Crime of the Century (1974)

Crime of the Century is the third studio album by the British rock band Supertramp, released on 25 October 1974, by A&M Records. Crime of the Century was Supertramp's commercial breakthrough in many countries, most notably in the UK, Canada and Germany where it peaked in the Top 5 while also making the Top 20 in Australia and France. It was the band's first album to chart in the United States, reaching No. 38 on the Billboard 200. The single "Dreamer" reached No. 13 on the UK singles chart, but listeners in the United States preferred its B-side, "Bloody Well Right", which peaked at No. 35 on the Billboard Hot 100. "School" was another popular track, particularly on album rock-oriented radio stations. The album was eventually certified Gold in the US in 1977 after the release of Even in the Quietest Moments.... In Canada, it was eventually certified Diamond (sales of one million copies). The album was Supertramp's first to feature drummer Bob Siebenberg (at the time credited as Bob C. Benberg), saxophone and clarinet player and vocalist John Helliwell, bassist Dougie Thomson, and co-producer Ken Scott. The album has received critical acclaim, including its inclusion in Rolling Stone's "50 Greatest Prog Rock Albums of All Time".

The album's dedication reads "To Sam", which is a nickname for Stanley August Miesegaes, the Dutch millionaire who supported the band financially from 1969 to 1972.

Background and recording

After the commercial failure of their first two albums and an equally unsuccessful tour, it looked like the end of Supertramp. However, Rick Davies and Roger Hodgson revitalized the band, recruiting drummer Bob C. Benberg, woodwinds player and backing vocalist John Helliwell, and bassist Dougie Thomson. Their record label, A&M, in particular A&R man Dave Margereson (who would become their manager for the next ten years), sent this new line-up to a seventeenth-century farm in west Dorset to rehearse their next album together.

The album was recorded at several studios, including Trident Studios and Ramport Studios (owned by the Who), with co-producer Ken Scott. While recording the album, Davies and Hodgson recorded approximately 42 demo songs, from which only 8 were chosen to appear on the album.

Six tracks were first recorded for the soundtrack of Tony Klinger's 1971 film Extremes "about British youth, lifestyles and drug addiction". Several other tracks appeared on later albums such as Crisis? What Crisis? and ...Famous Last Words....

Due to a contractual agreement, all the songs are credited jointly to the two writers; however, some of the songs were written individually. Scott commented that Davies and Hodgson "were very, very different personalities. Those differing personalities made the music sound the way it did." "Asylum", "Rudy" and "Bloody Well Right" were written by Davies, "If Everyone Was Listening", and "Hide in Your Shell" were written by Hodgson, and "Dreamer", "School" and "Crime of the Century" are all Davies/Hodgson collaborations.

Hodgson remarked of "Hide in Your Shell": "I was 23 when I wrote that song, confused about life and like a lot of people are at that age, trying to hide my insecurities. I’ve always been able to express my innermost feelings more openly in song and 'Hide in Your Shell' came to me at a time when I was feeling very lonely – lonely both in life and within the band – with no one who shared my spiritual quest."

"Dreamer" was composed by Hodgson on his Wurlitzer piano at his mother's house when he was 19 years old. At that time he recorded a demo of the song using vocals, Wurlitzer, and banging cardboard boxes for percussion. Hodgson recalled: "I was excited – it was the first time I laid hands on a Wurlitzer." Supertramp cut their own recording of the song in imitation of this early demo, though they had difficulty recreating the song, and so put the demo tape on the multitrack machine, and played to the demo.

Another of Hodgson's philosophical musings, "If Everyone Was Listening", was inspired by the As You Like It adage "All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players". According to Entertainment Weekly, the message of the song is, "Not knowing what’s going on in everyone’s mind is just another form of not being in control. The fear comes not from the absence of knowledge of another person’s thought process, but rather from confronting the fact that we have no control over anything." The song would later provide the title track for Michael Ball's 2014 album of the same name.