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10-20-2008, 04:28 PM | #1 (permalink) |
Groupie
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 5
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Supertramp Sadly Forgotten
In my opinion Supertramp is perhaps the best band ever to record music. Their albums Crime of the Century, Crisis? What Crisis?, Even in the Quietest Moments and their most well known album Breakfast in America are their finest by far. In fact the work they did before and after these 4 albums are nothing to write home about (or post on a forum about). Every single song on each of these four albums is perfection and there I can not think of a four album streak nearly as good aside from possibly the Beatles. It is unfortuante that only 3 or so of their songs get any radio play and that they are basically known for these songs. The arrangemts, drum fills, passionate vocals and inventive experimentation both lyrically and musically are absolutly incredible. The duel lead vocals of Roger Hodgson and Rick Davies is sublime with each of the two lending a different characteristic to the songs they perform on. I can listen to these four albums connsecutively on my ipod without even thinking about skipping a track while being fully engaged and interested even after hearing every song dozens of times. Some fairly unknown songs I urge anyone reading this to listen to are "Just Another Nervous Wreck", "Rudy" and "School". These three tracks while each very different give an accurate depiction of just how varied and inventive the songs this group produced are. In fact I urge you to listen to every song on each of these albums my favorite being Crime of the Century. Honestly in a discussions of band among people i rarely hear Supertramp mentioned and that is a shame in my opinion.
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10-20-2008, 05:21 PM | #2 (permalink) |
Born to be mild
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: 404 Not Found
Posts: 26,992
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I feel Supertramp died when Roger left, and indeed, the last album to feature him, appropriately titled "Famous last words" is, in my opinion, one of the shining examples of their best work. Though I agree that the four you mention are tremendous albums, and it is indeed a pity that they're known for the "hit singles", when there are songs like "Downstream", "Lord is it mine", "Fool's overture" and the wonderful, epoch-ending "Don't leave me now".
Roger's second and third solo albums were not, for me, all that great (though still good), but his debut, "In the eye of the storm", deserved to be a classic. Flawless throughout. All in all, a wonderful and yes, very underappreciated band. And I would point you to tracks like "Surely" from the first album, also "It's a long road" and "Rosie had everything planned." The genesis (!) of a true supergroup, and hints there of what they were to achieve. A sad ending to a wonderful band that made thoughtful, intelligent music that was, I guess, not "pop" enough for the mainstream and perhaps not "progressive" enough for the avant-garde, leaving them sadly falling between two stools, and down into the cracks of music history. |
10-20-2008, 06:18 PM | #3 (permalink) |
Groupie
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: The Psychedelic Underground
Posts: 37
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I loved twelve years of Supertramp's recordings. One of the most underrated songs of all-time came from their debut ("Aubade and I Am Not Like Other Birds of Prey" - simply classic) and they released so many wonderful albums during the seventies that it's astonishing more people don't hail their achievements. I couldn't feel like my music collection was complete without Supertramp being a part of it.
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10-21-2008, 07:50 AM | #4 (permalink) |
Born to be mild
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: 404 Not Found
Posts: 26,992
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Has anyone else ever noticed how the singing duties were split on the band? Roger always sang the "happy" or "up" songs (Dreamer, It's raining again, Breakfast in America" etc), while Rick took care of the more serious, "down" songs (Just another nervous wreck, Bloody well right, and so on) --- not really that surprising then that when Roger left, the next four albums were, for the most part, devoid of any fun (or hit singles).
I did like parts of "Some things never change", but I hated "Slow motion", was more or less indifferent to "Brother where you bound", and the less said, really, about "Free as a bird", the better... |
10-22-2008, 11:20 AM | #5 (permalink) |
Raptor
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Metro Detroit, MI
Posts: 1,321
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Its funny you posted this because I was just talking to a friend a few days ago about how they're an incredibly underrated band. Totally agree with all of the statements above.
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10-22-2008, 11:24 AM | #6 (permalink) |
Music Addict
Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 339
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I remember when punk and new wave were making headwaves at the end of the 70's and early 80's. A lot of younger music fans were calling Supertramp garbage. I will take Supertramp any day over any punk or new wave band. School and Even In The Quietest Moment have to be 2 of the best songs ever recorded
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11-02-2011, 05:34 PM | #7 (permalink) | |
Divination
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 2,655
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Bump!
Quote:
"Give A Little Bit", "Fools Overture". |
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11-02-2011, 05:42 PM | #8 (permalink) |
Horribly Creative
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: London, The Big Smoke
Posts: 8,265
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I used to go on about how great Supertramp were on here...........but people used to laugh!!!
Without doubt they were as good and talented as any of the prog and soft rock contemporaries throughout the 1970s. The vocals of Roger Hodgson were always something very special and one of rocks most unique singers. Supertramp were one of those groups along with Jethro Tull etc that got a huge backlash from the snotty nosed punk brigade in the late 1970s. |
11-02-2011, 06:21 PM | #9 (permalink) | |
Divination
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 2,655
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Quote:
Supertramp was always on the radio during the 70s. So they were not really unrecognized or unpopular during that era. |
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11-02-2011, 06:27 PM | #10 (permalink) | |
Horribly Creative
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: London, The Big Smoke
Posts: 8,265
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Quote:
Styx were very different to ELO but also could easily appeal to an ELO fan. Supertramp again different and a fan a Supertramp fan may not really dig the style of music that Styx put out. Styx>Supertramp>>>>>>>ELO (I`m actually about to give all of ELOs albums a listen again soon) |
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