Supertramp Album: “Breakfast In America”

Anyone who goes through the trouble of leaving a review is usually a die-hard fan and I am no exception. As my headline says, this Deluxe edition is very good but it could have been great. I am not an audiophile or sound guy but the songs do sound great, so no problem there. I have just a little nitpicking to do with the live songs that bring it from 5 stars down to 4 stars (though I would have given 4.5 stars if possible).

1 -Five of the twelve live tracks are already on Paris. Not the exact same recordings as on Paris, but if it's the same tour the songs will sound pretty much the same. Maybe between Paris and this disc we hear all of the songs that were part of the tour set list, I don't know, but if they had others available it would have been nice to hear them. I too would have loved to have heard a live Gone Hollywood, Lord Is It Mine, Poor Boy, Sister Moonshine, etc but like I said, perhaps they were not part of the tour set list and were therefore not available.

2 - Too bad they decided to shorten EITQM (one of my favorites) by leaving out the part after the second verse where Roger sings lines like "Lord won't you come and get into my life?", "Say won't you please. Stay won't you please", "Oh Lord don't go" etc. (If you know the song, you know what I'm talking about). I mean, how often is a live version of a song almost a minute and a half shorter than the studio version? And if you exclude the 47 seconds of intro time here that's about what it is. Perhaps minor, but still too bad.

Bottom line? Great to hear anything previously unreleased from Supertramp so definitely treat yourself and get this Deluxe Edition.

P.S. As for the whole Rick and Roger he said/she said thing they have going on, just a few comments. 1-Whether they had a formal agreement to not sing each other's songs or just a verbal agreement, I don't know and I don't care. Rick should NOT sing any of Roger's songs. Not because I feel he's trying to capitalize on Roger's music or it's unethical but just because he does not need to!! He's got plenty of his own music to play, songs that fans would LOVE to hear live. (Speaking of which if you're looking for live versions of Oh Darling and Just Another Nervous Wreck, they are on the Live '88, though it may be tough to find.) Heck, even if he played songs from just the post-Roger albums I would still love it (excluding the Mark Hart songs). 2 - They should just put the animosity aside, reunite, and tour together as the REAL Supertramp. And come to the USA!!

Definitive album? Yes! Worth the "upgade?" No. I am so tired of the record companies releasing "deluxe editions" when they are anything but deluxe. In the case of Breakfast in America, you are paying for an overly processed "remaster" with a live album of material that has nothing to do with this album in a direct fashion. This is a way to sell a live album on the back of a classic album. Marketing ploy galore! How about giving us alternate takes, instrumentals, demos?

Supertramp's sixth album entitled Breakfast in America was a perfect example of the classic Dickens quote "it was the best of times and it was the worst of times" end quote.

When it was released in March of 1979, the album was embraced heavily in the United States as the group had just come off the heels of their first Gold selling album with Even in the Quietest Moments, which was released in April, 1977 (Crime of the Century went Gold shortly after Even in the Quietest Monents went Gold).

Breakfast in America had three Top 20 hits guitarist/singer/keyboard player Roger Hodgson's "The Logical Song" (a Top 10 hit hitting #6 in the spring of 1979) and "Take the Long Way Home" (which was the band's second and last US Top 10 hit as it peaked at #10 that December).

Plus, keyboard player and singer Rick Davies' "Goodbye Stranger" (which was the band's second Top 20 US hit peaking at #19 that summer).

Other standouts on this classic are Davies' haunting opener "Gone Hollywood", which was a third person's view on the negativity of living in L.A., "Just Another Nervous Wreck" and "Oh Darling" (both also written by Davies). I also loved Hodgson's "Lord is it Mine".

Despite the fact that it's musically and lyrically a fun, warm and happy album, tensions between Hodgson and Davies were increasing during the recording sessions of this album.

The title track to Breakfast in America Roger had written when he was 19 but Rick despised it and didn't want the song on the album. He also didn't want the album titled Breakfast in America neither, Roger won out on both counts.

"Casual Conversations" was seen as Rick's stab at Roger and the closing "Child of Vision" was Roger's equivalent to Gone Hollywood and veiled attack to Rick with Rick surprisingly adding in his responses to Roger's accusations and featured a stellar piano workout from Rick and a burning tenor sax solo at the end of the track by saxophonist John Helliwell whom is arguably the best sax player in rock in my view.

Despite all the turmoil, Breakfast in America hit #1 in the US (as well as Europe, Canada, Norway and Australia) and sold over 4 million copies in America (18 million worldwide).

Hodgson felt that Supertramp should have ended with Breakfast in America instead of 1982's follow-up Famous Last Words although some fans disagree (like me) with his sentiments.

Over 30 years on, Breakfast still holds up musically today.

The remastered version of Breakfast which was released in June of 2002 has better sound quality that buries either the original CD or the Mobile Fidelity version.

In 2010, a Deluxe Edition was released with a bonus live disc which includes tracks excluded from the 1980 live album Paris which were recorded during those sessions out of a barn burning "Goodbye Stranger", a sublime "Even In the Quietest Moments", a stellar "Give a Little Bit", a nice "Downstream", the rollicking "Another Man's Woman" and a kick*ss version of "Child of Vision". Another Breakfast track "Oh Darling" is take from Miami during the US leg and the tracks "The Logical Song", "Breakfast in America", "Rudy" and "From Now On" are great live performances all recorded either in Miami OR London during the Breakfast in America Tour of 1979. Plus it comes with a stellar book featuring interviews, lyrics, original credits and the remaster is excellent!

Highly recommended!

So..."Breakfast in America" has been remastered yet AGAIN (how many times is this the third or fourth time?). Is this one better than the last? Not really but the real reason to get this is the second live disc. How does disc one sound? I wouldn't sell your original Mobile Fidelity or early CD pressing of "Breakfast in America". This mastering sounds decent but not horrible. Some of the problems with the original masterings are IN the original recording and the specific type of console that was used to record/mix the album.

Disc two features songs cut from "Paris" (due to time constraints when it was on vinyl back in the day)from the same series of shows--six songs to be precise according to the liner notes. There are also six OTHER songs that are from other shows on the disc. Since some of these songs didn't appear on "Paris" (or anywhere else) such as "Oh Darling" and the epic closing track "Child of Vision" both from "Breakfast in America" this is well worth picking up.

The second disc was mastered by Tim Young at Metropolis Mastering (they've done good and bad work over the last couple of years) and sounds pretty good over all but keep in mind we have nothing to really compare it with.

What would have been a better release? Include the original album, the live disc included here and the DVD of promotional videos (that were included in the deluxe edition which is about $200 depending on where you buy it AND includes vinyl versions plus assorted other goodies)and/or create a stand-alone live disc celebrating the album "Breakfast in America-Live" including all the tracks here plus the rest of the songs performed by the band on the tour and/or include a SACD hybrid disc since those probably buying this would have the equipment to listen to it anyway.

Should you get this? If you're a fan you know the answer to that but try and get it for under $20.00 as you'll find yourself listening primarily to the live album if you have a better version (the Mobile Fidelity CD, the original A&M CD that has the Audio+ logo on it or the original vinyl) of this to listen to. I have to disagree with some here--the mastering on this edition sounds slightly better to me than the 2002 edition also mastered by Greg Calbi. Whether that's because of improved A/D conversion equipment or other reasons, I'm not sure.

Two discs-46,65 minutes each approximately. The remastered sound is very good-there's a crispness, without being harsh, to the original studio album, and the live tracks, while not as open sounding as the studio tracks, are still very good. Voices and instruments are clearly defined in the mix. The discs are snapped inside the four-fold holder. Unlike past "Deluxe Editions", this release doesn't have the clear plastic outer sleeve. Instead there's a plastic band around the bottom portion, which is perforated for easy opening. The graphics inside the package consist of ads and magazine covers featuring SUPERTRAMP, plus two photographs of "cities" similar to the cover. The 35 page booklet has an overview of both the group and the album, written by Phil Alexander, Editor of Mojo Magazine. Also include are lyrics for the original album, and a number of color and b&w photos of the group.

"Breakfast In America" was, arguably, the group's best album. But a case could be made for "Crime of the Century", "Even In the Quietest Moments", or even "Crisis? What Crisis"? All had good, well written, well arranged songs, plus a number of commercially popular tunes. Even when they recorded in the U.S., they had a very English/cup of tea sound, which helped give the band a unique identity. If you've read this far, chances are you're at least familiar with "Breakfast...", or an outright fan (like me) of the band. So it's not really necessary to detail the original album.

The live disc, with tracks from Wembley, Miami, and more tracks from the "Paris" concert, all from 1979, make up, to some extent, the "Breakfast..." album. Five tracks recreate a good portion (2-6 from the original album) of that album, even though "Gone Hollywood" is sadly absent. The other tracks (songs include "Even In the Quietest Moments", "Rudy", "Give a Little Bit", and others), are all crowd favorites, and add a bit of depth to this release. As I wrote previously, the sound is very good-immediate, crisp, and clean. The band recreates the songs to something approaching the studio versions. And that's fine, up to a point. Never known for their improvisational skills, nevertheless it would've been great to hear the band stretch out a bit instrumentally, or vary the tempo slightly to add interest and depth to familiar tunes.

But in the end, these songs are just fine as examples of SUPERTRAMP in concert (hear the live "Paris" album)-delivering their unique songs and sound to an enthusiastic crowd. And with this live collection, we get to hear more from this underrated, yet fine, band. Hopefully we'll hear their other albums, from this same era, in similar editions.