Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
With A Band Like Supertramp, It Wasn't Such a Crisis, August 6, 2002
Ex-`Tramp Roger Hodgson calls "Crisis? What Crisis?" the Supertramp album he listens to most often, because of it's "rawness," at Hodgson puts it. The album was indeed devised while the band was under pressure to put forth another album and tour in the wake of their breakthrough third album "Crime of the Century," which may be why the ex-vocalist finds the finished product more raw when compared to other Supertramp albums. But for an album that was planned and recorded while the band was under stress to keep the momentum going, "Crisis? What Crisis?" is an elaborate suite of songs, making it a crushing shame that the album will almost never appear on any big-time 100 Greatest Albums of Rock & Roll lists.
The dignified pop of Supertramp always sounded clinical and studio-polished, but not because of any Steely Dan-like studio isolation. That's just the way it was (ironically it translated well onto stage, as captured on the 1980 live album "Paris"). This album isn't exactly "raw" but it is certainly a bit more freewheeling and often less tightly wound as Supertramp's other albums. The album also allows a bit more space for Hodgson's guitars, which he often replaced with keyboards. Even though the quintet was under pressure to release another album, many spots on the album suggest that the band was having some fun, shown in the positive opener `Easy Does It,' `Lady,' and `Another Man's Woman.' There is however at least one genuinely raw song, the heavy schizophrenic `Ain't Nobody But Me.' But there are also plenty of tracks to confirm Supertramp's ability to create pure, flawless, and sophisticated pop songs like `Sister Moonshine' and `A Soapbox Opera.'. The world-weary `Just A Normal Day' is balanced by the more optimistic and catchy `The Meaning.' The innocent `Poor Boy' is a delight, and speaking of innocent, the closing `Two Of Us' is as elegant a three-and-a-half-minutes as any `Tramp fan could ask for.
"Crisis? What Crisis?" connected perfectly with "Crime of the Century," and though its chart peak in the US was just a few spots below its predecessor, many of its songs were becoming staples of FM radio, establishing Supertramp as a serious, dignified attraction. And there was more where this came from; maybe it wasn't such a "Crisis" after all.
|
|
|
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Best Album From The Hodgson Era, July 15, 2002
Most Supertramp fans point to "Breakfast In America" as the group's masterpiece. Well, "Breakfast" IS a classic Tramp album, and it is without question their biggest seller, but I've always leaned more toward "Crisis? What Crisis?" as the band's best album from their days with Roger Hodgson. This is such an uplifting album to play, containing arguably the best material from the Hodgson/Rick Davies singing/songwriting team. Hodgson's "Sister Moonshine," "Lady," and the jig-inducing "The Meaning" are such incredible songs, "Another Soapbox Opera" has great mood to it, and Hodgson's album bookends "Easy Does It" & "Two Of Us" are both very lovely. The man has a classic falsetto voice, and is terrific on guitar & keyboards, too. Meanwhile, Davies, no slouch on vocals or piano either, steps up to the plate with the instant Tramp classics "Ain't Nobody But Me" & "Another Man's Woman," while "Poor Boy" is a wonderfully light, breezy number guaranteed to make you smile. And the two men come together for the excellent dramatic piece, "Just A Normal Day." Both Hodgson & Davies truly shine on this album, and they're brilliantly augmented by sax man John Helliwell, drummer Bob Seibenberg and bassist Dougie Thomson. And to top it off, the album has been remastered for superior sound quality, which makes this CD all the more sweeter."Crisis? What Crisis?" is a superb Supertramp album, one that I can't recommend enough. "Breakfast In America" may have the popular vote, but for me, THIS album is The Big One from the Roger Hodgson era. :-)
|
|
|
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Second of Four Classics, December 31, 2002
"Crisis? What Crisis? is the second in a line of four, what I call, masterpieces from Supertramp. It's a work dominated by Roger Hodgson, who does vocals on seven of the ten songs. The remaster is crisp and clean, with songs such as "Sister Moonshine," and "The Meaning" ringing sweet out to my ears. But what I want to mention is that this package finally contains the long lost lyrics to the album. In the past releases I owned, they were never included. I had to go out and find the actual "Crisis? What Crisis?" song book to get them. And to all you Supertramp fans out there....the lyrics on this remaster contain many mistakes. "A Soapbox Opera" was always hard to figure out, and the key lyric at the bridge is wrong. (The correct lyric is "But rather than a reason, there's a smog in my head") So all you Supertramp fans take note!
|
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
by Supertramp 
