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OccultHawk · 07-29-2015, 10:36 AM

Brother Where You Bound

I have three Supertramp albums in my official music collection: Even in the Quietest Moments, Paris, and the album I'm reviewing here, Brother Where You Bound. If you're the sort that still buys records or CDs and you want just one Supertramp album in your collection I definitely recommend the live album, Paris. I have it; double album on vinyl. Great live album that showcases the best they had to offer in an incredibly meticulous perfectionist way. Fans of Rush can understand. It's like Exit Stage Left or any of the other live Rush records. Unlike Rush, I regretfully never had the pleasure of seeing Supertramp live.

But this isn't a review of Paris. Brother Where You Bound isn't a sure fire work of genius. It's the sound of a band making what many fans would consider an uncomfortable transition. There's lots of information and excellent reviews on Amazon that spell the out the ramifications of the major personnel shift on this album. But in a nutshell this is the first Supertramp record without Rodger Hodgson which is a lot like Pink Floyd carrying on with Roger Waters or if you want to imagine a fictional scenario it's sort of like The Beatles without Paul. The master melody maker had moved on. However, it doesn't necessarily take a personnel shift in order for a band or solo artist to make a paradigm shift, as fans of Neil Young and Bob Dylan can attest to.

Brother Where You Bound is an interesting record. I like interesting records. This record is fun to listen to even if you're thinking about whether or not it successfully achieves what it set out to do. The songs may not be great but they're good enough to merit your consideration. I have friends who if you mention the Stones they'll say, "Not as good as the Beatles", if you mention My Bloody Valentine well they're not as good as The Jesus and Mary Chain. The Dead not as Good as The Band (I don't agree with that but I've heard it). Well, a record doesn't have to be as good as Revolver, Psychocandy, or Music from Big Pink to be worth listening to. By the same token Brother deserves the same charity when compared to previous and obviously better earlier Supertramp. In other words, put down your swords and enjoy it for what it is.

I bought this on cassette when it came out. I was drawn to it because I was interested in the darker prog direction and because of David Gilmour's presence. Before I go into a song for song tally I'm going to list three albums from various rock'n'roll time and places that all remind me of this record for whatever reason:

The Grateful Dead - Terrapin Station
Roger Waters - Radio K.A.O.S
Sonic Youth - Goo

Brother Where You Bound only has six tracks:

Cannonball - The opening track clocks in at 7 minutes and change and if I got my info straight was an American Top 40 hit. I wonder what Casey Kasem thought. Anyone who hasn't heard Negativland's U2 should go dig it up. Yeah, so this Cannonball is definitely inferior to the Breeders track. Keyboard and Sax solo repeat the main theme. Hodgson is missed nowhere so much as he is on the hit. Still, if this came on Pandora I'd go ahead and click thumbs up. It's kind of catchy if you don't think too hard. Plus, there is a background laughter that's kind of Pink Floydy.

Still In Love

Horrible Wonder Bread attempts at blues/jazz with an acceptable chorus. This is the type of song that might have made it on some Portland hipster's mix tape back in say 1992, like is he being ironic or not?

No Inbetween

Surprisingly, the talking blues style of this song actually works. And the sax solo has a nice Cinemax late night skin flick vibe to it. I'm not being ironic; it's a decent tune.

Better Days

OK, this takes us closer to the heart of what this record is meant to be in a thematic sense. Feels like early Genesis with lyrics a lot like Roger Waters. There's an excellent flute solo, fake crowd noise reminiscent of The Wall, samples of political candidates reminds me of Radio KAOS, which hadn't come out yet, and it has the best sax work on the record.

Look. There's something here that I don't want to be overlooked. The message of this music, what they were trying to say. Mankind moving toward disaster is still important. We shouldn't forget these issues. Like Nuclear Disarmament for example. How can America say to Iran that we deserve this military might and they don't? Why don't we lead by example and disarm ourselves. It's so dangerous to take this incredible attitude of superiority. It's like we're (sorry for the "we"non-Americans. I don't want to deflect responsibility here.) saying obviously your culture is inferior so we deserve to be more powerful. How can we expect another culture to accept that? Also, I've been to the A-Bomb museums in Nagasaki and Hiroshima. The horror that was inflicted was unimaginable. It's amazing to me how out of vogue nuclear disarmament has become. One of the things Supertramp was telling us back then, directly or indirectly, by asking us "Where You Bound" is that as long as these huge arsenals of WMD's continue to exist we might completely kill ourselves off. Completely completely. Thirty years on it's still just as important. Let's get rid of this ****. The world does not need thousands of hydrogen bombs.

Brother Where You Bound

This track is over 16 minutes long. Music snobs watch yourselves. Were Supertramp just radio friendly stylings? Was there enough depth to take this band seriously? Well, I don't know what they were listening to but there's all kinds of stuff that comes to mind here: a piano interlude that sounds like it was written by Arnold Schoenberg, a guitar crescendo seemingly taken from Glenn Branca's playbook, sound effects that could have been on Ummagumma. Plus, David Gilmour. His signature sound kills it (in a good way). I wish Gilmour had a stronger presence. The song is also peppered with quotes from Orwell's 1984 and actual Cold War rhetoric.

Ever Open Door - Final Track. Friendly song. Reminds me of Wings. Also reminds me of the Roger Waters' track The Tide is Turning.

Is this a prog rock masterpiece? No.
Is it worth a listen? Hell Yes.

Peace to Alexander Supertramp. A hero.

07-29-2015, 10:36 AM	#15 (permalink)
OccultHawk one-balled nipple jockey Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Dirty Souf Biatch Posts: 22,006	Brother Where You Bound I have three Supertramp albums in my official music collection: Even in the Quietest Moments, Paris, and the album I'm reviewing here, Brother Where You Bound. If you're the sort that still buys records or CDs and you want just one Supertramp album in your collection I definitely recommend the live album, Paris. I have it; double album on vinyl. Great live album that showcases the best they had to offer in an incredibly meticulous perfectionist way. Fans of Rush can understand. It's like Exit Stage Left or any of the other live Rush records. Unlike Rush, I regretfully never had the pleasure of seeing Supertramp live. But this isn't a review of Paris. Brother Where You Bound isn't a sure fire work of genius. It's the sound of a band making what many fans would consider an uncomfortable transition. There's lots of information and excellent reviews on Amazon that spell the out the ramifications of the major personnel shift on this album. But in a nutshell this is the first Supertramp record without Rodger Hodgson which is a lot like Pink Floyd carrying on with Roger Waters or if you want to imagine a fictional scenario it's sort of like The Beatles without Paul. The master melody maker had moved on. However, it doesn't necessarily take a personnel shift in order for a band or solo artist to make a paradigm shift, as fans of Neil Young and Bob Dylan can attest to. Brother Where You Bound is an interesting record. I like interesting records. This record is fun to listen to even if you're thinking about whether or not it successfully achieves what it set out to do. The songs may not be great but they're good enough to merit your consideration. I have friends who if you mention the Stones they'll say, "Not as good as the Beatles", if you mention My Bloody Valentine well they're not as good as The Jesus and Mary Chain. The Dead not as Good as The Band (I don't agree with that but I've heard it). Well, a record doesn't have to be as good as Revolver, Psychocandy, or Music from Big Pink to be worth listening to. By the same token Brother deserves the same charity when compared to previous and obviously better earlier Supertramp. In other words, put down your swords and enjoy it for what it is. I bought this on cassette when it came out. I was drawn to it because I was interested in the darker prog direction and because of David Gilmour's presence. Before I go into a song for song tally I'm going to list three albums from various rock'n'roll time and places that all remind me of this record for whatever reason: The Grateful Dead - Terrapin Station Roger Waters - Radio K.A.O.S Sonic Youth - Goo Brother Where You Bound only has six tracks: Cannonball - The opening track clocks in at 7 minutes and change and if I got my info straight was an American Top 40 hit. I wonder what Casey Kasem thought. Anyone who hasn't heard Negativland's U2 should go dig it up. Yeah, so this Cannonball is definitely inferior to the Breeders track. Keyboard and Sax solo repeat the main theme. Hodgson is missed nowhere so much as he is on the hit. Still, if this came on Pandora I'd go ahead and click thumbs up. It's kind of catchy if you don't think too hard. Plus, there is a background laughter that's kind of Pink Floydy. Still In Love Horrible Wonder Bread attempts at blues/jazz with an acceptable chorus. This is the type of song that might have made it on some Portland hipster's mix tape back in say 1992, like is he being ironic or not? No Inbetween Surprisingly, the talking blues style of this song actually works. And the sax solo has a nice Cinemax late night skin flick vibe to it. I'm not being ironic; it's a decent tune. Better Days OK, this takes us closer to the heart of what this record is meant to be in a thematic sense. Feels like early Genesis with lyrics a lot like Roger Waters. There's an excellent flute solo, fake crowd noise reminiscent of The Wall, samples of political candidates reminds me of Radio KAOS, which hadn't come out yet, and it has the best sax work on the record. Look. There's something here that I don't want to be overlooked. The message of this music, what they were trying to say. Mankind moving toward disaster is still important. We shouldn't forget these issues. Like Nuclear Disarmament for example. How can America say to Iran that we deserve this military might and they don't? Why don't we lead by example and disarm ourselves. It's so dangerous to take this incredible attitude of superiority. It's like we're (sorry for the "we"non-Americans. I don't want to deflect responsibility here.) saying obviously your culture is inferior so we deserve to be more powerful. How can we expect another culture to accept that? Also, I've been to the A-Bomb museums in Nagasaki and Hiroshima. The horror that was inflicted was unimaginable. It's amazing to me how out of vogue nuclear disarmament has become. One of the things Supertramp was telling us back then, directly or indirectly, by asking us "Where You Bound" is that as long as these huge arsenals of WMD's continue to exist we might completely kill ourselves off. Completely completely. Thirty years on it's still just as important. Let's get rid of this ****. The world does not need thousands of hydrogen bombs. Brother Where You Bound This track is over 16 minutes long. Music snobs watch yourselves. Were Supertramp just radio friendly stylings? Was there enough depth to take this band seriously? Well, I don't know what they were listening to but there's all kinds of stuff that comes to mind here: a piano interlude that sounds like it was written by Arnold Schoenberg, a guitar crescendo seemingly taken from Glenn Branca's playbook, sound effects that could have been on Ummagumma. Plus, David Gilmour. His signature sound kills it (in a good way). I wish Gilmour had a stronger presence. The song is also peppered with quotes from Orwell's 1984 and actual Cold War rhetoric. Ever Open Door - Final Track. Friendly song. Reminds me of Wings. Also reminds me of the Roger Waters' track The Tide is Turning. Is this a prog rock masterpiece? No. Is it worth a listen? Hell Yes. Peace to Alexander Supertramp. A hero.