Published on Nov 8, 1999
The year was 1982 and Supertramp was riding high since their
breakthrough album
Breakfast In America was released in 1979. The band had been
around since 1970, with numerous albums and few hits, but it wasn’t
until
Breakfast where the band received more radio airplay they
should have deserved with their previous releases.
With a live 1980 album and 1982’s
…famous last words…, it was announced that lead singer
Roger Hodgson was leaving the group for a solo career. With an
album title such as
…famous last words…, it was assumed that we had seen the
last of Supertramp. However, the band went on without Hodgson, as
he would begin his solo career.
…famous last words… to describe it, is half pop, half
progressive. The pop half I’d have to compare it to the style of
R.E.O. Speedwagon when they became more of a pop-rock band, and/or
Styx, another band that went in that direction.
The only big hit from this release is “It’s Raining Again,” and
how
pop can you get with that song? It’s a nice up-beat pop
song, and if you are familiar with this tune, it sounds as if the
rest of the album may be as up-beat pop sounding.
“Crazy” and “Put On Your Old Brown Shoes” are as pop and up-beat
as “It’s Raining Again”. “Bonnie” is a more slow-paced piano-based
ballad, like an R.E.O. or Billy Joel ballad. Yet, as the song plays
towards the end, it has a somewhat theatrical/progressive sound to
it. Another song in this same case is “Know Who You Are,” where
this tune brings back the progressive sound heard from past
Supertramp songs/albums.
Another pop-sounder, “My Kind Of Lady,” is a medium-paced pop
song that has high-range vocals similar to the Bee Gees. (Gee, now
there’s a strange comparison…) It’s not disco Bee Gees, but it’s
definitely pop. The remaining songs – “C’est Le Bon,” “Waiting So
Long” and “Don’t Leave Me Now” – capture the progressive sounding
style as the very early Genesis when Phil Collins took over for
Peter Gabriel.
As much as I thought that this album would have a pop sound
throughout, I was surprised how the musical style had drastically
changed from pop, upbeat tempo songs to a more progressive sound.
The progressive sound is how Supertramp is best remembered, as
their pre-
Breakfast In America releases. The outcome of this album was
a surprise in sound, as Supertramp is considered an under-rated
band. Their albums may not be best remembered, but their material
of music is truly remarkable for the progressive music fan.
The progressive songs on
…famous last words… are truly great, as only Supertramp
could play them. Yet the pop-sounding songs were below-average for
the kind of music that Supertramp had been previously famous for.
Yet the album is good, in a sense, that it starts out low, and ends
with a good high.