CRISIS? WHAT CRISIS?

Pretty much everyone agrees that as the follow up album for the amazing "Crime of the Century" that "Crisis, What Crisis?" is a step backwards. So, what happened? Well, the record company happened. Supertramp had such success after the previous masterpiece that they were busy touring heavily and didn't have any songs written for another album. But the record company was putting pressure on the band to produce a worthy follow up and they wanted it "NOW". Not the first time that has happened and it won't be the last. So, the band took some leftover songs from the "Crime of the Century" sessions that they had been playing during the tour and they quickly threw together a few more songs and this is the album that happened. Yep, it's that usual tragic record company story.

However, even though it is not as good as CotC, C,WC? is still an enjoyable album in my opinion. It did take a little while to grow on me and for many years, I thought this was their 3rd album and CotC was their 4th, that's because of the maturity and quality of the songs on CotC. This album is a lot more light hearted and upbeat, but the songs lack a little depth and progressiveness.

I still consider this a great album though. I love the songs "A Soapbox Opera", "Another Man's Woman", "Poor Boy" and "Just Another Day" and consider them great Supertramp tracks. The tracks are very bouncy and dripping with rhythm, piano and keyboards but lacking guitar. So it's a fun album, but not as beautiful and emotional as the previous album. Even the band recognize that it was not a cohesive album because of the pressure put on them to produce another album.

By all means, I don't think this album should be ignored. Just realize ahead of time that you are not going to get a masterpiece like you did before and be ready for something lighter more in the vein of "Breakfast in America" and you'll have a good idea what to expect and you won't be disappointed so much, then maybe the album won't seem so bad and you can listen to it with new ears and realize that it is still an excellent addition to your collection. 4 stars, but it might take you a while to realize it.