Glenn Lonsberry (August 23, 2010)

Bought this remastered and thought I died and went to heaven! Fantastic. The original recording was weak and it was 4rht on my list but moved very near to the top.

Their Best (July 18, 2010)

This is my favorite Supertramp album, probably because it leaves space for the instrumentals. One of my favorite albums period. I was hooked when I heard "Another Man's Woman" on the radio (I remember which block of which street it was) and was blown away by the series of developments that go on through the long second half of the song.

There is a great trick they pull with the song "All Things Bright and Beautiful" in "A Soapbox Opera"-- who would have thought you could make an old song that much prettier by coming in on the wrong beat?

I love the Dixieland-like clarinet and sax parts on the second, er, side of the album, it's always struck me that there's true love in the playing there.

I've never figured out whether we're supposed to laugh at the most pathetic lyrics or take them seriously. But the music makes it totally worthwhile.

Unlike So Many Remasters, Most of the Dynamic Range Has Been Preserved (April 12, 2010)

It just breaks my heart that so many remasters cater to the inferior dynamics of mp3 when a physical redbook compact disc is capable of so much more. And this is exactly what I hear when I listen to the remastered versions of Crime of the Century, Even in the Quietest Moments, and Breakfast in America. It's as if the remastering engineers have completely removed the low and even the mid-bass frequencies and then manipulated the remaining upper bass frequencies to create the illusion that the full audible spectrum is still present. And that's fine for those consumers who enjoy their music on portable players or while driving since those playback devices are generally incapable of reproducing the missing low and mid-bass, but it is really, really frustrating to people like myself who have assembled home systems for the sole purpose of representing the full audible spectrum. Thankfully, I can take some solace in the fact that "Crisis? What Crisis?" appears to have dodged this all too common marketing bullet. (Note to the powers that be: If you want to capitalize on the music download market, then, at the very least, understand that an mp3 is a completely different product from a redbook compact disc!)

"Crisis? What Crisis?" is probably Supertramp's most underated album. My guess is that it just didn't take with most casual fans, and the downside of riding the crest of a big hit like "Crime of the Century" is that you accummulate a lot of casual fans who, quite innocently, cannot fathom where an artist actually came from in the first place. Because there are few, if any, big hits on this album, it typically gets unfairly dismissed. I mean, this album has one of the most intriguing openings, Easy Does It, of any album I have _ever_ heard and that's coming from a huge fan of The Alan Parsons Project who were renown for striking overtures!

A close listening will reveal all manner of melody in songs like Lady and Sister Moonshine, deft musicianship in Poor Boy and The Meaning, and stellar production choices in the epic A Soapbox Opera, but just not the sort of thing one would typically hear on commercial radio. Because it is so atmospheric at times, perhaps much of this music behaves more like a movie soundtrack than a typical rock, even progressive rock, album.

But the botton line is this: if you like Supertramp in general, then give Crisis a good second look. Like Brother Where You Bound, Crisis is part of the essential Supertramp cannon. More often than not, it strikes me as said cannon's unsung hero.

outstanding album (March 7, 2010)

When I was 17 in 1976, I couldn't understand why this album wasn't more popular... and it still defies logic. 33 years later it still sounds great. My 19 year old son was blown away when I dug it out for him. Ranks as one of my top ten favorite albums.

One of their best (January 21, 2010)

This is a much overlooked album. It was created under pressure and has been called "unpolished" as many expect of Supertramp's studio projects. I feel it's one of the best representation of their true talents. "Crisis" and "Crime" are IMO their best, followed by "Even in the Quietest Moments". Their later albums may have hit the pop charts but aren't their best.

Most textured Tramp (January 13, 2010)

I like Crisis? What Crisis? the best of all Supertramp albums. It has proven to be the dark horse of their catalog (not counting their first 2 pre-classic period releases), probably because of the lack of overt hooks and the presence of only one hit song, "Ain't Nobody But Me." But partially for these reasons, the album becomes more rewarding and reveals greater depth with repeated plays.

Kicking off with the early-morning, sleepy sounding "Easy Does it" nicely seguing into the beautiful sitar intro of "Sister Moonshine", the album's second deserving hit, Crisis immediately delivers its knockout punch. "A Soapbox Opera" continues Hodgson's penchant for character based songs (much like "Rudy" from Crime)while contrasting is Davies' upbeat and funky "Another Man's Woman." Both are stronger entries in the early Supertramp catalog, full of personality and instrumental complexity.

Side two is not as solid; "Lady" is a fun Hodgson ditty complete with the group's trademark keyboard sound introduced in Crime (see "Dreamer") and running throughout their popular era. "Poor Boy" is cabaretish in it's use of horns and Brighton Beach whimsy. Here and on "Just A Normal Day," Davies and Hodgson trade vocal chores, something that would become sadly obsolete on upcoming albums.

Unfortunately, Crisis closes on one of it's weaker moments, "Two of Us," with Hodgson straining both his chords and sentimentality. It comes across a bit too syrupy, somewhat akin to the atmosphere achieved in the hit "It's Raining Again" from years later. But overall, Crisis triumphs in it's ambition and wide musical range, even if not overly appreciated among their other 70's releases. Roger cites this as his favorite Tramp album.