SONGS OF THE CENTURY – An All-Star Tribute to Supertramp (2012)

The Real One, not the fake floating around

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In the realms of the recording sessions for his exceptional project Prog Collective, Billy Sherwood has been cooking as well a tribute to one of Britain’s most loved melodic prog bands: Supertramp.

“Songs of the Century – An All-Star Tribute to Supertramp” features some of the stars appeared in the Prog Collective album, plus some well known names of the Melodic Hard Rock field.

We have lead vocals by Starship’s Mickey Thomas, ex-Rainbow / Deep Purple singer Joe Lynn Turner, The Zombies’ Rod Argent, full instrumentations by Toto’s Steve Porcaro, The Doors’ Robby Krieger and several Yes members and alumni, including Chris Squire, Rick Wakeman, Tony Kaye, Geoff Downes, Billy Sherwood and Peter Banks.

Sherwood has done a very good job arranging and producing the Pink Floyd tribute albums Back Against The Wall & Return To The Dark Side Of The Moon, and shines here as well.

The 11 Supertramp songs are essentially their best known hits. Each performance considers the original arrangement, yet a touch of each performer style comes through. Sometimes there’s obvious playfulness to the composition, which merely shows contributor’s fondness for the music.

While all the interpretations display love for Supertramp’s music, the better ones were: “Take the Long Way Home”, “Logical Song” with a cool Mickey Thomas, “School”, and “Bloody Well Right” featuring the stainless Joe Lynn Turner.

Sherwood tosses in an original Chris Squire – Tony Kaye track composition (non-Supertramp) as a bonus track as well.

There’s a “Songs of the Century – An All-Star Tribute to Supertramp” Deluxe Edition (which I have), with a bonus CD featuring the instrumental takes of the tunes, but oppositely as it happens with the same move in Prog Collective, these versions here sound insipid without the vocals. In my opinion, don’t worth the extra cash.

“Songs of the Century – An All-Star Tribute to Supertramp” is a pleasing tribute to a great band, with some stunning performances.

Well done.

01 – Breakfast In America (ft. John Wetton, Larry Fast)

02 – Take The Long Way Home (ft. John Wesley)

03 – The Logical Song (ft. Mickey Thomas, Steve Morse)

04 – Give A Little Bit (ft. Richard Page, Peter Banks)

05 – It’s Raining Again (ft. Geoff Downes, Colin Moulding)

06 – Crime Of The Century (ft. Billy Sherwood, Rick Wakeman)

07 – Dreamer (ft. Annie Haslam, David Sancious)

08 – Goodbye Stranger (ft. Billy Sherwood, Gary Green, Jordan Rudess)

09 – Rudy (ft. Roye Albrighton, Steve Porcaro)

10 – Bloody Well Right (ft. Joe Lynn Turner, Dave Kerzner)

11 – School (ft. Rod Argent, Robby Kriegger)

Bonus Original track:

12 – Let The World Revolve (ft. Billy Sherwood, Chris Squire, Tony Kaye)

BUY IT !

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008A3IQA0