CRISIS? WHAT CRISIS?

Boy, what a let down after the greatness of Crime Of The Century! I was so disappointed when I heard it at the time that Crisis... is the only 70´s Supertramp LP I never owned. It is not bad, really, and I believe that Crime is a hard act to follow, but... I had hopes they could at least keep some of the quality, specially on the songwriting department. And, sadly, the songs are the weakest parts. Nothing that really reminds their previous work.

It seems that the band was just treading water while trying to find some better ideas for a future release (what would eventually happened). Seeing that way, it is not really surprising that everything here sound half hearted and tentative. Of course the band is in great shape and they do deliver some fine arrangements that give some life to the songs. Sister Moonshine, Soapbox Opera and Lady are the best tracks, but even them sound like leftovers from their other CDs.

I tried very hard to like this album, but it is hopeless. I can only recommended it to the faithful, hardcore fans and collectors. This is not a good starting point to the newbie, of course. Cirsis? What Crisis? is Supertramp´s weakest CD done while Roger Hodgson was on board. Fortunatly they´d make better albums soon after this one. Get Crisis.. only after hearing all others. Two stars.