Leaving too often in a guilty oblivion in recent times, the SuperTramps, one of the most important bands of the 70s, return to light thanks to a double re -edition. On August 29, in fact, two of the most loved records of Roger Hodgson and Rick Davies, “Crime of the Century” and “Crisis? What Crisis?”, To celebrate their 50th anniversary. The new versions were made under the supervision of the band and co-producer Ken Scott (the man at the console For the “Hunky Dory” masterpiece by David Bowie – here our in -depth analysis), with the technical support of Miles Showell at the Abbey Road Studios.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3_upunxx74
“Crime of the Century”, originally released on October 25, 1974, was the third album of the British band, as well as the one that marked their entry into high international success: for the first time the SuperTramp entered the top five of the UK charts and in the Billboard top 40. The album came after two almost unnoticed past works, the 1970s' debut of the same name and “Indelibly Staved” of 1971, and arrived in a crucial moment in which the group's record contract was now running out.
The training – made up of Roger Hodgson, Rick Davies, Dougie Thomson, Bob Siebenberg and John Helliwell – found in “Crime of the Century” a perfect balance between prog ambition and pop writing. With an emotional climax condensed in a trio of suite still somehow linked to a progressive feeling: “Hide in Your Shell”, a wonderful sentimental ballad of almost seven minutes, focused on sudden changes of rhythm and on a growing dialogue between the poignant voice of Hodgson and the keyboard of Davies; “Rudy”, touching meditation on solitude heated by the bright plane and Davies' dirty voice, but also by an almost hard-rock guitarism (the experiment will be re-proposed in “Asylum”); and finally the majestic title trackwith a nice floor riff to act as a prologue to the different sound panels, before the granite ending.
Sort of concept-album On the themes of madness, alienation and paranoia, “Crime of the Century” finally focuses on the formula of the SuperTramp: a singular combination between certain Heavy Rock and R'n'b American and the English folk-pop tradition, revisited in a prog key, through the rhythmic approach of the plane and the keyboards and the full-bodied winds of John Helliwell, whose sax is responsible for the role. to the solo guitar in rock groups. Beyond their vocal intertwining and the double signature on the songs, Davies and Hodgson highlight two different musical approaches: the first, suffering from American rock and r'n'b, prefers rough atmospheres and more difficult scores, the second, of folk-pop formation, chisel the brightest refrains and the most melodic ballads. Having made the debt proportions, a re-edition of the Lennon-McCartney dualism would be thought. Yet the success was not immediate: the first single, “Bloody Well Right”, stopped in 35th place in the American hot 100. Only with the release of “Dreamer”, in February 1975, does the dislaw taken, reaching the 13th place in the United Kingdom and relaunching the sales of the album, which covered the rankings just before the American tour.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7mwbrvsbks
Driven by this momentum, the SuperTramps soon got back to work for the sequel: “Crisis? What Crisis?” He saw the light on November 28, 1975, just thirteen months later.
Just the pop spirit of the Beatles lurks among the furrows of the disc, together with the renewed Anelito Blues of Davies. On the other hand, the use of progressive stylistic styles is reduced, with some pleasant exceptions, as in the romantic “A soapbox opera” which cloaks with baroque arias and theatrical arrangements a breed melody (even more suggestive the live version performed in the live “Paris” will be). Scott's production contributes to forging a painstaking and elegant sound.
With these two reprints, the band celebrates not only the milestone of the fifty years, but also a fundamental phase of its artistic parable.
Here are the complete tracklists of the two rebuctions.
Crime of the Century
Side a
1 School
2 Bloody Well Right
3 Hide in Your Shell
4 Asylum
Side b
1 Dreamer
2 Rudy
3 IF Everyone Was Listening
4 Crime of the Century
Crisis? What Crisis?
Side a
1 Easy Does It
2 Sister Moonshine
3 ain't nobody but me
4 A Soapbox Opera
5 Another Man's Woman
Side b
1 lady
2 Poor Boy
3 Just A Normal Day
4 The Meaning
5 Two of us
Antonio Santini for SANREMO.FM
