Supertramp - Breakfast in America

Supertramp was one of those bands who could meld pop and with elements of progressive rock and make it seem like a marriage of equals. My love of their earlier songs "Crime of the Century" and "Fool's Overture" was only surpassed by my obsession with how to play "Give a Little Bit" on my 12 string. Like their previous releases, Breakfast in America featured Roger Hodgson and Rick Davies handling lead vocals and songwriting. The pair would alternate songs and often trade lead vocals within each others songs. It created a nifty tension and dynamic in their work. Roger has the sweat voice, and Rick the deeper growl - it was magic.

The band released several albums, a couple of them were really successful in Canada, but their crowning achievement was the release of Breakfast in America in 1979. This album became part of the soundtrack that defined my youth. It stayed popular among my friends throughout my last couple of years in school.

I'm still kind of amazed that this middle of the road soft rock effort blew up the way it did. I mean this thing sold 20,000,000 copies worldwide. In the states the band moved 4,000,000 units and here at home it that number was 1,500,000. Which from a population ratio to the US is extraordinary. In their native UK they sold 300,000 which surprised me as I thought they were popular at home.

Listening to this now after not having heard it in a sitting in a long time I'm still moved by the big hits. But there's an odd sense of tiredness to this now. I suppose after more than forty years of exposure there's a little bit of ear fatigue and the fun in hearing Roger ask "Take a look at my girlfriend, she's the only one I got." has worn thin now like the knock knock joke where orange you glad I didn't say banana?

I was listening to Crime of the Century recently, and while I still don't really like "Dreamer" I was pleasantly surprised at how fresh it sounded for an album recorded in 1974. The title track still sounded amazing.

This sense of ambivalence is a bit of a surprise. As I was reflecting on the first side, I turned the record over and the opening piano run to "Take the Long Way Home" came in, and I sat listening thinking "This is still amazing, what am I saying? 'Odd sense of tiredness' I'm just being an asshole for no reason. Stop trying to overthink this, and just sit and listen and remember why this was so special in the first place."

The second side was always the side that didn't get played as often as the first side had more hits so I didn't turn it over as often. While the songs were okay, I'd always hoped the album's closer "Child of Vision" would be another epic opus, but it was just seven minutes of mid tempo pop. The magical blend of pop and progressive is for the most part (but mostly) missing for the songs here, the emphasis is on the commercial side of the house.

I don't think I'm being as asshole, but the album as a whole isn't nearly what I remember it to be. Which is kind of on the money, as I honestly didn't listen to the album - I listened to the songs I wanted to hear. Considering that four of the ten songs are absolute classics that's a pretty solid showing, and while I may have been a little surprised that my memory and the reality of the album didn't quite reconcile, this is still a great album, and one that was in the right place at the right time.

The classic line-up would release one more album in the fall of 1982 ... Famous Last Words ...  an album that I bought when it came out. I enjoyed it for all that, but the single "It's Raining Again" was terrible. The album would still sell a couple of million copies world wide, but people are fickle and had moved on to the next big thing.