Crime of the Century |
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Released: October 25, 1974 Peak: 38 US, 4 UK, 4 CN, 15 AU, 14 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 0.5 US, -- UK, 4.50 world (includes US and UK), 12.45 EAS Genre: classic rock/progressive rock |
Tracks:Click on a song titled for more details.
Total Running Time: 44:10 The Players:
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Rating: 4.202 out of 5.00 (average of 28 ratings)
Awards:(Click on award to learn more).
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An Uncertain FutureSupertramp formed in London in 1970, releasing a self-titled album that year and Indelibly Stamped a year later. Then it came to a screeching halt. Stanley Miesegaes, a Dutch millionaire, had served as the band’s benefactor on those two albums. However, he abandoned ship, as did all of the band members aside from Roger Hodgson and Rick Davies.The pressure was on. The pair of singer/songwriters not only had to recruit a new lineup (saxophone and clarinet player John Helliwell, bassist Dougie Thomson, and drummer Bob Siebenberg) but would have to “write a masterpiece to save their A&M recording contract.” RD The Make-or-Break Third AlbumLuckily, Hodgson and Davies struck gold – literally – with their gold-selling third album, Crime of the Century. They retreated to “a seventeenth-century farm in West Dorset” WK where a “mammoth writing session…from November 1973 to February 1974” RD proved fruitful. “The album was recorded at several studios including Trident Studios and Ramport Studios (owned by The Who).” WK Davies and Hodgson recorded around 40 demo songs, of which eight made the album. WKThey had shaped themselves as “a progressive rock band with duelling keyboards that played complex melodies.” TC “The tuneful, tightly played songs, pristine clarity of sound (courtesy of Ken Scott, who had worked on Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust), and myriad imaginative sound effects, helped create an album that Sounds magazine likened to ‘Genesis, The Beach Boys…a smattering of [Pink] Floyd.” RD Art Rock and Pop MeetRegarding the latter group, the band definitely “betrayed a a heavy Pink Floyd influence, particularly in its expansive art rock arrangements graced by saxophones, but Supertramp isn’t nearly as spooky as Floyd – they’re snarky collegiate elitists, an art rock variation on Steely Dan or perhaps a less difficult 10cc, filled with cutting jokes and allusions, best heard on Bloody Well Right. This streak would later flourish on Breakfast in America, but it’s present enough to give them their own character.” AMThe album “deals loosely with themes of loneliness and mental stability.” WK “Also present is a slight sentimental streak and a heavy fondness for pop,” AM specifically with “Dreamer” and “Bloody Well Right.” “The rest of Crime of the Century is atmospheric like Dark Side of the Moon, but with a lighter feel and a Beatles bent. At times the album floats off into its own world, with an effect more tedious than hypnotic, but it’s still a huge leap forward for the group and their most consistent album outside of that 1979 masterwork, Breakfast in America.” AM “Hodgson and Davies both stated that communication within the group was at a peak during the recording of this album.” WK Siebenberg has also said he thought this album represented the band at its “artistic peak.” WK The Cover“The distinctive cover, designed (but not produced) as a gatefold sleeve, was created by graphic artist Paul Wakefield after exposure to the completed album.” RD He was invited to the studio where the band was recording and Fabio Nicoli, A&M Records’ art director, read him the lyrics. Wakefield was inspired by the line “when they haunt me and taunt me in my cage” from the song “Asylum” and pondering what would be an appropriate sentence for “the crime of the century.” WKWakefield created an image of “a prison cell window floating in space with a person silently screaming through the bars.” WK Eventually, it became just an image of the hands clutching the bars. WK A friend made the polished aluminum bars and welded them to a stand. The hands, which were whitened with stage make-up, were those of Wakefield’s twin brother. WK “Reminiscent of Traffic’s Shootout at the Fantasy Factory, its ‘prison bars’ have become an iconic image.” RD The SongsHere’s a breakdown of each of the individual songs. |
SchoolSupertramp |
Writer(s): Rick Davies, Roger Hodgson Lead Vocals: Rick Davies, Roger Hodgson Released: Crime of the Century (10/25/1974), The Very Best of (compilation, 1990), Retrospectacle (compilation, 2005) Peak: 5 CL, 14 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 109.80 streaming About the Song:“School” wasn’t released as a single, but was a “popular track, particularly on album rock-oriented radio stations.” WK Nick DeRiso of Ultimate Classic Rock called the song a “jazz fusion-informed gem” marked by its “free-form creativity,” “plaintive lyrics,” and “stirring musical specificity.” WKHodgson has said it is basically his song “but admits that Davies wrote both the piano solo and a good deal of the lyrics.” WK Hodgson said the song was based on his experience at boarding school. WK |
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Bloody Well RightSupertramp |
Writer(s): Rick Davies Lead Vocals: Rick Davies Released: B-side of “Dreamer” (11/1/1974), Crime of the Century (10/25/1974), The Autobiography of Supertramp (compilation, 1986), Classics (compilation, 1987), The Very Best of (compilation, 1990), Retrospectacle (compilation, 2005) First Charted: 4/5/1975 Peak: 35 BB, 53 CB, 26 GR, 57 HR, 36 RR, 5 CL, 49 CN, 5 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 62.67 streaming |
Awards:(Click on award to learn more).
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About the Song:“Bloody Well Right” gave Supertramp their first taste of U.S. chart success. The song was released as the B-side of “Dreamer” in November 1974. While “Dreamer” was a top-15 hit in the UK, it failed to chart in the U.S. (that is, until a live version was released in 1980). However, “Bloody Well Right” found success in the United States, reaching the top 40.Author Toby Creswell included it in his book, 1001 Songs: The Great Songs of All Time, but he wasn’t particularly complementary of the song, saying that Supertramp “reached their nadir with ‘Bloody Well Right’ simply because the hook…was so indelibly, stupid, and charmless.” TC |
Hide in Your ShellSupertramp |
Writer(s): Roger Hodgson Lead Vocals: Roger Hodgson Released: Crime of the Century (10/25/1974), Classics (compilation, 1987), The Very Best of (compilation, 1990) Peak: 14 CL, 17 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 27.76 streaming About the Song:Hodgson said, “I was 23 when I wrote that song, confused about life and like a lot of people are at that age, trying to hide my insecurities. I’ve always been able to express my innermost feelings more openly in song and ‘Hide in Your Shell’ came to me at a time when I was feeling very lonely – lonely both in life and within the band – with no one who shared my spiritual quest.” WK |
AsylumSupertramp |
Writer(s): Rick Davies Lead Vocals: Rick Davies, Roger Hodgson Released: Crime of the Century (10/25/1974) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 8.20 streaming |
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DreamerSupertramp |
Writer(s): Roger Hodgson Lead Vocals: Roger Hodgson Released: single (11/1/1974), single (live, September 1980), Crime of the Century (10/25/1974), The Autobiography of Supertramp (compilation, 1986), Classics (compilation, 1987), The Very Best of (compilation, 1990), Retrospectacle (compilation, 2005) B-side: “Bloody Well Right” Peak: 15 BB, 15 CB, 13 GR, 19 HR, 12 RR, 6 CL, 13 UK, 12 CN, 39 AU, 2 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 80.82 streaming |
Awards:(Click on award to learn more).
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About the Song:The “intense, keyboard-driven single ‘Dreamer’” RD is “a soaring piece of art pop that became their first big hit.” AM However, the chart peaks shown above are somewhat misleading as most are actually for the 1980 live version of the song that was released as a single in support of the band’s Paris album.Hodgson composed the song “on his Wurlitzer piano at his mother’s house when he was 19 years old. At the time he recorded a demo of the song using vocals…and banging cardboard boxes for percussion.” WK He said, “I was excited – it was the first time I laid hands on a Wurlitzer.” WK |
RudySupertramp |
Writer(s): Rick Davies Lead Vocals: Rick Davies, Roger Hodgson Released: Crime of the Century (10/25/1974), Classics (compilation, 1987), The Very Best of (compilation, 1990), Retrospectacle (compilation, 2005) Peak: 13 CL, 14 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 17.19 streaming About the Song:Hodgson has said “Rudy” “was the character on the album and was seen as somewhat autobiographical of Davies’ life at the time.” WK The sound of the train was recorded at London Paddington station. The crowd noises were taken from Leicester Square. WK |
If Everyone Was ListeningSupertramp |
Writer(s): Roger Hodgson Lead Vocals: Roger Hodgson Released: Crime of the Century (10/25/1974), The Very Best of 2 (compilation, 1992) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 9.04 streaming About the Song:The “philosophical musings” WK of “If Everyone Was Listening” were inspired by the adage, “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women are merely players.” WK The song’s message, according to Entertainment Weekly, is that “Not knowing what’s going on in everyone’s mind is just another form of not being in control. The fear comes not from the absence of knowledge of another person’s thought process, but rather from confronting the fact that we have no control over anything.” WK |
Crime of the CenturySupertramp |
Writer(s): Rick Davies, Roger Hodgson Lead Vocals: Rick Davies Released: Crime of the Century (10/25/1974), The Autobiography of Supertramp (compilation, 1986), Classics (compilation, 1987), The Very Best of (compilation, 1990), Retrospectacle (compilation, 2005) Peak: 22 CL, 10 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 28.28 streaming About the Song:The band named the album after this song because they thought it was the strongest on the album. WK It “is a sensationalist trope which has been applied to various notorious crimes in history. Its application to more than one crime per century speaks to its hyperbolic nature.” WKHodgson said, “I've had more people come up to me and say that that song touched them more deeply than any other. That song really came together when we were living together at Southcombe Farm, Thorncombe, and just eating, sleeping, and breathing the ideas for the album. The song just bounced between Rick and I for so many weeks before it finally took form.” WK |
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First posted 3/21/2011; last updated 9/9/2025. |
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