Supertramp Album: “Classics, Vol. 9”

"Classic" Supertramp was released in 1987 when it was still common to cut a minute or two off of songs and master the CD from a 10th generation master that happened to be available. As a result, several of the songs on "Classics" have the guitar solors chopped and the poorly remastered sound quality similar to an eight track tape.

It is shameful that Amazon.com would be selling this 1987 product in 2011 when the FAR better "The Very Best of Supertramp" has the same songs in their full length versions remastered from high quality master tapes. "Very Best" has sound quality that makes it seem that you are in the studio with the band.

Yeah, the GOOD version costs $2 more...less than the cost of a hamburger to get the REAL Supertramp.

I'm a huge Supertramp fan, but I was crushed upon purchasing this collection. I picked it up just before closing time and hurried home to make a cassette copy (this was the late 80's,) only to find that they'd shortened several of the songs, Goodbye Stranger in particular. I was sitting there, singing along with the stereo, and when the whistling solo was supposed to start, I started whistling right alongside, only I found myself whistling alone. CD's like this one are the kind of things that give record companies a bad name. They might be okay for the casual fan, but if you're serious about a particular group, I'd steer clear of the A&M Classics releases.

This is great music from Supertramp. Although most of the tracks were released in the late 70s, I imagine most people actually heard them on the air during the very early 80s. This is one of the great groups from that era and this album is a very good "greatest hits" compilation. If I had to compare it to classical music, I would say it is Gershwin made modern. Good stuff!

Many people will recognize the (mostly) upbeat catchy tunes "Logical Song", "Breakfast in America", "Take the Long Way Home", "Dreamer" and even "Bloody Well Right" and an always-look-up "It's Raining Again". The laid back song "Hide in Your Shell" is a sleeper that should not be skipped over.

The last two ("It's Raining Again" and "Cannonball") are actually almost another era of the group's work, and it shows. For popularity, it may have been necessary to add "It's Raining Again", but it might have been much better to remove "Cannonball" from the lineup.

Overall, a good collection of songs from an impressive group, and at a price that you cannot beat.

Supertramp's volume in A&M's "Classics" series is a thorough selection of the band's best-known tunes from their albums. It has the biggest hits from "Breakfast in America," (which is what most people probably want anyway,) and some songs that charted and did well earlier in the 70s, like "Dreamer," and "Give A Little Bit." Some songs may seem unnecessarily long, but all-in-all, most of the tracks on this CD are pure classics. For someone wanting to become familiar with Supertramp,this is the CD to get.

I don't know if Supertramp ever decided what it wanted to be- a bublegum pop band or a guitar-based rock band. But, in the middle of that perported insanity, came one of the most defined sounds of the seventies and eighties.

And "Classics" has all the songs the title suggests. "Goodbye Sranger," "Take the Long Way Home," and "Give a Little Bit." Plus it has some songs that the so-called "casual fan" may not have heard, but will enjoy. The reflective "logical song," the trippy English pride of "Bloody Well Right," the impioty of "Dreamer," and the bold irony of "Breakfast in America."

So, no, concept albums (or even detailed albums) was not something Supertramp used its energy on. But if good, clean-cut singles is what the band wanted to do, you'll hear no complaints from most music fans. Anything that allows us to "put our heads in our hands and be dreamers."