Customer Reviews

Brother Where You Bound

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Supertramp's 1985 album, "Brother Where You Bound," drove a big wedge deep into the group's fanbase, which was not too surprising, as this was the band's first album without singer/songwriter Roger Hodgson, leaving co-singer/songwriter Rick Davies solely at the helm. Some fans balked at the mere *idea* of Supertramp carrying on without Hodgson, while the more open-minded Tramp fans (like me) decided to give Davies & the rest of the group a chance. Let me put it to you this way: if you truly believe that Supertramp are nothing without Roger Hodgson---even though Davies DID write 50% of the band's Hodgson-era material---then there's no point in me recommending to you "Brother Where You Bound." But if you happen to know better, and you know that Rick Davies is just as great a musical genius as his former partner, then you're in for a real treat. Just six tracks long, "Brother Where You Bound" is a stunning album, one of Supertramp's very best. Davies, sax man John Halliwell, bassist Dougie Thomson, and drummer Bob Siebenberg take a bold, daring turn into full-on progressive jazz/rock (with Pink Floyd-like voices & sound effects thrown in for extra measure). The album contains longer songs and thrilling extended jams, allowing the group to really stretch out. Although Roger Hodgson is missed, what could have been a major problem for Davies & company was turned into a great musical opportunity. There's no need to worry: "Brother Where You Bound" is pure, powerful Supertramp from start to finish. The album speaks for itself.Obviously, with Hodgson's departure being a big hurdle for the band to jump over, Rick & the boys had something to prove, and they had to throw down the gauntlet right at the start of the album. What better song for Supertramp to kick off "Brother" with then the slammin', take-no-prisoners track, "Cannonball" (edited down to single length, it was the group's final Top 40 hit). A rough & tough 7 1/2 minute jazz-rocker about betrayal, Rick Davies & the band tear up the place with great relish. It's an instant Supertramp classic (and a great crowd-pleaser live in concert). After the dust settles, Davies reminds us of his affection for 50's flavored pop with the fun tune, "Still In Love." Then it's back into prog-jazz territory once more, with the atmospheric "No Inbetween" & "Better Days," both excellent songs. But without question, the album's centerpiece is the sprawling, 16 1/2 minute title suite, guest-starring none other than Pink Floyd's David Gilmour on lead guitar. This piece is simply a mindblower, THE most epic work in the band's catalog. Davies & company really take the listener on a great adventure with this one, and they play it to pure perfection, with guest-guitarist Gilmour serving up some very classy lead guitar licks along the way as only Gilmour can. Finally, there's the brief-but-beautiful coda, "Ever Open Door," featuring just Rick Davies, his piano & synths, ending the album on a very poignant note.The group's album sales may have gone down another notch with Hodgson's defection, but not the quality of their music. Supertramp is completely safe in the capable hands of Rick Davies & company, and "Brother Where You Bound" is the testament to that. Supertramp rides again! :-)

When this one-of-a-kind pop rock band released their chart-topping hit album, "Breakfast In America" in 1979, critics claimed that Supertramp could become, quote, "the best-sounding art-rock band in existence" if they centered in on the sophisticated English pop they had become renowned for. But in an act of near bravery, Supertramp denied the critics and continued to move in a more bluesier direction, which soon resulted in the departure of primary co-songwriter Roger Hodgson. The decision to forge on with a much more R&B flavored sound cost the band a crucial member, a piece of their fan-base, not to mention most of their popular acclaim and record sales, but perhaps these hard facts make 1985's "Brother Where You Bound" so unique.
This set captures the now four-man Supertramp at the start of a new era, led by songwriter Rick Davies, rounded out by veteran members Dougie Thomson, John Helliwell, and Bob Siebenberg. Bravely discarding the advice and obvious perferences of their critics, they created a maverick piece of work. From track one, Supertramp grabs your attention with the gripping, lovelorn suite 'Cannonball.' From there, the band adds their trademark sense of sophistication and style, with the mysteriously poignant 'No Inbetween,' and especially the title track, one of the band's most accomplished and intriguing songs, as the album is wrapped up with the glimmers of 'Ever Open Door.'
However, the door was actually closed with this promising set; "Brother Where You Bound" was Supertramp's last album to enter the top 40, and subsequent releases would find only modest success. Nonetheless, the quality would remain the same. A hard price to pay for such great music.

This is the last great Supertramp album. I loved Breakfast, Paris, Crime of the Century. When this album came out, many people felt it was all over without Hodgson. However, this album was a statement that the band could continue and do it right, right bloody well right. This cd has some great songs namely the title tune which is truly one of Supertramp's most ambitious compositions. The other songs are fine as well namely Cannonball with wonderful instrumental work. If they would have continued along this path, I would have been happy. Yet, since this cd they have put out jazz lite tuneless heaps of garbage. Let's be honest superfans, this cd is leaps and bounds better than anything they have put out since. And it is a shame because this album reveals this band had great potential even without the wonderful Hodgson. And to those out there who don't feel as though this band is progressive, just listen to this gem. Yes I'm talking about pebozo a.k.a. pedroza, daniel. I'm still waiting for Davies and the gang to go back to this aggressive, progressive approach....

What can I say...I'm a fan. Just get it. I've been filling in some spaces in my artists collections and Supertramp is a must have, I've got quite a few of their albums. I can honestly say they are all very well done. The musicianship is tops!

This is a fantastic disc. Sonically, it ranks up there with Floyd and Parsons. Coincidentally, David Gilmour makes an appearance on electric guitar - and what an appearance! Sorry, no roger from here on out, but for this disc (the first one w/out RH) anyway, he wasn't missed. Brother where you Bound (the song) is 16 minutes long and is an incredible example of truly progressive music. Especially considering the AOR infested period that this music was created during(1985).

"Brother, Where You Bound" was a reasonable question to ask in the mid-eighties. With an American President who refused to mimic the capitulating posture of the previous administration, the Cold War between The United States and The Soviet Union had reached a fever pitch. And while history has proven Reagan's tone to be the antidote to Soviet aggression, it is also important to remember that a very reluctant European populace was inextricably caught between this proverbial rock and a hard place. Although songwriter Rick Davies' concerns clearly mirrored those of much of Europe, he _does_ represent the other side in this time in history in the fourth verse from the album's title track. Many Supertramp fans regard "Brother, Where You Bound" as the single most epic piece the group ever produced and, considering the weight of the subject matter, they certainly have point! Since this song is not available for download, I would recommend picking up the entire album rather than just cherry-picking here and there. While Roger Hodgson is certainly missed, none other than David Gilmour steps up to the plate to deliver some fantastic guitar work throughout this sixteen-and-a-half minute odyssey!

The very strong single Cannonball affected me the same way that The Alan Parsons Project's Stereotomy did; defiant of trends and thoroughly engaging! An exceptional poly-rhythmic song that never overstays its welcome despite being seven-and-a-half minutes long. If, for any reason, you are reluctant to purchase the entire album, dip your toe in the water here!

But those who jump all the way in will be richly rewarded with the beautifully atmospheric No Inbetween. In some many ways, this is my favorite piece on the whole album and this remaster does a wonderful job of expressing the resonance of the song's opening ringing bells. As a matter of fact, this remaster dodges the pitfall into which so many other remasters fall; there is no undue narrowing of the dynamic range! And while I do wish the essential cannon of Supertramp, of which "Brother, Where You Bound" is one, was available on Sony's Super Audio CD, this redbook compact disc is audiophile quality.

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.

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.

During it's existance Supertramp always seemed to be caught between three very different musical identities:pop,art rock with strong jazz leanings and a bluesy R&B vocal and piano style. To their benifit most of their career they were able to fuse all of these styles into something very memorable and usually very exciting. And considering they always drifted more toward the melodic and highly crafted side of things that meant that huge commercial successess such as Breakfast in America and to a degree the more somber toned Famous Last Words. Several years later they arrived at the mid 80's and pop music was not in a period that strongly emphasized individual expression. Not only that but they were feeling the loss of Roger Hodgson,the bands main creative vessell so it was up to the remaining members,in particular Richard Davies to try to carry things forward.

Especially for the mid 80's this was a rather chancy sort of album for Supertramp to make. The emphasis throughout this album is far less on classically inclined symphonic rock elements and more on tighter and more harmonically demanding aspects of soul/funk and jazz. The album begins of course with it's best known and one of the stronger on the album "Cannonball",a dynamic piano/horn based disco-funk-pop/jazz hybrid with some slippery instrumental and vocal lines married to this sleek but rather conservative production style. Of course you still have those densely chorded piano rock type songs such as "No In Between" and "Every Open Door" which sound more obviously Supertramp-ish yet the sax drenched 50's style rhythm & blues rhythmic pattern of "Still In Love" and to a degree the slower funky stomp of "Better Days" are a refreshing surprise. The 16+ minute title song is really surprising. Moving throughout different radio/TV collages into both melodic passages and...a long segement that more closely resembles something along the lines of Ornette Coleman style free jazz does have a strong emotional resonance and conveys a lot of moods in relatively quick bursts.

One may find it interesting when a lot of progressive rock bands were either going into a highly poppified arena rock direction or simply flying off into near total obscurity that Supertramp would be the ones to focus more on keeping a certain progression forward in their own respective genre by bringing new and modern ideas into their sound,much as The Alan Parsons Project and King Crimson were doing at the same time period. The rhythmic complexities and challanges coming from different hybrids of polyrhythmic 70's funk,jazz fusion and even the new wave style obviously had a very strong impact on all of these bands and even though your going to find a good deal of "good,bad and ugly" types of opinions of this album (mostly relating to it's place in the bands discography) it's actually one of their most fresh and unique releases and merrits a good deal of listens to get the full effect.

It's 1985 and one of the band's primary songwriters and vocalists has left to pursue other interests. This is the situation facing Supertramp when Roger Hodgson parts ways with them. He was responsible for many of the groups best-loved songs including "Dreamer", "Give a Little", "School" and "The Logical Song". His tenor was a great contrast to Rick Davis and this combination made Supertramps songs more interesting with the alternating leads and harmonies. His songs tended to be different subject matter than Davis and that too created a more varied sound and approach when it came to making music. When Supertramp went on to record "Brother Where You Bound?" they must have known that Hodgson's void would be impossible to completely fill. But, this is a very admirable attempt and for this one record they were able to almost pull it off (make you not notice that Hodgson was missing, that is). "Brother" is not "Crime of the Century" or "Breakfast in America" so if you are looking for an introduction to the band; one or both of those two albums should be where you go. But, if you like the earlier work I don't think you'll be disappointed with this record.
I'm reviewing the re-mastered 2002 edition and the first thing I notice is the superb sound quality of the disc. "Cannonball" is the lead track and I would say it's the strongest song on the album. "No In-between" sounds like a classic Supertramp song while the albums centerpiece is undoubtedly the title track which logs in at 16:30 minutes. It's not the best epic length song I've ever heard but it's good. I still prefer "Fool's Overture" but this one features some great instrumentals including Pink Floyd's David Gilmour on a searing guitar solo near the mid-point. The song is separated into three distinct parts and this helps it maintain its length without getting boring.
Supertramp were never able to put together an album that is this good again and even though it's not their best I believe it's probably one of the best 100 rock albums of the 1980's.

This is one of the THE BEST Supertramp albums. Plenty has been said praising the music, tone, sentiment, etc. And I agree with it all - this album is awesome. and let me also add that it is one of the best recordings of the time. That same year I bought Rush's Power Windows album which was their first digital (ddd) recording. Supertramps BWYB sounds absolutely as good and was recorded analog (aaa) for the cassette I had then. I remember being blown away at Gilmour's guitar clarity and the power of the drums. Then when I got the CD finally (not sure if it was 'aad' or 'add' at the time) it sounded even better again.

I also had noticed the recording quality on their "Paris" album in particular; you can hear so much subtility in their recordings. So tribute MUST be paid to the engineers of these albums. They take great music and make it sound even more magnificent.