Ladies and gentlemen, I'm back. This is my first review in a very long time. A lot has happened. The site has been revamped, a new bulletin board software is being used, and I've grown a hair or two on my chest.
Now I'm making my come-back by reviewing a non-metal album. I hope this gives some of you a little insight into what other non-Metal music, us Metalheads dig.
First off, I don't know many people who know this band by name. I myself, discovered them when I heard a song of theirs in a movie. For those who don't know this band, I can bet you have heard a song or two: "Goodbye Stranger", "Give a Little Bit", "The Logical Song", maybe even "Dreamer". In any case, I'll keep the background on Supertramp brief. They hail from the mighty shores of the U.K. and are apparently still active. Formed in '69, they've released 11 studio albums. Describing their sound is a little tough. I own only one album afterall, and have only heard a few songs off of the other albums. I find that a lot of their tunes are based around piano, but worry-not ye guitar lovers. One could compare this band to Pink Floyd, but only certain songs.
Anyway, onto the album itself. Crime of the Century. What a name. And it lives up to that name. The album is menacingly dark, yet strangely uplifting. It's classic rock, prog, jazz and blues all interwoven perfectly. One of the major driving forces however, has to be the vocals. The interesting thing about this album is that it has 2 lead vocalists, who switch between each song. Roger Hodgson, Rick Davies, Roger Hodgson, Rick Davies... Both in my opinion are fantastic and bring great emotion and power to each song. Like I mentioned earlier, a lot of Supertramp's songs are based around piano and this works perfectly with everything. A lot of times there's a bittersweet sound that I don't think could have been that well conveyed through a guitar, or any other instrument. This is not to say that the other instruments do not add to the emotion found throughout the album...because well... they bloody well do!
I don't think I need to do a song-by-song review for this record. All songs are important, with the exception of perhaps Dreamer, which is a great song in itself, but stands out from the others in that it just doesn't have the same dark, melancholic sound. The album is perfect to play on dark rainy days, when driving alone at night or whenever you feel like just sitting down by yourself and reflecting on what you're doing with life. Now if that doesn't intrigue you even the slightest bit to sample this album, I don't know what words will. It's up there with other "classics" of Classic Rock, British or otherwise. I for one say that this is essential for anyone who thinks they have good taste. Trust me, once you get Crime of the Century, you will find yourself listening to it frequently.
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