Supertramp's Crisis? What Crisis?

What a great album. Been listening to it this week, an absolutely under-rated gem.

Mike

 

Agreed. I think it flows better than Crime, and it has an absolutely unique atmosphere. Very redolent of Britain in the 70s. Some HUGE sleepers here: "The Meaning," "Just a Normal Day," "Poor Boy," "A Soapbox Opera", etc. My favorite Supertramp album, immaculately produced by Ken Scott and perfectly sequenced.

 

Like this one a lot as well. Had a tough time finding it on CD a few years back and had to settle for a Canadian CD copy. Not that it's a bad thing just surprised I couldn't find a US one when I wanted to buy it. When you consider it came out between Crime Of The Century and Even In The Quietest Moments it has a whole different sound to it IMO. I've always thought of this album as a left turn by the band. Different but great.

 

It was kind of like re-discovering a long lost Da Vinci this week - every bit a masterpiece - but something I haven't listened to 1000 times before.

Mike

 

A lovely album. Not quite as psychedelic as "Crime of the Century" but it has an intelligence to it that rewards the listener.

 

A very good album, but I put 'Even In The Quietest Moments' just ahead of it.

 

Trent Reznor supposedly has John Lennon's mellotron... or something like that.

Edit: I have no idea how this was posted in here. I hadn't even viewed this thread.

 

A subtext that has always eluded me, no matter how often I listen to this record.

 

Agree....wonderful album.

 

Underrated, primarily due to the lack of hit singles I would guess. They were on an incredible roll during this era.

 

Great album, but I still think they hit their peak with "Even in the Quietest Moments."

I still wonder who played the guitar intro to "Bloody Well Right." A moment never repeated in their catalog. Was that Roger?

 

Crisis is a great album, although one I listen to least-frequently. Going to change that this week. Breakfast is my all-time fave, with Quietest Moments close behind.

 

Yes.

 

A couple decades ago, I bought Crisis? What Crisis? on vinyl so I could pair it with Crime of the Century on a 90-minute cassette. After doing the math on the album's running time, I realized I'd have to put the opening song, "Easy Does It," at the tail of Crime to get everything to fit. It amused me that Crisis? took up the end of Side 1, then the whole of Side 2. It all fit perfectly. "Two of Us" wraps up that cassette as if it was manufactured that way. I've now got the sequence of albums from Crime through Breakfast in America on CD, so I'm happy.

Crisis? is the quintessential Supertramp album, with its share of peppy, upbeat or snarky moments, and who among us doesn't love the acoustic rhythm guitar that is the foundation of "Sister Moonshine"? But there's always that tinge of melancholy in there somewhere, too ("A Soapbox Opera," for example, with its wonderfully arranged strings and dramatic ending, or the natural sob in Roger Hodgson's voice in general). As much as I love Supertramp, I have to be in the right mood to hear the band's progressive-pop albums all the way through, especially this one. When I do, though, I'm always floored. And to second Lord Gastwick's motion, Ken Scott's production is immaculate indeed. Crisis? is just one of many reasons I'm grateful to him.

My favorite comes early: "Ain't Nobody But Me."

 

Great LP. Soapbox Opera, The Meaning and Two Of Us stand out for me, all in my Supertramp top 10.

 

I'm going to have to give the nod to Even In The Quietest Moments over Crisis. Probably because I saw Supertramp on the EITQM tour, and the overall sensory experience of seeing Fools Overture performed live cemented my love for "Moments." A close second has to be Crime of The Century, again seeing Rudy performed live at the same concert was amazing. Crisis would be 3rd for me I guess.

 

My feelings about most of the Supertramp albums are tied to various childhood memories...

- hearing the Crime of the Century album at a friend's house in the mid 70's on their 1970's console stereo (my friend's older sister owned the album), and hearing "Bloody Well Right" blaring on various rides at our county fair around that time

- hearing "Give A Little Bit" constantly during the summer of '77, then later hearing the synth parts of "Fools Overture" become the theme intro for a Canadian CTV news program called W5.

- Breakfast In America was played EVERYWHERE in the summer of '79, that one brings back lots of memories from junior high years. I even woefully played guitar in a grade eight "talent" show band for "Logical Song" (is there even guitar in that song??? ). At least our sax player knew what he was doing.

- "It's Raining Again" from Famous Last Words got tons of airplay when it came out when I was in high school, I remember really liking the sound quality of that album at the time, but I didn't listen a lot to that album... was much more into new wave at the time.

- Went to see Supertramp for the Brother Where You Bound tour when I was in college... I remember there were all kinds of 'rumors' during the radio promotion for the tour that Hodgson might show up, but that of course never happened. I assume they were trying hard to get tickets sold locally. The show itself was great (the AV part was awesome), but I sorely missed Hodgson and his key songs.

So for me it's hard to separate these albums from the life and times around them. That's what's cool about listening to Crisis? What Crisis? ... I have nothing other than the music to reference to.

Mike

 

Just discovered a Canadian Supertramp tribute band that takes their name from this album. http://crisiswhatcrisis.ca/gallery/

 

Only have the remaster here. Any CD comparisons? Love the album.

 

I prefer the original CD over the mid-nineties European remaster.

 

It's their best album.


Yes, I'm willing to go into a 10 page argument over this.

 

Thanks. Time to try to find an original.

 

The USA remaster is better than the European remaster. But the original cd is best.

 

An underrated album. "Poor Boy" and "Another Man's Woman" might even be my 2 favourite Supertramp songs. Crime Of The Century is my favourite, but this is a worthy #2.