Supertramp - Brother Where You Bound

**ThomasKDye** · 07-08-2018

So I've recently rediscovered this album. I'm not much of a Supertramp fan apart from their hits and a few songs, but this album -- or rather, HALF of it -- has always kept me coming back.

The title track is the "proggiest" thing they've done, with a freeform jazz section, a lot of great guitar work by David Gilmour, and a cool groove in the coda/fadeout. The lyrics are a little dodgy but the music is excellent, and both Davies and Helliwell have some great playing throughout. I also enjoy the piano ballad at the end, nice and dramatic with a big ending.

However, the first side is pretty dire. I have no idea why they went and released a monotonous thing like "Cannonball" as a single (though it has some nice little horn charts punctuating things). "Still In Love" is a throwback to pop Supertramp with some unbelievably bad lyrics ("You been messin'/I been guessin'..." Wow.) "No Inbetween" is perhaps the best song on the side, a poignant ditty with Davies sounding somber in the middle. "Better Days" has an solidly cool introduction that the rest of the song doesn't measure up to. Despite "No Inbetween" the second side is clearly the standout, and perhaps is the most adventurous thing Supertramp ever released... in the eighties, yet!

What do other people think?

**mozo-pg** · 07-08-2018

The last great Supertramp album, thoughout. Huge fan, so much to love.

**DocProgger** · 07-08-2018

I agree, Supertramp's final great statement. I love Cannonball (the full album version), a nice slice of tasty jazzy progressive pop, one of the better tunes of the 80s. And impeccably recorded, as per usual for Supertramp.

And Crisis? What Crisis?, the deluxe version of Crime of the Century, Even in the Quietest Moments, and the deluxe version of Breakfast in America are essential albums imo.

**SteveSly** · 07-08-2018

I am a big fan of it, in fact it is one of my favorite Supertramp albums. The title track is fantastic. I like "Cannonball" a lot too. It got quite a bit of radio airplay where I live. This album really should have kept their career going, but unfortunately it did not sell very well (at least compared to their older stuff). I think this album is much much better than "Free As A Bird" that came after it. That album was just plain boring to my ears.

**GuitarGeek** · 07-08-2018

I'm sure I must have heard Brother Where You Bound itself at some point, but I"ve never owned the album. I recall when it came out, the review in Guitar Player lamented that the guitar solo on one song was buried in the mix, and that Gilmour's guitar licks on the title piece were the best thing on the whole record.

BTW, didn't Scott Gorham, he of the almighty Thin Lizzy, also play on this record?

**SteveSly** · 07-08-2018

Originally Posted by GuitarGeek

I'm sure I must have heard Brother Where You Bound itself at some point, but I"ve never owned the album. I recall when it came out, the review in Guitar Player lamented that the guitar solo on one song was buried in the mix, and that Gilmour's guitar licks on the title piece were the best thing on the whole record.

BTW, didn't Scott Gorham, he of the almighty Thin Lizzy, also play on this record?

Yes, Gorham does play on it.

**Camelogue** · 07-08-2018

Big fan, just picked it up on CD after selling all my vinyl.

**BravadoNJ** · 07-08-2018

great album, my favorite after Crime Of The Century. without Roger, Rick gets a chance to give it his all. you have to appreciate Rick's side of Supertramp to like this album. the 16 minute title track is riveting and was supposed to be on Famous Last Words but was rejected because of it's length. Rick also shows his bluesy side on a few tunes. Cannonball and Better Days both deliver. on the piano Rick is one of the best and this album is heavy on the keyboards and light on guitars... so get over it.

**LeFrog** · 07-09-2018

Originally Posted by BravadoNJ

the 16 minute title track is riveting and was supposed to be on Famous Last Words but was rejected because of it's length.

I'd love to hear that first version which is said to have been 10 minutes long. The final 16 minute version is probably their proggiest song but there's a good 5 minutes of noodling in the middle that is just filler to my ears.
I agree with the album being the last great Supertramp album. The whole thing sounds "of its time" to say it politely but it's Davies best effort without Hodgson and I can perfectly live with the first side. Cannonball may sound boring to some but it's actually a nice example of how many variations of a G chord you can play.

**JJ88** · 07-09-2018

My own feeling is that it's a pity that the Hodgson/Davies split couldn't have happened after the mid 80s! In other words, we might have got an album with the best of Brother... and the best of In The Eye Of The Storm, instead of two separate 'good in parts' albums. I've never really heard anything either party did subsequently and reviews have suggested I've not missed much.

From memory I like 'Better Days' and the title suite best on here. I don't think that title suite is great all the way through and is a little fragmented, but it was still a worthy attempt. The uptempo instrumental section towards the end is majestic.

**Trane** · 07-09-2018

Originally Posted by ThomasKDye

However, the first side is pretty dire. I have no idea why they went and released a monotonous thing like "Cannonball" as a single (though it has some nice little horn charts punctuating things). "Still In Love" is a throwback to pop Supertramp with some unbelievably bad lyrics ("You been messin'/I been guessin'..." Wow.) "No Inbetween" is perhaps the best song on the side, a poignant ditty with Davies sounding somber in the middle. "Better Days" has an solidly cool introduction that the rest of the song doesn't measure up to. Despite "No Inbetween" the second side is clearly the standout, and perhaps is the most adventurous thing Supertramp ever released... in the eighties, yet

Mmmhhh!!!... I quite like the A-side myself.
Personally Canonball is Suoperstramp's best answer to the 80's and has some blistering EW&F-like horn arrangements that both Gilmour (in AF) and Collins used (solo career), and much more effectively at that.

Sure, the whole thing is a bit cooled off my the Still In Love tid-bit, which is really ill-advised, but No In Between is marvellous. I think Better days is really poignant, maybe the most poignant Davies ever wrote.

Here is what I had to say about Brother

With Hodgson now gone, the remaining quartet forged ahead although the future outcome wasn't certain, since Roger was the main "hit" writer, one of the most recognizable ion radio and wrote at least half the tracks of Supertramp. But Davies soldiered on and surprisingly enough wrote their most progressive album since Crime. The average songwriting is so high on this album that one almost doesn't miss Hodgson's presence, as he's not replaced on vocals surprisingly enough Helliwell didn't get a shot at it, despite often doubling Roger's voice; while the only place where there is some guitars (the epic title track), Floyd's Gilmour and Lizzy's Gorham are taking care of it. However, whatever few other guitars are handled guest marty walsh. With an evocative evolution artwork enhancing the album title, the most amazing feat of Brother Where You Bound is its release date: 1985.

A shock awaits the listener the first time he hears this album: Cannonball is a very unlikely Supertramp song with its infernal groove and a very 80's-ish rhythm, but that track got a lot of airtime on FM radios and I believe an abridged version was released as a single. After an average Still In Love, Davies hits the right spot with the poignant No In-Between, a song where Rick bares it all with plenty of emotions. The highlight of the A-side is definitely the very progressive Better Days featuring Scott page's flute, a track that could rank just behind Rudy and Fools Overture.

The flipside is mostly occupied by the superb 16-mins+ title track epic divided in four or five movements (not specified on the sleeve, though), with an incredible Gilmour doing a not-too-Gilmouresque intervention. Although this is probably the most difficult Supertramp track to listen to, this gains to be heard a few times before it sinks in your brains and remain in there. The album closes on the unremarkable Ever Open Door, maybe a call for Roger.

THIS CAME OUT IN 85, DUDE. CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT?

Originally Posted by SteveSly

I think this album is much much better than "Free As A Bird" that came after it. That album was just plain boring to my ears.

the best track is the aptly-titles An Awful Thing To Waste.

Originally Posted by BravadoNJ

great album, my favorite after Crime Of The Century. without Roger, Rick gets a chance to give it his all. you have to appreciate Rick's side of Supertramp to like this album. the 16 minute title track is riveting and was supposed to be on Famous Last Words but was rejected because of it's length. Rick also shows his bluesy side on a few tunes. Cannonball and Better Days both deliver. on the piano Rick is one of the best and this album is heavy on the keyboards and light on guitars... so get over it.

TBH, I think that even that great track couldn't have saved FLW, so it's best that it got pushed back an album. I understand that it was not the only track that was more or less written at FLW's recording.

Originally Posted by JJ88

My own feeling is that it's a pity that the Hodgson/Davies split couldn't have happened after the mid 80s! In other words, we might have got an album with the best of Brother... and the best of In The Eye Of The Storm, instead of two separate 'good in parts' albums. I've never really heard anything either party did subsequently and reviews have suggested I've not missed much.

Agreed that Eye was also quite good, but clearly the winner is Brother.
Brother lives relatively well without Roger, whereas, Eye , in its lyrics, screams Supertramp's absence.
Here is what I had to say about Eye of the Storm

After having left Supertramp in what appeared an amicable parting at first (but growing tense fairly rapidly), Roger had to respond to Tramp's amazing Brother Where You Bound album, so good that Roger's presence wasn't missed. Roger answered with a fairly good solo debut album, taking the chance to play most instruments himself, except mainly for the great Michael Shrieve drumming on 5 tracks and some bass works and more details. With a very evocative artwork, Eye Of The Storm raised many hopes among Supertramp fans, but the album is really a mixed bag

As Supertramp's Brother album had given in to a bit of modernity (the Canonball groove is fairly 80's-ish), Roger also gave in t "progress", but more noticeably so, mainly in the drumming department, when not Shrieving, it's too 80's-ish. Opening on the album is the almost 9-mins Had A Dream, which came in with an ambitious but frenetic and stressing MTV videoclip to accompany the album's release. A lengthy intro leads in a very fearsome ambiance, as if Roger had more of a nightmare than a dream. We'd never seen that facet of Roger in Supertramp. Right after this interesting start, Roger attacks the better known In Jeopardy, a very Davies-ian piano tune with an ultra-high synth line, but the vocal line is typically Roger's usual self. Lovers In The Woods is a good mainly piano tune with Roger's usual sensibility and sparse arrangements. However, Hooked On A Problem is a return to the bad Last Words album (best skipped fwd), and again sounds as if Davies had written it. These two influenced each other more than they thought.

On the flipside, Give Me Life is one of those wanker melodies Roger got us used to in every album since Dreamer on Crime, and here it doesn't serve his cause and that track overstays most of its 7-mins+. A bit more interesting is the guitar-ey I'm Not Afraid, but it quickly becomes repetitive and becomes irritating by the end of its 7 minutes. To close the album, Roger strikes a big one, Only Because Of You, a calm and sad lament (and album best) that seems aimed at Davies, whose shadow seems float all over album, when it should've Roger's that should've soared over Brother Where You Bound. So for this first post-split album, Davies takes the first inning with the outstanding Brother, despite a meriting Hodgson effort.

As the album title and the song texts indicates, Roger's state of mind was not exactly in peace with himself after exiting the group. Some of those numbers could've bettered (if possible) the fabulous Brother Where You Bound album from his former band, but on the whole Supertramp proved they could do without him, at least at first. Most likely the acrimony between the factions will stem from this first round, and worsen as it went unhealed. Eye Of The Storm is an honest solo album in the sense that Gilmour or Hackett or Banks made solo album - Of limited interest, but no doubt that many Hodgson enthusiasts will praise beyond reason.

By supressing Still in Love and Ever open Door, and allowing Had a Dream and Only Because Of You , then, we'd have an 80's greatest prog album.

**yamishogun** · 07-09-2018

Brother Where You Bound = Rodger, Who?

"Still In Love" is a throwback to pop Supertramp with some unbelievably bad lyrics ("You been messin'/I been guessin'..." Wow.)

But not as cringe worthy as:

"In and around the lake
Mountains come out of the sky and they stand there"

**Rarebird** · 07-09-2018

Supertramp is one of the groups were the sum is a bit better than the parts. Supertramp without Rodger Hodgson is not really on par as Supertramp with Rodger Hodgson and the Rodger Hodgson solo-album I have is not on par with Supertramp. Even though Rick and Rodger didn't write together in some way they complemented eachother.

**JJ88** · 07-09-2018

Originally Posted by Trane

By supressing Still in Love and Ever open Door, and allowing Had a Dream and Only Because Of You , then, we'd have an 80's greatest prog album.

Yes, throw in 'In Jeopardy' as another single and I think it certainly wouldn't have disgraced itself when compared with the 70s albums. As I said, a pity the split happened when it did!

**ThomasKDye** · 07-09-2018

Originally Posted by LeFrog

I'd love to hear that first version which is said to have been 10 minutes long. The final 16 minute version is probably their proggiest song but there's a good 5 minutes of noodling in the middle that is just filler to my ears.

Davies isn't a natural at writing suites, I agree. The parts in the middle don't flow together very well, and adding sound effects don't make them flow together that much better. But I give it an A for effort, and the music is good enough (even the free-form "noodling") that I give it a pass.

I'm actually kind of glad it wasn't included on "Famous Last Words." "Waiting So Long" is a pretty good song in its own right and complements the tone of the rest of the album nicely. (I can't imagine "Brother" and "My Kind of Lady" on the same album, honestly.)

I agree with the album being the last great Supertramp album. The whole thing sounds "of its time" to say it politely but it's Davies best effort without Hodgson and I can perfectly live with the first side. Cannonball may sound boring to some but it's actually a nice example of how many variations of a G chord you can play.

Having read some other reviews and the responses here, I must be the only one who isn't bowled over by "Cannonball." (See wot I did there?) Like I said, the horn bits are nice, but it's all the same chord through the verses. It needs more changes; groove just isn't enough.

**Wah3** · 07-09-2018

Anyone know if the video of the title track was ever released on DVD? My old VHS has gotten quite a lot of play

**Trane** · 07-09-2018

Originally Posted by JJ88

Yes, throw in 'In Jeopardy' as another single and I think it certainly wouldn't have disgraced itself when compared with the 70s albums. As I said, a pity the split happened when it did!

interesting at first, but outlasted its welcome by a good five minutes, IMHO

Originally Posted by Wah3

Anyone know if the video of the title track was ever released on DVD? My old VHS has gotten quite a lot of play

===================

the other clip from the album

and the single videoclip

**Trane** · 07-09-2018

oooppsie, forgot this one too

**Progbear** · 07-09-2018

Originally Posted by JJ88

My own feeling is that it's a pity that the Hodgson/Davies split couldn't have happened after the mid 80s! In other words, we might have got an album with the best of Brother... and the best of In The Eye Of The Storm, instead of two separate 'good in parts' albums. I've never really heard anything either party did subsequently and reviews have suggested I've not missed much.

I have Free as a Bird and...“An Awful Thing to Waste” has good bones and I have a weird soft spot for the single, “I’m Begging You.” None of this should come as any kind of recommendation. The 80s hit this album hard, the production is execrable and the album as a whole is an endurance test. Not afraid to call it “bad.”

All I’ve heard from Hai Hai was the single, “You Make Me Love You.” Typical 80s pop drivel. I can’t imagine there’s anything brilliant lurking on the rest of the album.

**jlneudorf** · 07-09-2018

It's a shame they can't/won't mend their ways.

Jon

**Baribrotzer** · 07-09-2018

Originally Posted by jlneudorf

It's a shame they can't/won't mend their ways.

Jon

I wouldn't be surprised if their managers are now involved and have a vested interest in keeping them apart. Either that, or Roger and Rick didn't like each other and couldn't get along even when they were in the same band, and the fans never knew.

**BravadoNJ** · 07-09-2018

the tension between Rick & Roger stemmed back to recording FLW. there were many songs by both not used that appeared on their next perspective albums. the album suffered because there were many weak tracks. i believe Roger announced his exit before the tour. if FLW would have been a double album things might have gone differently.

**jlneudorf** · 07-09-2018

And from there it just got worse. Especially when Rick performed some of Roger's songs on tour (when he apparently agreed not to do that). It got very nasty. I just think life is too short.

Jon