In a time, not so long ago, Supertramp were the biggest band on the planet. Hard to believe you say? Well, maybe 28 years ago is a long time, but it certainly seems like it was just yesterday when I was still in junior high school and Breakfast In America was the number one album in the country they wrote about having breakfast in.
The album went on to spawn four hit singles and sell over 18 million copies worldwide, which finally made Supertramp international superstars.
It s not that the band was a one-album-wonder though. Although they got off to a rather lackluster start, with a couple of poor selling, traffic-inspired, bluesy, prog-rock albums, the band eventually hit their stride with album number three, 1974 s Crime Of The Century, which many consider to be their finest.
Myself, I consider it a toss up between Breakfast and Crime. Now there s a cool album name - Breakfast Crime.
The Story So Far.
.. captures Supertramp during their massive 1983 world tour in support of their .
..Famous Last Words.
.. album, which was released the previous year.
What is it with these guys and the use of ...
? The concert footage is bookended by two short documentary segments that feature interviews with each of the band members, who provide an excellent overview of the band s rise to stardom, and eventual fall from grace. The live performances are taken mostly from a Toronto, Canada show that was performed indoors, and a Munich, Germany show that was performed outdoors, mostly during daylight hours.
Crazy kicks off the ...
Famous Last Words...
album and it was used to open most of the shows on this tour. This Rodger Hodgson sung number is pretty forgettable when compared to the classics that soon follow. Rick Davies takes the lead on the next song, Ain t Nobody But Me from 1975 s Crisis?
What Crisis?, and this too is not one of the band s strongest songs. After a somewhat lackluster start they really kick things into gear with the title track from Breakfast In America, and things never let up.
From there it is basically a run through of most of the best material from the Crime Of The Century and Breakfast In America albums, with a couple of songs from Even In The Quietest Moments thrown in between. Highlights include a powerhouse version of Bloody Well Right , with Davies trademark Wurlitzer electric piano licks and nuanced vocals creating the beautiful melodic foundation, while Hodgson s dirty power chords provide the perfect counterpoint. School is one of my favorite Supertramp songs and it was easily the best performance on this DVD.
The Berlin stadium had finally darkened, and the haunting mood of the song s intro was captured beautifully, as Davies laid down his famous harmonica riff, and Helliwell joined in on soprano sax.
The DVD did not offer any significant improvements over the original VHS version in terms of audio and video quality. The only audio options included were Dolby Digital 2.
0 and PCM stereo and they both sounded flat and compressed. Extra crowd noise was also dubbed into the mix and it became very annoying once you noticed it. The video quality is about what you would expect from a 1983 concert recording that was not touched up - not very good.
The picture was dark and did not present any significant detail.
The Extra Features consisted of four post-Hodgson era videos; Cannonball , Better Days , Free As A Bird , and I m Begging You , as well as My Kind Of Lady from the last album that Hodgson appeared on, 1983 s Famous Last Words. Cannonball was a particularly good song from the first post-Hodgson album, Brother Where You Bound, and its accompanying caveman video is always a trip to watch.
Surprisingly, I m Begging You went on to become a huge dance club smash, and this groundbreaking video certainly shows why.
Although this DVD is a rather poorly produced affair, it will remind you just how timeless some of this band s music really is. Supertramp fans should definitely check this one out, since there is essentially nothing else out on video by the band, but also check out the excellent new Retrospectacle: The Supertramp Anthology two-CD set to get a real dose of this once great band.
Set List
01. Crazy
02. Ain t Nobody But Me
03.
Breakfast In America
04. Bloody Well Right
05. Give A Little Bit
06.
From Now On
07. The Logical Song
08. Goodbye Stranger
09.
Dreamer
10. School
11. Crime Of The Century
Performance 7/10
Production 5/10
News RSS