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22 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Supertramp hits its apogee, December 18, 2001
This is not just Supertramp's best record, it's also one of the greatest all-round rock records of the early '70s. Unfortunately, it would be all downhill for the band from here."Crime of the Century" pulls off the idea of a "concept" album with out coming off as overblown, pretentious or cliched. Each song, in fact, seems to be its own little self-contained rock opera. The band had not yet sunk into the ubiquitous falsetto that plagued latter efforts like in "Crisis? What Crisis?" and the cloying "Breakfast In America." The songs themselves on "Crime of the Century" are relatively lengthy pieces layered and textured with tempo changes, movements, and other effects. (By the time they recorded "Breakfast In America" three years later, they were reduced to writing three-and-a-half-minute pop songs rife with lyrical cliches with a glossy production sheen so luminous that it bleached way what little passion the songs may have had.) That was not the case with "Crime of the Century." The songs here are dark, ansgst-ridden and a bit cynical. Songs like "Hide In Your Shell," and "Ayslum" deal with coping with mental illness and offer such dark-humored lyrics as "Will he take a sailboat ride? He is very likely to. Will feel dead inside? He is very likely to!" I am particularly fond of "Rudy," -- a Supertramp concert staple and maybe one of their best songs ever. It's a piano-based rocker sung from the point of view of a gentleman who is not sure if he's made the right choices in life ("Rudy's on a train to nowhere... halfway down the line...") and is hoping for some sort of redemption we all know will never come. The singles here, "School," and "Bloody Well Right," almost seem Floydian in the way they chastise the public education system of the day and rail against its administrators' tendency to try make everyone the same by stripping unsuspecting students of their uniqueness or individuality. The song does a great job of conveying the sense of anger, frustration and resignation such institutionalization creates. The writing, arranging and playing on "Crime of the Century" is first rate and strikingly original. (Tell me, who do you think Supertramp is being influenced by here? Who are they emmulating? The answer is nobody... they've truly created an original sound.) After "Crime of the Century," Supertramp released 4 more albums with this classic line-up (headed by writers Roger Hodgeson - guitar, and Rick Davies - keyboards). While most of the albums are good... with each subsequent release the band took another step closer to the "pop" millieau that help sell so many copies of "Breakfast In America." While we're on that subject... remember ALL rock music is indeed "pop" music... but not all pop music is rock. But when it comes to "Crime of the Century," there is no doubt that this album rocks with the best of the early- to mid-70s rock 'n' roll canon that included the likes of such lumanaries as Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple and truck load of other heavy progessive bands. This is also a great "headphone" album with lots of great piano work, intersting special effects and insightful, thought-provoking lyrics that manage, for the most part, to stay clear of the overly maudline and the cliche. Hodgeson and Davies also, at this point in their writing careers, had a great sense of melody. So, while the songs' arrangements may be dense and complex, they remain accessable and easy to sing along with. (Which, after a few listens, I'm betting you will!) When one listens to "Crime of the Century" one can't help but wonder what would have happened if Hodgeson and Davies had managed to get along and the band had stayed the course all these years. Ah, but that's just rock 'n' roll... Ain't it?
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