Free as a Bird (album)
| Free as a Bird | ||||
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| Studio album by Supertramp | ||||
| Released | October 1987 | |||
| Recorded | 1986 | |||
| Genre | Progressive rock, Pop Rock | |||
| Length | 44:17 | |||
| Label | A&M | |||
| Producer | Rick Davies, Tom Lord-Alge, Supertramp | |||
| Supertramp chronology | ||||
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Free as a Bird is the tenth album by progressive rock band Supertramp, released in 1987 (see 1987 in music). Originally, the vinyl album featured three color variants – blue (pictured), green, yellow. The bird in the picture was a cut-out.
The album was a turn of direction of sorts, with most of the songs stepping back from their progressive rock sound, employing synthesized dance beats and rhythms. Chief songwriter Rick Davies later recalled "Free As A Bird was an experiment to try and be modern and build it up with computers and drum machines and have people come in one by one, which makes you lose the band spirit a little bit."[1]
The album was the first Supertramp album to feature guitarist Mark Hart. He would later become a full-fledged member of the group.
Despite the fact "I'm Beggin' You" was a club hit and Free as a Bird's title cut was a minor hit, the Free as a Bird album did not do well peaking at #101, making it the first Supertramp album since 1971's Indelibly Stamped not to crack Billboard's Top 100 on the album charts.
The band disbanded after the tour in support of the album and would not re-convene until 1997. They did so without bassist Dougie Thomson, who was unhappy that Rick Davies had decided to start performing former member Roger Hodgson's songs in concert, as there was a verbal agreement between Davies and Hodgson upon the latter's departure in 1983 that this would not happen.
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[edit] Reissues
A remastered CD version of the album was released on 30 July 2002 on A&M Records. The remastered CD comes with all of the original album artwork, lyrics and credits. It has since gone out of print.
[edit] Reception
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |    [2] |
Allmusic's brief retrospective review dismissed the album as "a colorless and tuneless collection of prog rock meandering".[2]
[edit] Track listing
All songs written by Rick Davies, except where noted.
Lead vocals by Rick Davies, except where noted.
- "It's Alright" – 5:01
- "Not the Moment" – 4:37
- "It Doesn't Matter" – 4:53
- "Where I Stand" (Davies, Hart) – 3:42
- Lead vocals: Rick Davies and Mark Hart
- "Free as a Bird" – 4:25
- "I'm Beggin' You" – 5:30
- "You Never Can Tell With Friends" – 4:19
- "Thing for You" – 4:00
- "An Awful Thing to Waste" – 7:50
[edit] Personnel
- Rick Davies – keyboards, timbales, vocals
- John Helliwell – saxophone, brass
- Bob Siebenberg – drums
- Dougie Thomson – bass
Additional personnel
- Mark Hart – guitar, keyboards, vocals, background vocals
- Linda Foot – background vocals
- Nick Lane – brass
- Lise Miller – background vocals
- Scott Page – brass
- Lon Price – brass
- Steve Reid – percussion
- Evan Rogers – background vocals
- Lee Thornburg – trumpet, brass
- Marty Walsh – guitar, background vocals
- Karyn White – background vocals
- David Woodford – brass
[edit] Production
- Producers: Rick Davies, Tom Lord-Alge, Supertramp
- Engineer: Norman Hall
- Assistant engineers: Bob Loftus, Jeff Lorenzen
- Mixing: Tom Lord-Alge
- Mastering on original LP: Bob Ludwig
- Remastering: Greg Calbi, Jay Messina
- Art direction: Richard Frankel
- Design: Richard Frankel
- Photography: Raul Vega
2002 A&M reissue:
The 2002 A&M Records reissue was mastered from the original master tapes by Greg Calbi and Jay Messina at Sterling Sound, New York, 2002. The reissue was supervised by Bill Levenson with art direction by Vartan and design by Mike Diehl, with production coordination by Beth Stempel.
[edit] Charts
Album – Billboard (North America)
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1987 | The Billboard 200 | 101 |
Singles – Billboard (North America)
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | "I'm Beggin' You" | Hot Dance Music/Club Play | 1 |
| 1987 | "I'm Beggin' You" | Hot Dance Music/Club Play | 3 |
| 1988 | "I'm Beggin' You" | Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales | 48 |
| 1988 | "I'm Beggin' You" | Adult Contemporary | 42 |
[edit] References
- ^ Bollenberg, John "Bobo" (June 26, 2000). Interview with Rick Davies, John Helliwell, Jack Douglass, and Georges Ohayon, ProgressiveWorld.net.
- ^ a b Free as a Bird (album) at Allmusic
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