Supertramp - Breakfast In America

After a shaky start followed by several critically acclaimed releases, the English group Supertramp hit the commercial jackpot in 1979 with Breakfast in America. The album combined the band's FM radio, AOR-rock style with an almost carnival-like nature. Breakfast gave the band major hits with "The Logical Song," "Goodbye Stranger," and "Take the Long Way Home." The plinking piano and dramatic clarinet runs of "The Logical Song" imparted a comic, yet bittersweet tone to the release as a whole. In another example of the band's devotion to alternative ways to carry their melody lines, "Goodbye Stranger" rings with some of the purest whistling ever recorded. There's also a healthy dose of cynicism running through the 10 tracks with "Just Another Nervous Wreck." --Steve Gdula