BREAKFAST IN AMERICA

At this point in history, and certainly after the release of this album, Supertramp became superstars. Unsurprisingly, with this stardom led the group to write less progressive material, and more catchy pop tunes. Fortunately though, this album shows Supertramp adhering to their generally successful formula of sophisticated pop which provokes the listener to think about the music.

Indeed, this album is full of commercial tunes. An astonishing four out of ten songs on this album were released as singles and each one became a hit in it's own right. These songs include the catchy The Logical Song, the feelgood Goodbye Stranger, the brief yet memorable Breakfast In America, and the all-round lovely Take The Long Way Home. This album is like a greatest hits compilation by itself!

Most people say that the 7½ minute closing track Child Of Vision is the most progressive song on the album, but I must dispute this! Despite it's length, Child Of Vision plays out like a regular AOR track, but with an extended instrumental intro and outro - the outro lasting 4 minutes, over half the song! Unfortunately, the outro is nothing spectacular, and is simply a jam on the same repeating chords.

Indeed, the title of most progressive track must be awarded to the albums opener Gone Hollywood. This is due to the excellent middle section, which begins with a sensational saxophone solo, and slowly builds up to a powerful anthemic section which rocks this reviewer to the core. This is a highly emotional song that is actually too good to be used at the start of the record, because it motivates this reviewer to turn off after the first track. Killer stuff!

In summary this is an album aimed entirely at the public, and at no niche genre. The first side of the album contains the lighter material, and Gone Hollywood, whilst Side 2 has more melodramatic songs. Whilst not being their best album, 'Breakfast in America' is essential to anybody who wants to understand and get into Supertramp. If that's not enough, it's got a bloody good cover too!

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