Slow Motion - Supertramp

Supertramp struggled after the departure of Roger Hodgson to be seen as a viable, creative band and prove that it could exist without Hodgson. Although the albums released after Hodgson's departure were interesting, they never managed to capture the glory days of that classic lineup, nor did they reach commercial popularity. That is not to say the releases were bad -- far from it -- but they tended to lack the variety and strong song structures that Hodgson brought to the band. For this studio album, Supertramp's lineup was almost identical to that of 1997's Some Things Never Change, with the exception of the addition of Jesse Siebenberg and the departure of Tom Walsh. The change in lineup meant little, as the music was very similar to the band's last studio release (there was a double live CD released between the studio CDs). Here, Rick Davies took control of production, and it proves the album's downfall. The songs were very good, but the production was muddy and cluttered. The mix did not do justice to the music. The songs themselves had shades of classic Supertramp songs, but there were hints of world music and prog rock, which kept things interesting. The songs were basic pop/rock songs with ever-familiar alienation themes. The two longer tracks ("Tenth Avenue Breakdown" and "Dead Man's Blues") crossed over into the realm of prog rock and harked back to the Crime of the Century album, but each was about three minutes too long, and could have used some editing. ~ Aaron Badgley, All Music Guide