Much has been made of the polarized songwriters at the center of Supertramp‘s best music. Without Rick Davies and Roger Hodgson’s contrasting styles and their shared commitment to the band’s albums, Supertramp’s history could have turned out quite different.
From their formation in 1970 through 1972, a Dutch millionaire funded the London band during their unsteady, prog-leaning years. Once unsaddled and more focused, a reliable lineup was in place, and the records began to envelop the sounds of pop and art-rock alongside the still-present progressive music.
As outlined in the list below of Supertramp Albums Ranked, once the group — along with Davies and Hodgson, saxophonist John Helliwell, bassist Dougie Thomson and drummer Bob Siebenberg — found its stride with 1974’s Crime of the Century, it was a determined and inevitable climb to Breakfast in America, the multiplatinum No. 1 that made Supertramp one of the world’s biggest bands at the end of the decade.
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Davies and Hodgson’s divide eventually tore them apart, with the latter going solo in 1983, leaving Davies to anchor the band for four more LPs before their breakup in 2002. Reunion tours in 2010-12 were done without Hodgson, who played shows focusing on his Supertramp material around the same time.
Another Supertramp tour was scheduled for 2015 but was canceled due to Davies’ health issues. (He died in 2025.) Their 11 albums tell the story, from ambitious prog hopefuls to America-conquering superstars.
Supertramp Albums Ranked
British prog rockers, formed in 1970, hit it big with an LP about America at the end of the decade. But there’s more to their story.
Gallery Credit: Michael Gallucci
