School (1974)
Supertramp spent their early years exploring, developing a flair for soft-focus introspection and muscular adventure without quite finding melodic hooks for their stylistic acumen. Crime of the Century, their third album, is where things started to change for the group and School provides the bridge between their art-rock beginnings and the clever pop polish that brought them fame. One of the rare full collaborations between Rick Davies and his singer/songwriter partner Roger Hodgson, School takes flight once Davies’ jazz-inflected piano pushes Hodgson’s sarcastic swipes at educational bureaucracy toward an open-ended space, the sweeping solos suggesting worlds far away from dreary institutions.
