Supertramp perhaps under-rated?

[Bigpicturekeys]

Certainly they qualify as prog to me...look at the dynamics of their compositions...changing time signature, mood creation, nice mix of guitar/multi keyboard elements/evocative horns and reeds/in the pocket bass and drum play, symphonic anthems, thought evoking acoustic and 12 strings/ etherial thinking man's music for the most part. Love Crisis What Crisis a bit ahead of EITQM and COTS. Still great music on BIA. Fool's Overature is my favorite track with many others a close second

[Joe F.]

It's a shame that no song from Crisis are played on classic rock radio. Lady could be a hit on that format.

Lady used to get played on the radio quite a bit back in the '70s and early '80s in my neck of the woods. Not sure if it still gets airplay, since I stopped listening to the radio years ago. Good song, good album.

[Progbear]

Lady used to get played on the radio quite a bit back in the '70s and early '80s in my neck of the woods. Not sure if it still gets airplay, since I stopped listening to the radio years ago. Good song, good album.

It was a single, but it did not chart. I own the single; the bad thing about it: it’s edited. The good thing about it: the non-album B-side, "You Started Laughing When I Held You in My Arms." I wonder why that track never made it to an album (well, except for the live version on Paris), it would have made the perfect bonus track on Crisis...

And those doubting their prog cred, I could point out "Fool's Overture" or "Brother Where You Bound," but I think instead I’ll direct you towards “A Soapbox Opera.” Clearly someone was listening to Genesis and paying close attention.

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MIKE (a.k.a. "Progbear")

"That's my purse! I don't know you!" --Bobby Hill

N.P.:nothing

[ca1ore]

If Supertramp are under-rated, it is perhaps because their run of really good albums was quite short: Crime through Breakfast, Famous Last Words if you are charitable. Post split, Brother Where You Bound (and RHs first solo outing) are good but not great - dreck after that. They were terrific live, more so when touring Crime, Crisis, and Even in the Quietest Moments, but unfortunately no official live sets from those tours (depending upon what you think about Is Everybody Listening I suppose?). To me Paris is OK, but a bit too much like the studio efforts - none of the improve from the earlier tours.

[strawberrybrick]

I cannot underestimate how popular Crime Of The Century was in the US in 1974/75. Not sure I knew anyone that didn't have the album. I personally didn't get into Crisis, but Even In and Breakfast were superb, as was the very popular Live album.

Whether it's prog or not, obviously looking back 30-40 years it's easy to see that Supertramp very much fit into the era and generation of men that we now know as "progressive".

I would add that Davies and Hodgson haven't really done much to reestablish their legacy since that time, and certainly their too-public bickering doesn't help the cause either.

Still, great, great stuff.

[spellbound]

If Supertramp are under-rated, it is perhaps because their run of really good albums was quite short: Crime through Breakfast, Famous Last Words if you are charitable. Post split, Brother Where You Bound (and RHs first solo outing) are good but not great - dreck after that. They were terrific live, more so when touring Crime, Crisis, and Even in the Quietest Moments, but unfortunately no official live sets from those tours (depending upon what you think about Is Everybody Listening I suppose?). To me Paris is OK, but a bit too much like the studio efforts - none of the improve from the earlier tours.

This is pretty much how I feel about Supertramp. I saw them in 1976, on the Crisis Tour, and if I had a live recording from that time I would be playing it constantly. A great show! I never underrated Supertramp myself. And I don't recall ever asking myself if they were prog. I've always been a fan of prog rock, but not such a purist that I would reject art rock artists such as Bowie, Roxy Music, and Supertramp, if that is where folks classify them. They were a tight and excellent band when I saw them. In the '70s, I never made a point of such classifications or distinctions. It was either good music, or it wasn't. The '70s were my main concert-going years, and I was stunned and amazed at the sheer amount of great music to be heard. Or I would have been, had I known it was not the normal state of affairs in music.