Crisis? What Crisis? is the fourth studio album by the British rock band Supertramp, released in November 1975 by A&M Records. It was recorded in both London and Los Angeles, marking the group's first use of American recording studios.
A remastered CD edition was issued on 11 June 2002, featuring the original artwork and credits as well as printed lyrics, which were absent from the initial release.
Record Mirror listed Crisis? What Crisis? among the best albums of 1975 in its year-end survey.[3]
Background and recording
Following the commercial breakthrough of Crime of the Century (1974), Supertramp's record label pressed the band to deliver a follow-up quickly. While touring North America in early 1975, guitarist and vocalist Roger Hodgson injured his hand, forcing the cancellation of remaining dates. The downtime was used to begin work on the next album.[4]
Despite the additional time, the band entered the studio with little new material, relying heavily on leftover compositions from Crime of the Century and earlier. The shortage of songs forced a temporary halt in production while Hodgson and keyboardist Rick Davies wrote additional tracks, including "Ain't Nobody But Me".[4] Four songs—"Sister Moonshine", "Another Man's Woman", "Lady", and "Just a Normal Day"—had already been performed live and were later issued on the 2001 concert release Is Everybody Listening?.
Contemporary accounts suggest mixed feelings among the band. Hodgson described the album as hastily assembled and lacking the conceptual unity of Crime of the Century.[5] Bassist Dougie Thomson echoed this view, calling it disjointed. In contrast, Hodgson later remarked in the mid-1980s that it was his personal favourite of the group's albums.[6]
Music writers have noted elements of continuity with Supertramp's later work. For example, Ultimate Classic Rock observed that the melody of "Sister Moonshine" anticipates the group’s later hit "Give a Little Bit".[7]
Artwork
The album's title and cover concept were devised by Davies. The sleeve depicts a man relaxing in a deckchair under an umbrella amid an industrial wasteland, photographed by Paul Wakefield. The background was shot in the Welsh mining valleys and later composited with the studio model.[8] The imagery was partly inspired by Yves Robert's 1967 film Alexandre le bienheureux.[9] The phrase "Crisis? What crisis?" also appeared in Fred Zinnemann's 1973 film The Day of the Jackal and was later used by the British press during the Winter of Discontent.[10]
Contemporary reviews were mixed. Rolling Stone offered a largely negative assessment, criticising the lyrics in particular.[15] Retrospective appraisals have been more favourable. AllMusic highlighted Rick Davies' keyboard playing, Hodgson's vocals, and John Helliwell's saxophone contributions, describing the record as warm and subtly engaging.[11]
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.
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