Today the album remains in this site's Top 100 and the band is known worldwide. The Supertramp "sound" was unmistakenly established with Crime of the Century, and to many, all their future albums live in its shadow. As we celebrate the 50th, this would be a great time to share just what this album has meant to you, and how you first managed to discover it.

I admit, my first impressions were that it was all a bit light and bubble gum compared to the Rush/Zep/Purple/Sab I listened to at the time, but I came to appreciate it far more in my early twenties, along with artists like Alan Parsons & BJH.

It remains a seminal album of its era and you are right, all their subsequent albums remain in its shadow.

saw the astounding sleeve in the record shop next to our school, and the next day, I had money to tale it home

I played it transparent. Still one of my faves, and I spin it in the car during the holiday trip for my GF.

richardh wrote: It's certainly the perfect 'art rock' album but not at all 'progressive rock' it was a million miles away from ELP, Yes and Genesis and no one would have positioned them with those bands. This was the era of bombast and Supertramp were not that BUT it was changing. Dark Side Of The Moon a year earlier had shown that the bombastic approach was not necessary to win over fans and perhaps a band that concentrated on the 'song' was more welcome.

To each his own, but back then, in Central Canada (and North Am in general) COTC was certainly lumped in with all of those albums you mention.

Us kids/teens didn't feel the need to see what was pegged as "art rock" ("prog rock" was not really in our language back in those years) or not.

To be fair, I think you can both be right, as it's probably a cultural thing.  Certainly in the UK, Supertramp were far more associated with bands like Roxy Music, Be Bop, ELO, Queen and 10CC than they ever would have been with the prog giants... I'd never really heard the label 'Art Rock' used, but the bands grouped were definitely a brand of 'thinking man's Pop-Rock' set apart from Prog. 

This is one of the albums that Guy Guden played non-stop in his early days, because the station was more tuned into the hits and well known things than they were new bands and material ... he played the whole album more than once. 

It wasn't the only time guy did that ... same thing with Average White Band (at least one person called it trash !!!), Golden Earring (it's not rock'n'roll -- and Guy slowed the song and said ... who cares ... it's great music and re-started on the same spot -- song? Are You Receiving me? ... the same issue here all the time!!!), Gentle Giant, Gryphon, Fairport Convention, Manfred Mann's Earth Band ... his list is endless ... and no one here cares, anyway!

Hi,

I think you missed the idea ... at the time, and it is getting to be exactly the same thing on PA and most "progressive" websites, the idea of something new and different is not going far enough for folks to get a decent ear to it.

I like it when so many folks post on PA in the new materials ... however, ... look at the bands that post links further down, and asking for comments ... AND NO ONE IS THERE!!!! That is the issue for me ... the newer folks don't have a chance ... and here we are saying that because one person played a whole album, that you have never heard on radio ... well, I know there are folks out there that do so ... but FOR ME the discovery is what makes it far out ... and I think that many folks don't know where to look, or find new sites ... and end up coming to PA, RYM or other places for ideas ... you must realize that in those days, we did not have the toob, and no one knew anything about anything new whatsoever ... so the discovery was far out ... but now ... everyone wants it sugar coated with a ranking, and then say that it would not happen now ... I am not sure you are correct on this, as I have been on the air on the Internet, and I not only played whole albums, I also played several hours of one band ... Caravan, Roxy Music, Man, Hawkwind, over 3 hours of ECM, Gong, gong Family and solos, Groundhogs, Can, Amon Duul 2, Guru Guru, Ange, Banco, PFM ... and I can't even remember them all ... somehow I lost a copy of those shows and even the web pages I made for them ... sadly enough!

In the end, it is all about your desire to hear something new that you have not heard before ... nothing else ... it's the only, and best way, to learn and appreciate new music.

My OG LP copy still sounds NM condition and sounds spectacular, the beginning with the kids playing is scary real.......I've heard this record on a system that is uber expensive and its mind-blowing.

I spin it regularly.....

yesss, it's mind-blowing and I take it around with DSOTM (along with a couple other jazz albums) to check new audiophile material

Hi,

Good work, will always be good work.

But part of the problem, TODAY, is that the listing of things monthly, or yearly, while far out and helpful, in the end, really hurts ... no one can tell anymore what is good or better and will survive 50 years ... and to me that is a sad event. The idea/fact that many bands sound the same is another problem ... and at that point your favorite, or preference takes the podium, and ignores the rest.

I would love to see a bit more emphasis on the music itself, than the numbers and preferences, but the folks that are getting the most attention are the ones with numbers and choices on their posts. 

In those days, you DID NOT HAVE that kind of thing blowing you out, and it took someone special to showcase an album that no one else played ... (years back on Guy Guden's blog he posted the many fights over 30 years with radio station maniacs and dirt holes.) ...but at the very least his show survived 50+ years, though he has not been on for a month (hopefully well ... he's a year on me at 75).

The sad side of it, was hearing some folks at the station make fun of the album, and then when the next album made a "hit", those same folks changed their tune but they would not play COTC.

Crime of the Century has some Progressive elements, but to me it's also definitely mostly an Art Rock album. So indicates the coverart too, and so has it mostly been considered over the years.

I don't get that hung up on labels, good music is good music whatever but I still hear a clear distinction between the rock scene in general and a more art school approach that was not about turning the volume up and occasionally (at least) rocking out. 10cc, Roxy Music, Steely Dan (although early days they were 'classic rock' before becoming something else) and Supertramp were a different breed. For starters they were often predicated on writing music and not so much about the personalities involved. There were loads of crossover, as musicians (in those days at least) were interested what the other guys were doing and learnt from it. Genesis were perhaps almost halfway between an 'art rock' band and a 'progressive rock band' when Gabriel was in the line up. He had that art school mentality but after he went on to his solo career, Genesis were much more a traditional 'progressive rock' band as I see it.

BTW back in 1974-5 the phrase 'progressive rock' was in usage and the punks of 76-77 coined the phrase 'prog rock' as a put down , but it stuck!

Hi,

I kinda thought that the "put down" was more about what was considered "art rock" than anything else, since at the time, and for hundreds of years, street music (which so much of punk was) was not considered serious music, thus the put down was a way to suggest that "we belong too!"

Nowadays, this line is blurred so badly as to prevent a proper look and definition of the majority of works ... but I honestly feel that we should make a harder separation of what was originally "progressive rock (or art rock)" and "prog rock". However, I think this will bring up so many disagreements that I think everyone will give it up!