Free as a Bird is the ninth studio album by the British rock band Supertramp, released in October 1987, and their last album of new music for A&M Records. The album was a turn of direction of sorts, with most of the songs stepping back from their progressive rock sound, employing synthesised dance beats and rhythms. Chief songwriter Rick Davies later recalled, "Free as a Bird was an experiment to try and be modern and build it up with computers and drum machines and have people come in one by one, which makes you lose the band spirit a little bit." In the liner notes to the 2005 compilation Retrospectacle, Davies said, "Each time we went in, we would try to give it something a bit different. Free as a Bird was a lot more machine-based than anything we'd done before. That was good and bad, but it had some interesting songs on it."

When vocalist-guitarist Roger Hodgson left Supertramp after 1982's …famous last words…, few could have guessed that the band would continue and solidify its pop-oriented songcraft, let alone re-embrace its progressive-rock roots on 1985's underrated Brother Where You Bound. With vocalist-keyboardist Rick Davies firmly in control – he wrote all the music and lyrics – the album examined tensions at the tail end of the Cold War. In a thematic sense, Brother Where You Bound is dated and hasn't aged very well – Davies' politically oriented lyrics are heavy-handed – but the music is a pleasure. The crystalline sound of the album, particularly Davies' piano, is breathtaking; kudos to co-producers David Kershenbaum and Supertramp and engineer Norman Hall.

Free as a Bird is the ninth studio album by the British rock band Supertramp, released in October 1987, and their last album of new music for A&M Records. The album was a turn of direction of sorts, with most of the songs stepping back from their progressive rock sound, employing synthesised dance beats and rhythms. Chief songwriter Rick Davies later recalled, "Free as a Bird was an experiment to try and be modern and build it up with computers and drum machines and have people come in one by one, which makes you lose the band spirit a little bit." In the liner notes to the 2005 compilation Retrospectacle, Davies said, "Each time we went in, we would try to give it something a bit different. Free as a Bird was a lot more machine-based than anything we'd done before. That was good and bad, but it had some interesting songs on it."

With Breakfast in America, Supertramp had a genuine blockbuster hit, topping the charts for four weeks in the U.S. and selling millions of copies worldwide; by the 1990s, the album had sold over 18 million units across the world. Although their previous records had some popular success, they never even hinted at the massive sales of Breakfast in America. Then again, Supertramp's earlier records weren't as pop-oriented as Breakfast. The majority of the album consisted of tightly written, catchy, well-constructed pop songs, like the hits "The Logical Song," "Take the Long Way Home," and "Goodbye Stranger." Supertramp still had a tendency to indulge themselves occasionally, but Breakfast in America had very few weak moments. It was clearly their high-water mark.

Crime of the Century is the third studio album by the British rock band Supertramp, released in October 1974 on A&M Records. Crime of the Century was Supertramp's commercial breakthrough in many countries, most notably in the UK, Canada and Germany where it peaked in the Top 5 while also making the Top 20 in Australia and France. It was the band's first album to chart in the United States, reaching No. 38 on the Billboard 200. The single "Dreamer" reached No. 13 on the UK singles chart, but listeners in the United States preferred its B-side, "Bloody Well Right", which peaked at No. 35 on the Billboard Hot 100. "School" was another popular track, particularly on album rock-oriented radio stations. The album was eventually certified Gold in the US in 1977 after the release of Even in the Quietest Moments…. In Canada, it was eventually certified Diamond (sales of one million copies). The album was Supertramp's first to feature drummer Bob Siebenberg (at the time credited as Bob C. Benberg), saxophone and clarinet player and vocalist John Helliwell, bassist Dougie Thomson, and co-producer Ken Scott. The album has received critical acclaim, including its inclusion in Rolling Stone's "50 Greatest Prog Rock Albums of All Time".

Indelibly Stamped is the second album by the British rock band Supertramp, released in 1971. It marked a dramatic change in direction to a more straightforward rock sound, and by admission of the band's own liner notes, "Travelled" is the only song with any resemblance to their debut album. Like their debut, this album was a commercial failure upon release, but in later decades it went gold in France and Canada. Original editions have a colour gate-fold cover and different text for the band name and album title. The cover photograph features the tattooed torso and arms of a topless woman. This is the first Supertramp album issued in the U.S. The album was banned from a number of record stores in Australia, while others sold each copy inside a brown paper sleeve.

…Famous Last Words… was the last album that Roger Hodgson made with Supertramp before seeking a solo career, and he made sure that radio would take kindly to his last hurrah with the band. Sporting an airy and overly bright pop sheen, …Famous Last Words… put two singles on the charts, with the poignant "My Kind of Lady" peaking at number 31 and the effervescent smile of "It's Raining Again" going to number 11. The album itself went Top Ten both in the U.S. and in the U.K., eventually going gold in America.

Supertramp is the debut album by the British rock band Supertramp, released in August 1970. The first UK press was released under the title "And I'm Not Like Other", but this title was printed on the labels only. In some countries it was released under the titles Surely (Singapore), and Now and Then (Spain). It was not released in the United States until late 1977, but available through importers and was usually carried in record stores that specialised in British imports. The 1977 issue reached No. 158 on the US Billboard 200. The critical response to the album was generally positive, with a review by Judith Simons in Daily Express commenting: "This debut record album by a group of promising musician-poets is rather more melodic than most discs which pass under the label 'progressive pop.'"

Supertramp followed an unusual path to commercial success in the 1970s, fusing the stylistic ambition and instrumental dexterity of progressive rock with the wit and tuneful melodies of British pop, and the results made them one of the most popular British acts of the '70s and ‘80s, topping the charts and filling arenas around the world at a time when their style of music was supposed to have fallen out of fashion.Supertramp was formed in 1969 by pianist and vocalist Rick Davies. Davies had been a member of a group called the Joint, who had found a financial backer in Dutch millionaire Stanley August Miesegaes; Miesegaes had grown disenchanted with the Joint, but saw promise in Davies, and he offered to bankroll a new band if Davies wanted to launch a fresh project. Davies placed an ad in the British music weekly Melody Maker, and recruited guitarist Richard Palmer, percussionist Robert Millar, and vocalist/bassist Roger Hodgson.

…Famous Last Words… was the last album that Roger Hodgson made with Supertramp before seeking a solo career, and he made sure that radio would take kindly to his last hurrah with the band. Sporting an airy and overly bright pop sheen, …Famous Last Words… put two singles on the charts, with the poignant "My Kind of Lady" peaking at number 31 and the effervescent smile of "It's Raining Again" going to number 11. The album itself went Top Ten both in the U.S. and in the U.K., eventually going gold in America. The songs are purposely tailored for Top 40 radio, delicately textured and built around overly bland and urbane choruses.

Considering their career spanned close to 30 years, it's amazing how condensed most people's vision of Supertramp has become.

With Breakfast in America, Supertramp had a genuine blockbuster hit, topping the charts for four weeks in the U.S. and selling millions of copies worldwide; by the 1990s, the album had sold over 18 million units across the world. Although their previous records had some popular success, they never even hinted at the massive sales of Breakfast in America. Then again, Supertramp's earlier records weren't as pop-oriented as Breakfast. The majority of the album consisted of tightly written, catchy, well-constructed pop songs, like the hits "The Logical Song," "Take the Long Way Home," and "Goodbye Stranger." Supertramp still had a tendency to indulge themselves occasionally, but Breakfast in America had very few weak moments. It was clearly their high-water mark.

Paris is a live album by the English rock band Supertramp, released in 1980. It was recorded on Supertramp's Breakfast in America tour in Paris, France, with most of the tracks taken from a 29 November 1979 show at the Pavillon de Paris, a venue which was once a slaughterhouse. The album was originally going to be called Roadworks. Paris reached number 8 on the Billboard 200 in late 1980 and went Gold immediately, while the live version of "Dreamer" hit the US Top 20.

Rick Davies, Bob Siebenberg, Mark Hart, and John Helliwell re-formed Supertramp with a number of anonymous studio musicians in 1997 to record and release Some Things Never Change, their first album in ten years. And the title is correct – nothing much has changed within Supertramp's world; they're simply churning out the same sophisticated jazzy, lite-funk-inflected pop as they did in the mid-'80s. The only thing that is different is that the group can no longer write ingratiatingly catchy melodies as they did when they called it quits in the '80s, but hardcore fans will still find the instrumental interplay a joy to hear.~Stephen Thomas Erlewine

…Famous Last Words… was the last album that Roger Hodgson made with Supertramp before seeking a solo career, and he made sure that radio would take kindly to his last hurrah with the band. Sporting an airy and overly bright pop sheen, …Famous Last Words… put two singles on the charts, with the poignant "My Kind of Lady" peaking at number 31 and the effervescent smile of "It's Raining Again" going to number 11. The album itself went Top Ten both in the U.S. and in the U.K., eventually going gold in America. The songs are purposely tailored for Top 40 radio, delicately textured and built around overly bland and urbane choruses. Hodgson's abundance of romantically inclined poetry and love song fluff replaces the lyrical keenness that Supertramp had produced in the past, and the instrumental proficiency that they once mastered has vanished. Hodgson's English appeal and fragile vocal manner works well in some places, but the album's glossy sound and breezy feel is too excessive. Hodgson gave his solo album, 1984's In the Eye of the Storm, a mildly progressive feel, quite unlike his last appearance with his former group.