Customer Reviews

Brother Where You Bound

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This album, the first to be recorded without guitarist/vocalist Roger Hodgson stands out for a couple reasons:

1. It was a massive improvement on their previous album, "Famous Last Words"

2. It has a darker, jazzier sound than any of their other work.

Granted that most of their previous material had been largely upbeat, majoy key compositions, many die hard Supertramp fans simply don't know what to think of this, hence the bad reviews. But this is a brilliant album. Possibly one of the best released in the horrendous decade for music, the 80's.

4 of the six songs are dark, minor key and somewhat slow in tempo, except for the danceable, infectious "Cannonball." The remaining two songs have a happier feel. The title track is very different for Supertramp, and the most progressive work they've done to date, alongside "Fool's Overture." In terms of structure is it somewhat incohesive, but overall it has brilliant music moments in it that make it a true masterpiece, a standout in the bands repertoire.

The melancholy "No Inbetween," is quite slow moving, but still holds your interest. "Better Days" is somewaht dramatic and emotional and has a cool jam thing in the end. "Still in Love" is more traditional Supertramp fare, with it's catchy sax lines and jumpy piano. "Ever Open Door" is sort of a slow, tender kind of song, and a nice warm way to close an album.

For people who aren't fans of change, skip this. For those who are, buy it for sure. The darker, piano-dominated sound is certainly a change, and definetly a welcome one. True, the loss of Hodgson is lamentable, but don't worry about it too much, because without him, Supertramp is alive and well.

The 1985 album "Brother Where You Bound" was an excellent attempt to keep the Supertramp spirit alive after Roger left. True, it sounds more like a Rick Davies solo album than a group effort, but the direction the group went with this turned out to be better then some people would have thought. "Cannonball", the album's opener and first single, is a song about a relationship gone bad. It's hard to tell if Rick's biting lyrics are about Roger, or someone else in general. From there, Rick sings about various wrongdoings, from slavery to poverty to the decline of society to war and climaxes with the 16+ minute title track. The album ends with "Ever Open Door", which is the most touching song about life Rick has ever written. Although the progressive rock sound has dated, the album is worth getting for that song.

Some people hate this CD for its dark mood and some people think it is fantastic. I think if it fairly good, close to 4 stars. It isn't their best album but it has some good parts. And I don't think it is all that dark. Note that there is a "remastered" version of the CD. I have the original, and I don't think there is anything wrong with the sound.

The 3, 4 and 5 track of this album is like an extended, 30 minute version of Fool's Overture. It has the changing themes and the dialog by famous people (Ronald Reagan, George Bush and others). It is another one of those Supertramp tracks that take you into a different world and when it is over your head is spinning and you try to come back to reality.

The album starts out with the 8 minute, bouncy Cannonball. I can take or leave it. Tracks 2 and 6 are completely forgettable.

This is the first album after Roger Hodgson left the group. He put out a fairly good album at the same time called Eye of the Storm. It is hard to say which is better. In 1987, both Hodgson and Supertramp released horrible CD's of short tracks trying to capture the disco pop sound of the day. Both disappeared for over 10 years after that.

First, let's get the most difficult part out of the way--Roger Hodgson sang and wrote or co-wrote the bulk of Supertramp's hits. True, this was very much a collaborative band and Rick Davies contributed just as much but not if you bought their albums for the hits. Roger has a distinctive songwriting style using a lot of major keys and upbeat lyrical statements. Rick, on the other hand, struck me as more the cynical one of the two. Sure, Roger was missed but Rick did a marvelous job of carrying on with this daring concept album.

More prog pop than prog rock, Supertramp managed to blur the lines between top 40 and progressive rock. Brother is an attempt to return to the prog rock roots to a certain extent. Brother reminds me more of Crime of the Century than the band's later efforts. There's a dark and cynical undercurrent to the lyrics and the music is as ambitious as ever.

The stunning opening track Cannonball sets the pace. It's lyrics hint at emotional betrayal and, although there has been speculation that it's about Roger's departure, it's strictly speculation. Either way, it's a stunning opener.

Better Days pokes and prods the political process and promises that are often betrayed by poiticians once they attain power. It's also a strong track.

The title track hasn't aged as well lyrically, but the music carries the day. Dave Gilmour's stunning guitar solos add heft to this ambitious, powerful song. Suddenly, for an instant, the band transforms into Pinktramp. It made me wish Gilmour had guested on more than this song.

The closing track Ever Open Door is one of the most heartfelt, hopeful tracks that Davies has ever written. It's fairly straight forward and simple in deliver which is just the tonic one needs after the brutal title track. It's one of the most emotionally powerful songs the band has ever recorded.

After the inconsistent Famous Last Words, Brother demonstrated the band could continue to make viable and powerful music. The playing is top drawer. What's surprising is that Roger Hodgson really isn't missed all that much.

Not bad at all I would say. The title track is one of the best ever maid by Supertramp, it stands well in front of Fool's Overture in my opinion.
Better days is another great track. Overall, this is a very good cd from Supertramp.

The best thing about this cd is that Rick Davies has bounced Supertramp back after the loss of Roger. The title track proves this totally!! Clear drums, soaring guitar solos, addictive piano rythms and the throaty rasp of Davies' voice. Ever Open Door will move you to the core and leave you staring into space. Your feet will still be tapping to Cannonball at least two days after you've heard it!! A 'must buy' for any Supertramp fan. I listen to this masterpiece at least twice a week!!

For my money, the mark of a great album is how well it stands the test of time and rock's restless, ever-changing environment. Looking back on this startling and underrated Supetramp opus, I can offer you an interesting perspective. It's 1985. I'm in high school, this album comes out and Supertramp is still up there with Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin as one among my favourite progressive rock bands. Now cut to the late 90's. I'm deep into modern electronica, dance music and club culture. I'm going to dance parties, buying the DJ mix albums and talking like a nutter with my mates about names like Paul Van Dyke and Anthony Pappa and Dave Seaman and The Platipus Sound System. World's apart, you might think? No, because this is not your standard cheesy, commercial Top 40 dance fodder. It's progressive house music, and looking back I realise it has more in common with Supertramp's progressive ethic than you might think. Listening to this album now I'm struck by the pristine production and beautiful textures, dynamic and intelligent arrangements, attention to detail, reverence for melody, and the sheer passion and emotion of the music. With guitarist and co-songwriter Roger Hodgson departing Supetramp a few years before this album's release, some critics and fans were writing off BROTHER WHERE YOU BOUND even before it appeared. My, how foolish they look now. The first half is made up of four shortish songs that are a solid restatement of classic Supetramp strengths: vocalist Rick Davis' R&B growl and dynamic piano playing, John Helliwell's marvelously moody saxophone, the punchy jazz-inflected arrangements, spare but clever use of sound effects, and a rhythm section as tight as high-tensile steel wire. After four songs you barely notice that Roger Hodgson's vocals and piecing lead guitar solos are absent. That absence is nonetheless remedied in part during the album's second half by his perfect replacement...Pink Floyd's David Gilmour. Gilmour's two astonishingly powerful lead guitar solos provide the icing on the ambitious 16-minute title track, an exhilarating opus that's right up there with "Fools Overture", that classic piece of progressive pomp from their 1976 album EVEN IN THE QUIETEST MOMENTS. It doesn't really matter that the cold war paranoia of Rick Davies lyrics now sounds dreadfully embarrassing; the music carries the day. Segueing through at least half a dozen highly distinct musical movements - including a startling free-form avant-garde collision of instruments about halfway through - this track is a stunning achievement for the band. It also makes for a great demonstration of your hi-fi system, if you're so inclined. After that glorious blast, you need something to calm you down and the closing lament "Ever Open Door" does it admirably. Featuring just Davies' voice, a piano and dash of synthesiser, it's a tender and emotional close to one of the high watermarks in the Supertramp canon. God, if you're a fan and you never bought this one, get it now.

After a 2 year hiatus from Hodgson's major turn of decision to leave the band that gave birth to his formidable career, co-founder Rick Davies decided to move on hooking up with Supertramp's remaining band members - taking total charge of the band's musical direction and songwriting chores - came up with this six-tracked LP, which initialized Davies' complete handling of Supertramp, characterized by his continual lyrical innuendo regarding Hodgson's flight from the group - guised in the maneuver of wooing back a woman's affection of sorts, which is first encountered in a more evident way on Supertramp's previous Lp, the final one with Hodgson entitled FAMOUS LAST WORDS, the song "Waiting So Long".

Quite peculiar - the album cover features Darwin's infamous diagram for the evolution of man, which extends to the inner sleeve picturing Supertramp's four remaining band members -- it seems to connote a certain kind of complimentary symbolical iconography of sorts for their then-driving force Roger Hodgson perhaps; that obviously, somewhat needless to say (and yet I'd state it anyhow as such) - SUPERTRAMP without Hodgson is indeed a major issue to serve as a gap for a missing link of sorts concerning the band to pull through in order to work out well.
It even kind of resembles The Beatles' 'official' final album, ABBEY ROAD which symbolically depicts the group to bury Paul McCartney out of the gimmick instigated by the late John Lennon - which turn out that Lennon had to eat up his word by telling McCartney not to play in the band in response to McCartney's words that they can't go on arguing all of the time if they are to continue on working as a unit (as heard on the supplementary for the LET IT BE album reissue "NAKED"), that it winded up as a significant representation of the Beatles' trasistion to disband -- whilst with this Supertramp album cover : it's the transistion of moving on without Hodgson.

Commenced with its 7 minute single feature track "Cannonball" (one of such as those that's most passable to ever come out from Davies) - it reflects a very sad constituent for the direction of the band, in particular to Davies' perspective prospectively regarding the band's direction without Hodgson; and yet Davies in his own right, was still able to pull through with a number of exceptionally good tracks for this Lp - such as the second track "Still In Love with you", and what follows "No Inbetween", and "Better Days".

The album coming out as the first to present what would turn out for the band's route under the direction of Davies' tutelage for Supertramp, it features guitar works from Marty Walsh - along with THIN LIZZY's Scott Gorham (who, by the way is an in-law to one of Supertramp's members who've then referred Gorham to the Phil Lynott group), in particular to the album's title track, wherein the album being guised as packaged with no gaps between the tracks similar to a concept album in the veins of Pink Floyd's DARK SIDE OF THE MOON (kinda like a revamp of sorts to Supertramp's CRIME OF THE CENTURY (that spawned the first Lp with the full classic line-up of Hodgson/Davies/Siebenberg/Thomson/Helliwell); which had that better spunk to beat the said over-rated Pink Floyd album anytime) - in this case, Davies also incorporated Floyd's guitarist David Gilmore, whilst Davies' songwriting apparently turned into something that appears very akin with Roger Waters of Pink Floyd's style of ode-like narratives in that respect for the majority of the tracks within this album, which is characteristically met further on with Supertramp's next releases from this point on.

The album however ends poignantly with a very hopeful yet sad ballad "Open Every Door", which is rivaled similar but in a more light-hearted way on the closer for the band's 1997 release SOME THINGS NEVER CHANGE (the album being quite link-able to christian stuff anyway -somewhat), the song "Where There's A Will", which is quaintly humourous to also slot in melodically a faint and subtly executed interlude of the traditional church hymn "Amazing Grace", which is a better developed album of sorts, comparatively for what fallowed this one - the album FREE AS A BIRD.

"Cannonball." You can't stop listening to it. It clocks in at over seven minutes. But it could take over the entire album and you wouldn't get bored.

It's as epic and hypnotic as Led Zeppelin's Kashmir, but for Prog-pop fans. Instead of a Jimmy Page guitar grind, you have a saxophone bridge and Davies' Hammond organ.

If you're one of those people who lights your cigarette lighter at a Phil Collins-Genesis concert, then you'll love this album.

We got about 44 min. of music here.Title track 16 min.is nothing short of brilliant. It is like Fools Overture,just more pace and a little more trippy.Cannonball is nice and bouncy(8min.)No Inbetween 5 min.is a beuatiful, mainly piano ballad
which is 30 mins.of exellent music here.Better Days is not bad
either,so this is not a total waste you see.Ok.