Album Review: Supertramp - Breakfast in America (1979)

I've long been intrigued by the band Supertramp.  Their songs were sort of odd, eclectic perhaps, and Roger Hodgson's voice was unlike anything I've heard before.  Rick Davies also did vocals now and then, most notably on "Bloody Well Right."  And beyond the radio, I've all but ignored them.  I used to hear the likes of "The Logical Song" all the time on the air, and "Breakfast in America" always had me reach for the volume dial.  Having said that, I've decided to take my historically intermittent foray into Supertramp one step further by writing a review of their acclaimed 1979 album Breakfast in America.  It's not a bad album at all - although, much to my bemusement, one reviewer reckoned it was the fourth best album of all time.  To that, I would respond with a resounding no.  But there's some very good songs on here - "Breakfast in America" is my number one, with the very Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons-esque "Goodbye Stranger" following rather closely in second place.  "The Logical Song", despite being played to death on radio playlists, is still an uplifting and enjoyable ballad, with "Take the Long Way Home" being the borderline snooze-fest that it always has been.  The rest of the album plays on as a series of fillers until you get to the closing "Child of Vision", which is remarkably good, even reminiscent in some aspects of The Alan Parsons Project prog rock numbers.  Like I said earlier, there is no way this album could be considered anywhere near being the fourth best album ever, not by a long shot.  But it deserves respect, and a listening to every now and then is certainly well worth you taking your time to do so.  B+