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''Crime of the Century'' is the third album by progressive rock band Supertramp, released in September 1974. == Overview == ''Crime of the Century'' was Supertramp's commercial breakthrough in both the US and UK, aided by the UK hit "Dreamer" and the U.S. hit "Bloody Well Right". It was a UK Top 10 album and a U.S. Top 40 album, eventually being certified Gold in the U.S. in 1977 after the release of ''Even in the Quietest Moments...''. The album was Supertramp's first to feature drummer Bob Siebenberg (at the time credited as Bob C. Benberg), woodwinds player John Anthony Helliwell, bassist Dougie Thomson, and co-producer Ken Scott. The album's dedication reads "To Sam", which is a nickname for Stanley August Miesegaes, the Dutch millionaire who supported the band financially from 1969–72. ==Background and recording== After the failure of their first two albums and an unsuccessful tour, the band broke up, and Rick Davies and Roger Hodgson recruited new members, drummer Bob C. Benberg, woodwinds player John Helliwell, and bassist Dougie Thomson. This new line-up were sent by their record label, A&M, in particular A&R man Dave Margereson (who would become their manager for the next ten years) to a seventeenth-century farm in Somerset in order to rehearse together and prepare the album.〔 The album was recorded at a number of studios including Ramport Studios (owned by The Who) and Trident Studios 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. Several other tracks appeared on later albums (''Crisis? What Crisis?'', ''...Famous Last Words...''). Due to a contractual agreement, all the songs are credited jointly to the two writers, but their partnership as songwriters was dissolving and some of the songs were in fact written by one or the other individually. Scott commented that Davies and Hodgson "were very, very different personalities. Those differing personalities made the music sound the way it did."〔 "Asylum" was written by Rick Davies, "Hide in Your Shell" by Roger Hodgson, and both "School" and "Crime of the Century" are actual 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 Roger 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.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://annecarlini.com/ex_interviews.php?id=1275 )〕 Also, Roger stated on In the Studio with Redbeard while talking about the making of the album that the band had difficulty recreating the song when recording it. Another of Roger 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 are merely players".〔 The album was named after the final song, "Crime of the Century", which the band members felt was the strongest song on the album.〔 Shortly after his departure from Supertramp, Hodgson commented: «I've had more people come up to me and say that that song touched them more deeply than any other. That song really came together when we were living together at Southcombe and just eating, sleeping, and breathing the ideas for the album. The song just bounced between Rick and I for so many weeks before it finally took form.»〔 For unknown reasons, in several interviews both before and since, Hodgson has attributed the song as being written solely by Davies. Hodgson describes "School" as «my song basically» but admits that Davies wrote both the piano solo and a good deal of the lyrics.〔 On the In the Studio with Redbeard episode devoted to Crime of the Century, Roger Hodgson stated that "Rudy" was the character on the album and was seen as somewhat autobiographical on Rick Davies' life at the time. Hodgson and Davies both stated that communication within the group was at a peak during the recording of this album, while drummer Siebenberg stated that he thought it was this album on which the band hit its "artistic peak". ''Crime of the Century'' deals loosely with themes of loneliness and mental stability, but is not a concept album.〔 Davies consciously linked the opening track "School" to "Bloody Well Right" with the line "So you think your schooling is phoney", and according to Hodgson, any unifying thread beyond that was left to the listener's imagination.〔 The sound of the train in "Rudy" was recorded at Paddington station, while the crowd noises in the song were taken from Leicester Square.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Crime of the Century (album)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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