BROTHER WHERE YOU BOUND

"Brother Where You Bound" is the eighth studio album of Supertramp and was released in 1985. It was their first album without the presence of their guitarist, vocalist, keyboardist, composer and founder member Roger Hodgson, who left the band due to profound musical divergences with Rick Davies, to pursue a solo career. That left the other composer, keyboardist, vocalist and founder member Rick Davies, to handle the song writing and the singing on his own hands.

So, the line up on "Brother Where You Bound" is Rick Davies (vocals and keyboards), John Helliwell (saxophones), Dougie Thomson (bass) and Bob Siebenberg (drums). Beyond the traditional line up without Roger Hodgson, the album had also the participation of a handful of musicians, some of them very well known. So, the additional personnel to "Brother Where You Bound" is David Gilmour (guitar), Scott Gorham (guitar), Marty Walsh (guitar), Doug Wintz (trombone), Scott Page (flute) and Cha Cha (backing vocals).

"Brother Where You Bound" has six tracks. The first track "Cannonball" was the song chosen to be released as single, but in a much shorter version. It's a nice and enjoyable song to hear, reasonably well made, but I think that we are in presence of an overrated song. This is, in my humble opinion, a kind of a jazz song with a disco-funky style. It has a nice atmospheric ambient but, to my taste, it's repetitive and lengthy. And it's also a song without any kind of new ideas to develop it, and finally, I can't see any kind of progressivity on it, really. Sincerely, this is for me, a disappointing song and one of the weakest songs on the album. The second track "Still In Love" is, fortunately, a better song then the previous track. It isn't, in reality, a great song but, it's very nice and pleasant to hear, and it has also some very good musical moments that remind us the good old times of the band. This is a song with a great saxophone work, good keyboard work and it's also a song with a very good rhythm. The third track "No Inbetween" is a very pleasant surprise and fortunately the things improved on this album. This is, in reality, a very good song that can be considered a Supertramp's classic song. It's a sad ballad with very good and nice musical arrangements, with emotional piano and good lyrics, which makes of it as one of the best songs on the album. This is the kind of songs that can change totally the mood of the album, being a much darker and pleasant song to hear. The fourth track "Better Days" is a song with voices on the radio. The voices are taken from the 1984 USA Presidential Campaign and feature the voices of the presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush on the right audio channel and the voices of their advisors Walter Mondale and Geraldine Ferraro on the left audio channel. It isn't a bad track, really, but it's a song more in the style of "Cannonball" than of the other songs. This is another uninspired and lengthy track without new ideas for developing, in the most of it. This track represents, is in my opinion, another low point on the album. The fifth track is the title track "Brother Where You Bound". This is the song the features Thin Lizzy's Scott Gorham on rhythm guitar and Pink Floyd's David Gilmour on the guitar solos. The track has also readings from George Orwell's novel "1984". This is a song that remind me strongly "Fool's Overture" from "Even In The Quietest Moments...", due to the voices on the radio in the background and also because its musical structure. It's the lengthiest song on the album, with 16:30 minutes and it's also the lengthiest song released by the band ever. Only "Try Again" from "Supertramp" and "Fool's Overture" from "Even In The Quietest Moments?" have more than 10:00 minutes. This is a very good epic and one of the most progressive tracks released by them, in their entire catalogue, and represents, without any doubt, the best musical moment on the album too. The sixth track "Ever Open Door" is the shortest track on the album. It's a nice and pleasant way to end the album. This is a powerful ballad where Rick Davies gives to us his best vocal performance on the album.

Conclusion: I must confess that when I bought my vinyl version of this album, I didn't know that Roger Hodgson was no longer in the band. When I saw that, for many years I haven't heard the album. I always thought that Roger Hodgson and Rick Davies were one of the two best pairs of composers of the progressive rock music, and so, I couldn't see them separated because I was afraid of that, really. Unfortunately, I was right. As happened with Roger Waters and David Gilmour of Pink Floyd, the slogan "united we stand, divided we fall" can also be perfectly used in both cases. In my humble opinion, like Roger Waters represented the soul, the irreverence and the creative force of Pink Floyd, Roger Hodgson represented the same on Supertramp. But, I've to admit that "Brother Where You Bound" isn't a bad album. It has even some really very good musical moments, especially its title track. However, it isn't, in my humble opinion, a great album, and it's far from being at the same quality level from their albums that comprises their golden musical era, "Crime Of The Century", "Crisis? What Crisis?", "Even In The Quietest Moments?", "Breakfast In America" and even "Famous Last Words". The excellence of the title track is very little for an album created by a band like Supertramp.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

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