itself THAT seriously while listening, which is honestly another point toward the album. “Dark Side” isn’t pretentious or anything, not by a long shot, but that feeling of “art rock” never fully shakes itself, especially with the reputation it has. This is just really fun prog rock with loosely serious theming behind it, but relatively lighthearted tones throughout. When it wants to feel deeper, it knows how to reach that point musically; it never stays in it for too long to feel obnoxious, and it always lifts back up to touch the soul in just the right way.

Ultimately, I think it’s an album that knows what it wants to say & says it very well. I’m more inclined to enjoy things that feel definitive & answered, and perhaps that’s part of the reason while I feel more inclined to give this a 10 as opposed to Dark Side getting a “something above a 5”. Dark Side has a million different interpretations within its framework of a life well lived, but this album seems to have a pretty clear one: overreaching authority sucks, try to fight it the best you can, and even if you feel like you can’t truly win against it, someday, if everyone is listening & trying to fight it, maybe there’s hope to get it done in the future. Past that, it’s just a really fun 44 minutes, and I can’t say there’s a bad track here. The floor is a 3 if you just don’t like prog to begin with, but for me, it feels like a deserved 10. It just clicked with me really, really well. Thank goodness it’s on the list.

A few good tracks but for the most part bland and boring.

Didn’t hate it. Didn’t love it.

Supertramp. Toch een naam waar ik vooraf nieuwsgierig naar ben. Ik ga er dus even voor zitten. Maar...muziekbarbaar die ik ben, verspringt mijn aandacht van de muziek die opstaat naar de rave-nummers die dit gesampeld hebben. Dat doet mij twee dingen beseffen.

Ten eerste is het vrij bijzonder dat zulke theatrale muziek zo makkelijk naar de achtergrond valt. Bij de Sparks had ik dit ook al. Daar kreeg ik het niet over mijn hart om het vergeetbaar te noemen. Dat is ook niet het juiste woord. Eigenlijk waardeer ik het dat die theatrale muziek zo toegankelijk wordt gemaakt.

Ten tweede zijn die meeste rave-nummers, die samples van dit album gebruikte, vrij matig. De elementen die gebruikt zijn lenen zich helemaal niet voor ander gebruik. Eerder schreef ik eens dat muziek zich kan bewijzen als het in volledig andere vorm tot zijn recht kan komen. En dat denk ik nog steeds. Maar een muzikant kan zich juist bewijzen door iets waar niemand anders muziek van kan maken, heel toegankelijk te maken.

Vanuit beide ideeën kom ik dus tot de conclusie dat het draait om de toegankelijkheid en dat Supertramp hiermee een klein doordacht kunstwerkje heeft neergezet.

Classic rock.

Raspberry ripple. Veins of great taste running through mostly bland and homogeneous vanilla stuff. It became background music after 3 songs. Dreamer came and went and I was gone again before the end.

Space rock? :D?

I know this is a famous band, but I've only ever heard 'Goodbye Stranger' before (not on this album). They're OK. Kind of a Pink Floyd/Queen/Don McLean hybrid. A little bit guitar-heavy for my preference.

Highlight: 'Hide in Your Shell' (nice horns)

The Good: We are going to witness a crime! Of the century no less!
The Bad: We’ve been duped, as there is no crime to be found…
The Ugly: My supertramp outfit… I mean, it’s bad…

Back in my college days I befriended someone who, I found out later, had this knack for creating mixed tapes for friends.
The opening track of this album was the first track on Side 2 of the mixed tape made for me. Somewhere in my disasterous belongings, there is a cassette case that should include this mixed tape… my only worry is that I will find it, because that will mean I must go shopping for a cassette player so that I can listen to this tape and reminisce about those good old days…

The fact that this album is on this list makes me more than happy, though I was confused when I saw it as my immediate thought was “where’s Breakfast In America”?… which, to my horror, is NOT included on the 1001 list of albums I need to listen to. Needless to say I continue to question the rational for an album to be included in the list…

Oddly enough, getting the album presented on my list meant it was the first time for me to listen to it… and what a joyful listen it has been.
So joyful that I’ve listened to it daily for the past week, twice a day if the presented album turns out to be a turd…

Hurray Supertramp, you get 5*

Dreamer is my favorite Supertramp song. There’s a bunch of other good ones on here. Not every one was amazing but a solid album.