My Amazon Reviews: Supertramp "Retrospectacle"

That's Really Super, Supertramp  
4 Out of 5 Stars

This "Retrospectacle" is not a greatest hits set, and probably not for casual fans of the singles Supertramp placed on the charts through the 70's and 80's. At two discs and 32 songs, it covers the Supertramp albums from their first two (largely ignored on original release) albums, the hot period from "Crime of The Century" through "Famous Last Words" and then offers a few more songs from albums post-hit career. It was a pretty wild and evolving career, with this set giving a solid history.

While they started out as art-rockers with British Music Hall sensibilities (best shown by the single "Land Ho), by the time the went for high concept with "Crime of The Century," Supertramp began to make art-pop that rocked. Not an easy task. But with "Dreamer" and "Bloody Well Right," they hit a rich commercial lineage that had few peers. In this time period, only 10cc could match Rick Davies and Roger Hodgson's canny mixture of rock/pop/and witty compositions. The albums continued getting better and (in my opinion, at least) peaked with "Even In The Quietest Moments." "Give A Little Bit" became a top 20 hit and the band became superstars. That set the stage for the explosive success of "Breakfast In America," a smoothly slick look at their newly found worldwide acceptance.

In addition to being a Top Ten Album, it spawned four hits singles (and the sublime "The Logical Song") and eventually even lifted the five year old "Dreamer" back onto the top 20. The sound was immaculate, but homogeneity was beginning to show. It also led to the obligatory double live album, the top ten "Paris." What the lone track from that album, "You Started Laughing," shows, is that Supertramp were as technically proficient onstage as they were in the studio, just not necessarily spontaneous. It also filled the time for the band to finish up "Famous Last Words," an album that did show that the band had sanded off all the quirks to become a highly polished pop band in pursuit of American Radio (most tellingly shown by the kiddy chorus that pops up on "It's Raining Again").

"Famous Last Words" was the point where Hodgson decided he was going solo, leaving Davies to carry "Brother Where You Bound" and "Free as a Bird." Turns out they obviously needed each other more than they cared to admit, as the lack of the pair's vocal interplay and songwriting chemistry made "Brother" bland and "Bird" forgettable. The remaining songs are, frankly, utterly uninteresting (although the live version of "Another Man's Woman" reminds you of past glories). Davies is still soldiering on under than Supertramp name, but the excess of material here will please only diehard fans. You could easily settle for the single disc set.