Supertramp, whose Crime of the Century was a surprise hit of 1975, are back with a neatly timed followup, Crisis? What Crisis? (with suitably heady cover — a man sunbathing amid rubbish while rain falls and smokestacks blow pollution into already ominously gray skies). The biggest crisis is trying to get through both sides of this record.

Supertramp is led by guitarist Roger Hodgson and keyboard player Richard Davies who are responsible (as in guilty) for all the group's words and music. Most of their lyrics are vignettes depicting the loss of communication among people and the absence of moral values in today's world, leading to such stimulating conclusions as this complex couplet from "Just a Normal Day": "Eat a lot, sleep a lot/Passing the time of day/Maybe I'll find my way." The band carries off the amazing trick of stretching three and four minute songs into five and six minute affairs with unison repetition of themes instead of solos. There's even one song ("Two of Us") that seems profoundly influenced by post-Apple George Harrison.

“Is It True”

As the British Invasion reached its peak in 1964, Brenda Lee went from Nashville to London to record one of her hardest-rocking hits, her perky vocal backed by a stuttering, squalling guitar. That guitar was played by session musician Jimmy Page, yet to skyrocket to fame with first the Yardbirds and then Led Zeppelin. "She said to me, 'I've come here to make a record with the British sound,'" remembered producer Mickie Most. "She felt she wouldn't get the same sound in Nashville because they're only just catching up on the British beat group sound of about six months ago."