Even in the Quietest Momentitoes
Overall Album Score: 9.0 out of 10 And ... whoah ... Supertramp completely comes back with this little album that is as lovely as the dickens! The band undergoes the slightest stylistic change with this album, albeit the change is rather subtle. Even in the Quietest Moments are full of slightly more lengthy and passive tunes than Crime of the Century and its follow-up Crisis? What Crisis? were. Yes, it's still progressive pop, but it does sound different. (This difference makes it forgivable ... and even unnoticeable that there isn't a "Hide in Your Shell" type song in it.) At any rate, this was a deviation enough for the band to possibly have inspired them to make a better album! Even in the Quietist Moments is a good album! It's a good album because the songs that are in it are lovely and listenable. Supertramp preserves their reputation of being able to produce good art-pop-prog rock. The major flaw of this album are the songs' length ... perhaps Supertramp would have fared better if they were to shorten all seven of these songs by 45 seconds and then writing a new one? ... It could have been done and nothing really would have been lost! ... The band doesn't use their insane running lengths of these songs to continually introduce new ideas. They'll keep recycling the same ideas until its conclusion ... sometimes, they might present these ideas in a different way (for example, they introduce a 'soulful' choir at the end of one). Just the same, that quality hardly matters if the songs never seem to grow tedious. This album scored a 9.0! Apparently, I was never bored enough through it to warrant any vicious score-slashings! I'm sure this could have been done better. You're going to have to take Supertramp as it is, I'm afraid ... they're always going to be smart and beautiful, but everything they do I always tend to get the unfortunate, sinking feeling that it is slightly weak and needed sprucing up. Overall Album Score: 9.0 out of 10 (I am really hesitant and sort of regretting that I let Supertramp's Even in the Quietest Moments get such a high rating! It could have been much more spectacular ... but, just the same, I think I'm going to leave it like this! It's pleasant! If you want some *pleasant* but not necessarily *spectacular* music to grace your speakers, then this is your baby.) Average Song Score: 8.9 (This is a wonderful set of tunes! There's really not a dull one in the whole bunch ... which is something that Supertramp hadn't really accomplished before.) Album Tilt: 9.0 (The album might lack soulful highlights, but this is a different album than Crime of the Century. Whereas that one relied on dramatic and breathtaking symphonic pieces, this one is much more understated. And it works just as well.) Artist Rating: 9.0 (The artistic integrity of this album oftentimes surpasses the entertainment value of some of these songs ... although, they all do have entertainment value ... otherwise, this album wouldn't come with such recommendations. Yes, this is art-pop-progressive rock that was produced and arranged very well. The 10+ minute 'experimental' piece might be low-key and maybe even unfocused, but it STILL manages to be as entertaining as hell. Supertramp is one of the most accessible art-rock bands of all time!) Track Reviews Give a Little Bit 10/10 Is this an entertaining song or what? ... I don't know what a lot of critic peoples are doing criticizing "Give a Little Bit" for being a pop song in a progressive rock album. I always thought that Supertramp was a pop band from the very beginning ... with some progressive values. At any rate, this is a pop song, and you can only do a minimal amount of things while it's playing (it's a little over four minutes long). It certainly doesn't have a McCartney-esque melody, but the melody they do have is WONDERFUL and the instrumentation/production is crisp and perfect. Yes, this is a GOOD song, and I like it quite a lot! (Yay!) There's nothing that I can possibly think of to say negatively about this super song! Loverboy 9/10 This just-under-seven-minute song, you can do quite a few things while it plays! (They're already starting on their Bee Gees impressions that would more prominently appear on their pop-breakthrough Breakfast in America.) This melody is as good as anything written by Supertramp. It's thoughtful ... even better, of course, is this absolutely stellar studio production and utterly symphonic instrumentation. (I really like that piano!) My major tiff has to do with the chorus ... it's not as good as it probably ought to be. Just the same, this is an excellent song. It got a 9! Even in the Quietest Moments 9.5/10 Awwwww! I hear a bird tweeting! ... Isn't that sweet??? Besides that, isn't the beginning of this song just lovely? It has that wonderful, sort of Strauss sound to it ... but it's art-rock (you know) ... As far as art-pop-rock sounding the most convincingly like classical music, this is one of the finest examples I can think of. The melody is nice and pleasant (there are no deathly hooks, but there doesn't really need to be any) ... but the instrumentation is really what makes this one beautiful. Another keeper! (What's keeping this from receiving a full 10 is the sheer length of it ... there simply weren't enough musical ideas to keep this train going for the whole 6:30 minutes of it.) Downstream 8/10 This is a pleasant song that's nice'n'thoughtful in ways that is nothing less than Supertramp's signature style! Unfortunately, other than being just pleasant, this one fails to totally take off for me. The reason for that, undoubtedly, is the fact that this really isn't supposed to take off. Oh well. I'm still giving this a pretty high score for a song that sounds this insignificant! It's also the album's shortest track. Babaji 8.5/10 I'm afraid that we "leveled out" again as Supertramp had the unfortunate knack of doing in their Crime of the Century and Crisis? What Crisis? albums. Even though this song pales, it only pales *ever so slightly*. In fact, this can be considered a great song on its own right, even though it certainly must take the backseat to songs such as "Even in the Quietest Moments!" The instrumentation is clever and innovative, and the song itself is utterly entertaining! This is a nice, mid-tempoed song. It's not really pleasant ... this is on the more uneasy and dramatic side of Supertramp. From Now On 8.5/10 Again, we've "leveled out," but this is most definitely on a higher scale of "leveling out." Yes, this is a relatively insignificant and unexciting song, but merits of the melody, the instrumentation, and the pleasant aura keeps this one perfectly entertaining. It's no ultimate classic, but it is instrumental in making this album as a whole entertaining as it is. (Some might object to this song 'cause it sounds like glorified elevator music ... me, I say if all elevator music sounded this good, people wouldn't make fun of it!) I think they were dragging the song on a bit too long, and the 'soulful' choir at the end of this was a bit extreme ... but it does manage to keep the song from growing tedious. Fool's Overture 9/10 This is how Supertramp experiments during their "established years," I guess! This 10+ minute song is usually very quiet and minimalistic, but they incorporate all sorts of strange sounds in here. Even when it doesn't have a particular *melody* to speak of, the song manages to remain entertaining! It's hella geeky and pretentious, but Supertramp apparently knew how to make this one work! Most bands when they try crap like this end up making the song groan-inducing ... but not Supertramp. They were too intelligent. (The melodic bits ... some of it being synth-pop that sounds a surprise this wasn't made in the 80s, and others being quiet and soulful vocal solos ... are highly entertaining and aren't hookless.) It's not a significant, or really even a *memorable* song, but this is entertainment. And that's all I really need! Don't let this be a quiet moment! Send me your comments about this album here! slb23@shaw.ca (Simon B.) received Sept. 6, 2004 I first heard this album on a tape my friend copied for me
(with BREAKFAST IN AMERICA on the otherside) in 1998. I eventually wore
the tape out so I bought the vinyl version. EVEN IN THE QUIETEST
MOMENTS is arugably a bit more subdued and ballad-oriented than CRISIS? WHAT
CRISIS? but they do journey into prog territory on the 10 minute
"Fool's Overture".
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All reviews are copyrighted by the author, Michael Lawrence. He's Kentucky fried.
