SUPERTRAMP – Crisis? What Crisis? (Remastered 2025) *HQ*

320_1 /// 320_2 /// HQ 1 /// HQ 2

SUPERTRAMP continues the 50th anniversary celebrations in their half-speed remaster reissue series and we featured some days ago the recent 2026 remastered albums. But here’s another LP from the band you can’t miss: 1975’s “Crisis? What Crisis? (remastered 2025)“, as part of the same SUPERTRAMP reissue campaign.
With oversight of the band and co-producer Ken Scott, these 50th anniversary reissues have been remastered at half-speed by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios giving them greater detail and the best possible clarity.
Sporting an awesome progressive cover art, ‘Crisis? What Crisis?’ was written and recorded in arguably the busiest period of the band’s career and released just 13 months after ‘Crime Of The Century’. Now regarded by many as the bridge from their earlier prog records to their more commercially successful period, ‘Crisis? What Crisis?’ is a significant and vital part of the band’s musical journey.

After two albums which were not commercially successful and lineup shifts which left only the two primary vocalists Rick Davies and Roger Hodgson as permanent members, Supertramp regrouped and produced the critically acclaimed and commercially successful Crime of the Century in 1974.
However, this produced a whole new type of pressure on the group to meet or exceed that level of success with a follow-up. The group began work on this new album as soon as the touring for the previous album completed.

With little time to rehearse, Davies and Hodgson had to develop songs individually, without a cohesive vision for the album as a whole, like had been done on Crime of the Century. While in the studio, Davies did come up with the cover concept and album title, which was taken from a line in the film, The Day of the Jackal.
Only four of the album’s ten tracks had been performed live prior to entering the studio with producer Ken Scott.

The opening two tracks of Crisis? What Crisis? make it clear that this album takes a far different approach from its predecessor, as both tracks are guitar-dominated in contrast to the almost completely piano-dominated Crime of the Century.
The very short intro track, “Easy Does It” dedicates about a quarter of its length to street side sound effects and approaching whistler. From there it is one single verse, with a short lead section, a second chorus, and out, still leaving plenty of guitar centric sonic candy with deadened electric and strummed acoustic blended beneath Hodgson’s melodic lead vocals.
The bright acoustic track, “Sister Moonshine”, follows with plenty of extra overdubbed acoustic and electric flourishes during the intro verses. Davies joins with backing vocals during the post chorus along with a cool harmonica in the background and choppy rhythms by bassist Doug Thompson and drummer Bob Siebenberg.

“Ain’t Nobody But Me” features lead vocals by Davies and a dramatic and theatrical rock arrangement which builds in tension before breaking into a rather moderate doo-wop-rock like chorus. John Helliwell later adds a saxophone lead to follow before an equally dramatic second verse followed by a second chorus and a long outro with entertaining vocal duets which bring it down before it all explodes one last time with closing guitar lead.
“A Soapbox Opera”, has promise of an epic in the same vein as those on Crime of the Century, but the song is really a lot more simple and less weighty, although still a pleasant enough listen with piano, strings, and a creative bridge section.
“Another Man’s Woman” features a mix of dramatic, rotating piano in contrast to Davies’ whimsical lead vocals and a funky chorus with sharp guitar riffing and effects for a good jam. The long and deliberate mid section finds room for Davies’ meandering piano solo while the background ambiance gains momentum and eventually joins the composition for a decent lead section that concludes the track.

“Lady” opens with a xylophone-like effect before the song launches with a bouncy electric piano accompanying Hodgson’s lead vocals. Although a little elongated in the end, this single release would have fit well on later albums like Breakfast In America.
On the other hand, “Poor Boy” is a totally unique track which starts with odd scat vocals by Davies accompanied by gently rocking electric piano. This leads to a calm and pleasant intro with Helliwell adding an accordion in background of the intro as well as a nice clarinet lead later on. When the song proper kicks in, it includes a pleasant melody and bouncy bass by Thompson along with Davies’ electric piano mixed with some jazzy acoustic piano.

“Just a Normal Day” starts as a very slow piano ballad with vocals by Davies and good bass and drum fills, with Hodgson rotating in on second lead vocals, which may actually detract from the overall melancholy vibe. After a good, effective sax lead, the emotional third chorus by Davies acts as the climax of song.
The album wraps with two emotional tracks led by Hodgson. “The Meaning” fades in with a picked acoustic accompanied by slight keyboards and clarinet. The hyper, panicked vocals by Hodgson during verses act as good contrast to feel goos, melodic, and moody musical vibe throughout as each verse builds on the previous one by adding instrumentation and rhythmic drive. A slight organ lead by Davies precedes the fourth and final verse as it builds to an outro crescendo with effective use of lyrical repetition.

The closing ballad, “Two of Us”, features a slight acoustic accompanying the organ in a very sparse arrangement with chorus vocals that reach for the stratosphere with the very high pitched vocals of Hodgson on this song with a very simple message about committed love.

The LP received extensive air play on FM stations, especially in Great Britain, and the album made it into the Top 20. Crisis? What Crisis? may not have given the band any single chart success, but it did help them capture a fan base that had no concern for Supertramp’s commercial sound. With Rick Davies showing off his talent on the keyboards, and Roger Hodgson’s vocals soaring on almost every track, they managed to win back their earlier progressive audience while gaining new fans at the same time.
Supertramp never released a bad album, and for many people Crisis? What Crisis? is the perfect balance of the band’s prog & commercial waves.
Highly Recommended

01 – Easy Does It (Remastered 2025)
02 – Sister Moonshine (Remastered 2025)
03 – Ain’t Nobody But Me (Remastered 2025)
04 – A Soapbox Opera (Remastered 2025)
05 – Another Man’s Woman (Remastered 2025)
06 – Lady (Remastered 2025)
07 – Poor Boy (Remastered 2025)
08 – Just A Normal Day (Remastered 2025)
09 – The Meaning (Remastered 2025)
10 – Two Of Us (Remastered 2025)

Roger Hodgson – vocals, keyboards, guitars
Rick Davies – vocals and keyboards, synths
John Helliwell – woodwinds, backing vocals
Dougie Thomson – bass
Bob Siebenberg – drums

BUY
www.amazon.co.uk/Crisis-What-VINYL-Supertramp/dp/B0F7N4ZVGC