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I'm mostly aware of Supertramp from the several singles that are often played on the radio. I think I owned (maybe still do) at least Crime of the Century, and maybe Breakfast In America. But I don't really know much about the band. I'm aware they are generally classed as prog, though the singles at least don't really suggest that. They are more in line with Billy Joel, 10cc, Elton John, etc, as mainstream pop-rock with an eye firmly on commercial appeal, than a creative or artistic band wishing to explore or progress the limits of blues rock. Anyway, I'm curious, so I'm having a quick look.

Wikipedia:

Supertramp were a British rock band formed in London in 1970. Marked by the individual songwriting of founders Roger Hodgson (vocals, keyboards and guitars) and Rick Davies (vocals and keyboards), the group were distinguished for blending progressive rock and pop styles. The classic lineup, which lasted ten years from 1973 to 1983, consisted of Davies, Hodgson, Dougie Thomson (bass), Bob Siebenberg (drums) and John Helliwell (saxophone), after which the group's lineup changed numerous times, with Davies being the only constant member throughout its history.
Supertramp found no success with their first two albums, but after a lineup change into what became their classic lineup, their third album, Crime of the Century (1974), was their breakthrough. Initially a more experimental prog-rock group, they began moving towards a more pop-oriented sound with the album. The band reached their commercial peak with 1979's Breakfast in America, which yielded the international top 10 singles "The Logical Song", "Breakfast in America", "Goodbye Stranger" and "Take the Long Way Home". Their other top 40 hits included "Dreamer" (1974), "Give a Little Bit" (1977) and "It's Raining Again" (1982).
In 1982 Supertramp released ...Famous Last Words..., the last album to feature Hodgson, who left in 1983 to pursue a solo career. The band continued with Davies as the sole leader and released two more albums until 1988. After this, they disbanded for a time and periodically reformed in various configurations (always with Davies, and without Hodgson), recording and touring two further albums, Some Things Never Change (1997) and Slow Motion (2002). Davies died in 2025.
Supertramp attained significant popularity in North America, Europe, South Africa, and Australia. Their highest sales levels were in Canada, where they had two diamond-certified (ten-times platinum) albums (Crime of the Century and Breakfast in America), and their only number one singles anywhere ("The Logical Song" and "Dreamer") aside from "It's Raining Again" which reached number one in France. As of 2007, Supertramp album sales exceeded 60 million.

AllMusic:

One of the biggest prog rock bands of the '70s, thanks in large part to their pop smash Breakfast in America. 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.

Recordings

Supertramp (1970)

A gentle. laid back, bucolic album. Quite pastoral and lyrical. Somewhat like Barclay James Harvest, but not as melodic or soaring. The album was not critically or commercially successful. But it's OK. Very much of its time.

All music written by Rick Davies, and Roger Hodgson; lyrics by Richard Palmer.

All lead vocals by Roger Hodgson, except where noted.

Side one
No.	Title	Lead vocals	Length
1.	"Surely"		0:31
2.	"It's a Long Road"		5:33
3.	"Aubade / And I Am Not Like Other Birds of Prey"		5:17
4.	"Words Unspoken"		3:59
5.	"Maybe I'm a Beggar"	Palmer and Hodgson	6:44
6.	"Home Again"		1:15

Side two
No.	Title	Lead vocals	Length
7.	"Nothing to Show"	Hodgson and Davies	4:53
8.	"Shadow Song"	Davies^[11]	4:23
9.	"Try Again"	Hodgson and Palmer^[12]	12:02
10.	"Surely"		3:08

Roger Hodgson – lead and backing vocals, bass guitar

Richard Davies – keyboards, backing and lead vocals
Richard Palmer – guitars, backing and lead vocals
Robert Millar – drums

Wikipedia

AllMusic:

Score: 3

Indelibly Stamped (1971)

More lively and energetic than the debut, though less attractive and less interesting. Flute and sax player has joined the band, and there are new bass and drums. Rick Davies joins Hodgson as lead vocalist. Some tracks, such as the bluesy "Forever" have a Supertramp sound. Other than the changes from the first album, the most notable thing about this album is probably the cover. Tits on album covers were not uncommon in the early Seventies, and this cover appears to have passed largely unnoticed. But these days it is generally shown with the nipples covered in the album title, which is not how it was originally issued. The album sort of sits between Traffic and 10CC with a touch of Savoy Brown.

All songs written by Rick Davies and Roger Hodgson, except where noted.

All lead vocals by Rick Davies, except where noted.

Side one
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocals	Length
1.	"Your Poppa Don't Mind"			2:58
2.	"Travelled"		Hodgson	4:15
3.	"Rosie Had Everything Planned"	Hodgson, Frank Farrell	Hodgson	2:58
4.	"Remember"			4:00
5.	"Forever"			5:05

Side two
No.	Title	Lead vocals	Length
6.	"Potter"	Dave Winthrop	2:23
7.	"Coming Home to See You"		4:39
8.	"Times Have Changed"		3:42
9.	"Friend in Need"		2:08
10.	"Aries"	Hodgson	7:25

Rick Davies – lead vocals, keyboards
Roger Hodgson – guitars, backing and lead vocals
Dave Winthrop – flute, saxophones, lead vocals (track 6)
Frank Farrell – bass guitar, backing vocals
Kevin Currie – drums

Wikipedia

AllMusic:

Score: 3

Crime of the Century (1974)

The breakthrough album. After two indifferent albums and a tour which were critically and commercially unsuccessful, and another restructuring of the band it is surprising that their record company, A&M Records, funded a third. It appears it was thanks to A&M's talent scout Dave Margereson that the label continued to fund them. Notably he then became their manager.

The album contains the two key songs "Dreamer" and "Bloody Well Right". The rest of the album is more of the same stuff they'd done on the previous two albums. Their entire success and future rests on those two tracks. Without them this album would also have flopped.

"Dreamer" is an extraordinary song. Based on a demo made by Hodgson in his home in 1969 when he was 19, using cardboard boxes and lamps to create sounds. Because the original demo had a special sound, the band worked to copy it exactly - putting the demo onto the multitrack machine so they would play along to it.

On the whole, not a good album, but it contains some great tracks, particularly "Dreamer".

All tracks are written by Rick Davies and Roger Hodgson.

Side one
No.	Title	Lead vocals	Length
1.	"School"	Hodgson/Davies	5:35
2.	"Bloody Well Right"	Davies	4:32
3.	"Hide in Your Shell"	Hodgson	6:49
4.	"Asylum"	Davies/Hodgson	6:45

Side two
No.	Title	Lead vocals	Length
5.	"Dreamer"	Hodgson/Davies	3:31
6.	"Rudy"	Davies/Hodgson	7:17
7.	"If Everyone Was Listening"	Hodgson	4:04
8.	"Crime of the Century"	Davies	5:36

Rick Davies – vocals, keyboards, harmonica
Roger Hodgson – vocals, guitar, pianos
John Anthony Helliwell – saxophones, clarinet, backing vocals
Dougie Thomson – bass guitar
Bob Siebenberg (credited as Bob C. Benberg) – drums, percussion

Wikipedia

AllMusic:

Score: 4.5

Crisis? What Crisis? (1975)

Pleasant enough, but nothing really stands out. There's a bit of 10cc and a bit of Queen and a bit of Steely Dan about the music on the album. Intelligent and well made pop-rock. This is the same band and producer as made Crime - the difference appears to be that it was a little rushed, and they didn't really have songs ready - but the record company were pushing them to make another album to cash in on Crime. And there's an oddity that the band cancelled the end of a US tour because Hodgson damaged his hand, yet they then start recording this album.

All songs written by Rick Davies and Roger Hodgson.

Side one
No.	Title	Lead vocals	Length
1.	"Easy Does It"	Hodgson	2:19
2.	"Sister Moonshine"	Hodgson	5:15
3.	"Ain't Nobody but Me"	Davies	5:14
4.	"A Soapbox Opera"	Hodgson	4:54
5.	"Another Man's Woman"	Davies	6:15

Side two
No.	Title	Lead vocals	Length
6.	"Lady"	Hodgson	5:26
7.	"Poor Boy"	Davies	5:07
8.	"Just a Normal Day"	Davies/Hodgson	4:02
9.	"The Meaning"	Hodgson	5:23
10.	"Two of Us"	Hodgson	3:26

Rick Davies – lead and backing vocals, keyboards
Roger Hodgson – lead and backing vocals, guitar
John Anthony Helliwell – saxophones, clarinet
Dougie Thomson – bass guitar
Bob Siebenberg (credited as Bob C. Benberg) – drums

Wikipedia

AllMusic:

Score: 3.5

Even in the Quietest Moments... (1977)

"Give A Little Bit" was a hit, sounding typically Supertramp. There's a Billy Joel feel to much of this album. And a touch of Elton John here and there. They are a very mainstream band. Occasionally there are moments which sound like prog. And there's a pastoral feel, which was reasonably common in some of the minor and/or borderline prog bands like Barclay James Harvest. Some of the minor jazz colouring of Steely Dan. And some of the mainstream pop-rock of Queen and 10cc. Much of the album feels more like filler than anything seriously committed or creative. "Fools Overture" is typical of the doodling the band do now and again which is the closest they actually get to being prog. This could be a out-take from a Yes album. The best track, other than the lead hit single, is the title track. As with "Fools Overture", there is a touch of the pastoral and of Yes. But it works. It's a nice track.

All songs credited to Rick Davies and Roger Hodgson.

Side one
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Give a Little Bit"	Roger Hodgson	4:08
2.	"Lover Boy"	Davies, Hodgson	6:49
3.	"Even in the Quietest Moments"	Davies, Hodgson	6:26
4.	"Downstream"	Davies, Hodgson	4:00
Total length:			21:23

Side two
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
5.	"Babaji"	Davies, Hodgson	4:51
6.	"From Now On"	Davies, Hodgson	6:21
7.	"Fool's Overture"	Davies, Hodgson	10:52
Total length:			22:04

Roger Hodgson – vocals, guitars
Rick Davies – vocals, keyboards
Dougie Thomson – bass
John Helliwell – saxophones, clarinets backing vocals
Bob Siebenberg (credited as Bob C. Benberg) – drums

Wikipedia

AllMusic:

Score: 3.5

Breakfast in America (1979)

Their best album. There's more killer than filler. And it hangs together well as a unit.

All songs credited to Rick Davies and Roger Hodgson. Listed below are the respective writers.

Side one
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocals	Length
1.	"Gone Hollywood"	Davies	Davies and Hodgson	5:19
2.	"The Logical Song"	Hodgson	Hodgson	4:07
3.	"Goodbye Stranger"	Davies	Davies	5:46
4.	"Breakfast in America"	Hodgson	Hodgson	2:37
5.	"Oh Darling"	Davies	Davies	3:43

Side two
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocals	Length
6.	"Take the Long Way Home"	Hodgson	Hodgson	5:08
7.	"Lord Is It Mine"	Hodgson	Hodgson	4:08
8.	"Just Another Nervous Wreck"	Davies	Davies	4:22
9.	"Casual Conversations"	Davies	Davies	2:56
10.	"Child of Vision"	Hodgson	Hodgson and Davies	7:24

Rick Davies – vocals and keyboards
Roger Hodgson – vocals, keyboards and guitars
John Helliwell – woodwinds, backing vocals
Dougie Thomson – bass
Bob Siebenberg (credited as Bob C. Benberg) – drums

Wikipedia

AllMusic:

Score: 6

Paris (1980)

Live album. Decent performances of the songs, and a good selection. Workmanlike and professional. Not very exciting, but useful as an overview of their output. Though could be shorter.

All tracks are written by Rick Davies and Roger Hodgson.

Side one
No.	Title	Length
1.	"School"	5:41
2.	"Ain't Nobody But Me"	5:24
3.	"The Logical Song"	3:56
4.	"Bloody Well Right"	3:42

Side two
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Breakfast in America"	2:57
2.	"You Started Laughing"	4:02
3.	"Hide in Your Shell"	6:54
4.	"From Now On"	7:06

Side three
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Dreamer"	3:44
2.	"Rudy"	7:08
3.	"A Soapbox Opera"	4:51
4.	"Asylum"	6:51

Side four
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Take the Long Way Home"	4:57
2.	"Fool's Overture"	10:57
3.	"Two of Us"	1:25
4.	"Crime of the Century"	6:32

Wikipedia

AllMusic:
Score: 4

...Famous Last Words... (1982)

The last album that Hodgson worked on. The two songwriters had different ideas on how they wanted to proceed, with Hodgson happy to continue with the commercial pop songs (which he was particularly good at), and Davies wanting to explore his prog rock tendencies (which were always a bit limp). Apparently they compromised, though it sounds like a standard Supertramp album to me. Though contractually all songs were credited to Hodgson and Davies, on this album they also indicated who wrote which song. As usual the best songs are by Hodgson. The album hit was the minor Supertramp song "Its Raining Again" (by Hodgson).

All songs credited to Rick Davies and Roger Hodgson.

Side one

No.	Title	Writer / Vocalist	Length
1.	"Crazy"	Roger Hodgson	4:44
2.	"Put On Your Old Brown Shoes"	Rick Davies	4:22
3.	"It's Raining Again"	Hodgson	4:24
4.	"Bonnie"	Davies	5:37
5.	"Know Who You Are"	Hodgson	5:00

Side two

No.	Title	Writer / Vocalist	Length
6.	"My Kind of Lady"	Davies	5:15
7.	"C'est le bon"	Hodgson	5:32
8.	"Waiting So Long"	Davies	6:35
9.	"Don't Leave Me Now"	Hodgson	6:24

Rick Davies – lead and backing vocals, keyboards
Roger Hodgson – lead and backing vocals, electric guitar
John Helliwell – saxophones, clarinet, synthesizers
Dougie Thomson – bass
Bob Siebenberg – drums

Wikipedia

AllMusic:

Score: 3

In The Eye Of The Storm (1984)
Rodger Hodgson

As Hodgson was the most successful of the two Supertramp writers, and had the most distinctive voice, I thought this would be a reasonable album. At least more reasonable than the albums released by the Davies version of Supertramp. But I was wrong. This is more boring.

All songs written and arranged by Roger Hodgson.

"Had a Dream (Sleeping with the Enemy)" (8:27)
"In Jeopardy" (5:59)
"Lovers in the Wind" (4:11)
"Hooked on a Problem" (5:10)
"Give Me Love, Give Me Life" (7:33)
"I'm Not Afraid" (7:03)
"Only Because of You" (8:40)

Wikipedia

AllMusic:
Score:

Brother Where You Bound (1985)

Hodgson has left the band, so most of the interest has gone. The resulting sound is pleasant pap. The big piece is the 16 minute title track, which is fairly boring (though just about "saved" by Gilmour's rather sub par guitar solos), and is not really prog ("crossover" some call it). Wish it was prog. Play this, then go listen to "Close To The Edge" to see what prog was really capable of.

All songs written by Rick Davies.

Side one
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Cannonball"	7:38
2.	"Still in Love"	4:36
3.	"No Inbetween"	4:36
4.	"Better Days"	6:15

Side two
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Brother Where You Bound"	16:30
2.	"Ever Open Door"	3:06

Rick Davies – keyboards, lead and backing vocals
John Helliwell – saxophones, glockenspiel on track 1
Dougie Thomson – bass
Bob Siebenberg – drums

David Gilmour – guitar solos on "Brother Where You Bound"
Scott Gorham – rhythm guitar on "Brother Where You Bound"

Wikipedia

AllMusic:

Score: 2.5

The Autobiography of Supertramp (1986)

Compilation

Reissued in 1990 as The Very Best of Supertramp with "School" added as the lead track.

"Goodbye Stranger" (Single edit, from Breakfast in America, 1979) – 4:25
"The Logical Song" (Single edit, from Breakfast in America) – 3:45
"Bloody Well Right" (Single edit, from Crime of the Century, 1974) – 4:16
"Breakfast in America" (from Breakfast in America) – 2:37
"Take the Long Way Home" (Single edit, from Breakfast in America) – 4:03
"Crime of the Century" (Early fade-out, from Crime of the Century)– 5:20
"Dreamer" (from Crime of the Century) – 3:19
"From Now On" (from Even in the Quietest Moments..., 1977) – 6:10
"Give a Little Bit" (from Even in the Quietest Moments...) – 4:03
"It's Raining Again" (from ...Famous Last Words..., 1982) – 4:25
"Cannonball" (Single edit, from Brother Where You Bound, 1985) (Davies) – 4:47

Wikipedia

AllMusic:
Score:

Free as a Bird (1987)

All songs written by Rick Davies except where noted.

Side one
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"It's Alright"		5:01
2.	"Not the Moment"		4:37
3.	"It Doesn't Matter"		4:53
4.	"Where I Stand*"	Davies, Mark Hart	3:42
5.	"Free as a Bird"		4:25

Side two
No.	Title	Length
6.	"I'm Beggin' You"	5:30
7.	"You Never Can Tell with Friends"	4:19
8.	"Thing for You"	4:00
9.	"An Awful Thing to Waste"	7:50

Rick Davies – keyboards, vocals
John Helliwell – saxophone, brass
Dougie Thomson – bass
Bob Siebenberg – drums

Wikipedia

AllMusic:

Score:

Some Things Never Change (1997)

All songs written and sung by Rick Davies except where noted.

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocals	Length
1.	"It's a Hard World"			9:46
2.	"You Win, I Lose"			4:31
3.	"Get Your Act Together"			4:49
4.	"Live to Love You"			5:18
5.	"Some Things Never Change"			6:26
6.	"Listen to Me Please"		Davies and Hart	4:46
7.	"Sooner or Later"	Davies and Mark Hart	Mark Hart	6:50
8.	"Help Me Down That Road"			4:36
9.	"And the Light"			4:40
10.	"Give Me a Chance"	Davies and Hart	Hart	4:24
11.	"C'est What?"			8:17
12.	"Where There's a Will"			5:36