Customer Reviews

Famous Last Words

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

How does a band follow up a mega-smash album? Simple: they just follow it up. 1979's "Breakfast In America" was such a gargantuan success all over the place for Supertramp, that, after the world tour in support of the album, the band took some well-deserved rest for a couple of years before re-grouping for their next disc. However, one of the band's key members, singer/songwriter Roger Hodgson, wasn't so sure about his future with the group, and the next album, 1982's "Famous Last Words," would be his last album with the band (hence the title?). As Hodgson's swan song with the group, "Famous Last Words" certainly has an element of sadness attached to it, and although the album did not signal the end of Supertramp, it did signal the end of an era. It was nowhere near as commercially successful as "Breakfast In America" (how could it have been?), but "Famous Last Words" is still an excellent, heartfelt album filled with the high quality mix of pop, jazz, & rock that this great band are famous for. Hodgson's opener, "Crazy," is a great piano-thumper, while co-leader Rick Davies' "Put On Your Old Brown Shoes" is an excellent shuffler to clap along to. Hodgson's "It's Raining Again" is a very nice, uplifting song (and a Top 20 hit single), and "Bonnie" is a great showcase number for Davies. Next up is Hodgson's haunting, achingly beautiful "Know Who You Are," one of the very best songs he has ever written. If this gorgeous number doesn't bring a tear to your eye, then there must be something wrong with you. Davies then picks things up with the great 50's fun of "My Kind Of Lady," followed by Hodgson's majestic "C'est Le Bon" (featuring Ann & Nancy Wilson of Heart on background vocals), and finally, for a powerful one-two punch of dramatic Supertramp rock, there's the double-header of Davies' "Waiting So Long," and Hodgson's grand finale---and, judging by the lyrics, his farewell to the band---"Don't Leave Me Now."After the tour for "Famous Last Words," Roger Hodgson left Supertramp, apparently because he & Davies could no longer agree on the band's musical direction (Hodgson wanted the group to stay more pop, Davies wanted the group to be more jazzy). Since then, Rick Davies continues to helm Supertramp on his own, and the band has since recorded four great albums, starting with 1985's "Brother Where You Bound," and continues to tour. Hodgson has also recorded four fine solo albums since his departure from the group, and he recently went on tour with Ringo Starr, so both camps are doing just fine. While Hodgson may not be interested in returning to Supertramp (and he has said as such), we can be grateful of the terrific music he did make with the band---seven albums worth, in fact, as well as the live double-album, "Paris." "Famous Last Words" is a fond farewell to Roger Hodgson, and a lovely album to close out his time with Supertramp. A definite must-buy. :-)

I remember first playing ...Famous Last Words..., around the pool table one cold, dark night at boarding school as a teenager. I clearly recall my initial thoughts, that Put on your old brown shoes was the only Supertramp track that I didn't like, out of every track of every album to date. A good few listens later, it became one of my favourite tracks of one of my all time favourite albums. This album is simply brilliant, with the last two songs, Waiting so long, and the prophetic Don't leave me now finishing off a complete masterpiece with total awe. I literally come out in goose bumps as I turn up the volume to appreciate, particularly these last two tracks, it to their full glory.
If Roger Hodgson had to leave Supertramp, as he unfortunately did, he could not have left on a higher note.

"Breakfast In America" is without a doubt one of the all-time classic albums. Beyond that and "Crime Of The Century", it's easy to let the rest of Supertramp's work go unnoticed. That's what happened with me. I've been listening to Crime and Breakfast for years while neglecting the rest of their catalog. My bad! I've recently picked up several other Supertramp albums, including "Famous Last Words".

Clearly, Supertramp were trying to distinguish FLW as something other than simply a follow-up to the blockbuster Breakfast. Although the sound is unmistakably Supertramp, it's obvious there was an effort to strike out in different directions to accomplish something that could build upon their previous success.

Check out "Waiting So Long" for some foreshadowing of the following Supertramp album, "Brother Where You Bound" with it's rich orchestration and trademark build-ups and the '50s doo-wop influenced "My Kind of Lady" for an indication of these changes. Of course, there is still the classic Supertramp with songs like "It's Raining Again" and "Crazy" (which could easily have ended up on Breakfast In America based on its sound).

Despite hiding in the shadow of Breakfast In America, Famous Last Words is still a great album in the Supertramp tradition. Consider it essential for the Supertramp fan.

Not too many bands come through with their originality and talent like Supertramp can. And I will always remember this band's unique flare for mellowing me whenever I need to rethink a hard day. Their music plays on even after the cd player is done and we are left with a profound - yet comfortable silence. I would love to see them in concert just once -- outside where the earth and sky surround Supertramp's fine musicians. I'm sure they have ties with nature and all it's surprises. Jennifer

After this album, co-lead vocalist & songwriter Roger Hodgson left the band and Supertramp went on for at least 3 more albums without him, though they'd lost the magic Roger brought to the mix. The songwriting and the vocals are split almost equally between Hodgson and Rick Davies on this one and they play off each other well. Beautifully produced, with some masterful 12 and 16 string guitar playing by Hodgson that simply shimmers.
A must for Supertramp fans and not a bad introduction for anyone not familiar with their tuneful, often miscategorized sound.

I don't know if the band members ever commented on this, but I get the impression that even they were surprised by the incredible success of Breakfast in America. Certainly the expectations were incredibly high to make a great follow up album. Unfortunately, Famous Last Words failed to come close to the success of Breakfast.

The songs are just not up to par here. In fact, I consider this the weakest of the Hodgson-involved albums. The Rick Davies songs are beyond awful, while some of the Hodgson stuff is his usual high quality.

In hindsight, it is fairly easy to tell that there were troubles in the band when listening to this. Unfortunately, they couldn't come up with a "farewell" album worthy of the band.

Even though "Famous Last Words" came out after Breakfast in America, with similarities in commercial pop songs like "It's Raining again", it features classics that no one should miss, such as "Know Who You Are, C'est Le Bon, Don't Leave Me Now". This is Supertramp's last album that belongs into the "Best" category, along with "Supertramp, Crime of the Century, Even in the Quietest Moments, Crisis What Crisis, and Breakfast in America".

There are a few decent songs here, but the special energy that Supertramp had on all their classic albums is gone here, and this is becoming a bit annoying at times, particularly Rick's writing which by now has gotten lazy. With a title like "Put On Your Old Brown Shoes", you just KNOW it's going to be some lame pseudo-jazz uptempo thing by Rick. Hodgson's stuff is starting to get whiny rather than positive - "Crazy" and "C'est Le Bon" are decent songs with nice melodies and hooks, though less original than his offerings on previous albums. The only song that was even a moderate hit, "It's Raining Again" is a decent song, but compared to previous albums, it's more of a jingle than anything else, with not-so-great lyrics (come on you little fighter / no need to get up-tighter). Overall, the lyrics are dark and despairing, and point the way to Roger's departure from the band, which goes out with a whimper not a bang.

As with the rest of the Supertramp remasters - long overdue, even in 2002 - the sound quality here is fantastic. Supertramp always took care in the studio to record and construct their albums with fantastic sound and lots of dynamic range. Given this was Hodgson's last album (and subsequent tour), the lyrics become tinged with sadness and meta-meaning beyond their context in the songs.

However... I don't know the specifics of the how or why, but the beginning of "Bonnie" is glitched up. To my ear, it sounds as if someone with a razor blade or some digital editing software tried to recreate the beginning of the track, but used the later repetition when the xylophone came in over the piano to replay the opening phrase. Anyway, the result is just wrong, and bugged me until I pulled out my old copy of the CD and (there's that digital editing software again) took the beinning of the track from the old CD and 'pasted' it over the offending phrase. I felt better after that. ;)

The title of this album could have been, at no doubt, "Famous Last 70s Music Work"... There were a lot of things that changed in the Music world at the end of that decade.

This Supertramp album, certainly is a sample of what happened... After the smashing success they had with "Crime Of The Century" and even more with "Breakfast in America", it was quite hard for the creative couple Hodgson/Davies to reach the same peak of success with this "Famous...".

In spite of it, the album has some nice tunes. The 50s-styled ballad "My Kind Of Lady" (one of the best Supertramp songs in my opinion), the long-airplay "It's Raining Again", but also to be mentioned "Know Who You Are ", "C'est Le Bon" and even the ignored Hit "Put On Your Old Brown Shoes".