Breakfast in America

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For the single, see Breakfast in America (song).
Breakfast in America
File:Supertramp - Breakfast in America.jpg
Studio album by Supertramp
Released 29 March 1979
Recorded May–December 1978; The Village Recorder (Studio B) in Los Angeles
Genre Art rock,[1] progressive rock, soft rock,[2] pop[3]
Length 46:12
Label A&M
Producer Peter Henderson, Supertramp
Supertramp chronology
Even in the Quietest Moments...
(1977)Even in the Quietest Moments...1977		 Breakfast in America
(1979)		 Paris
(1980)Paris1980

Breakfast in America is the sixth album by the English progressive rock band Supertramp, released on 29 March 1979 by A&M Records.

Overview

Breakfast in America was recorded in 1978 at The Village Recorder in Los Angeles. It featured four U.S. Billboard hit singles: "The Logical Song" (No. 6), "Goodbye Stranger" (No. 15), "Take the Long Way Home" (No. 10), and "Breakfast in America" (No. 62). In the UK, "The Logical Song" and the title track were both top 10 hits, the only two the group had in their native country.[4] Breakfast in America won two Grammy Awards in 1980, and holds an RIAA certification of quadruple platinum.

In France, the album is the biggest-selling English-language album of all time, and the third biggest seller overall.[5]

Breakfast In America became Supertramp's biggest-selling album with more than 6 million copies sold in the US alone and was No. 1 on Billboard's Pop Albums Chart for six weeks in the spring and summer of 1979. The album also hit No. 1 in Norway, Austria, Canada and Australia. It was also their biggest album in the UK, reaching No. 3 (for five consecutive weeks) and remaining on the charts for exactly a year.[6]

Background and songwriting

As with Even in the Quietest Moments..., Rick Davies and Roger Hodgson wrote most of their songs separately but conceived the theme for the album jointly. Their original concept was for an album of songs about the relationship and conflicting ideals between Davies and Hodgson themselves, to be titled Hello Stranger. Hodgson explained: "We realized that a few of the songs really lent themselves to two people talking to each other and at each other. I could be putting down his way of thinking and he could be challenging my way of seeing life [...] Our ways of life are so different, but I love him. That contrast is what makes the world go 'round and what makes Supertramp go 'round. His beliefs are a challenge to mine and my beliefs are a challenge to his."[7]

This idea was eventually scrapped in favour of an album of "fun" songs, and though Davies initially wanted to keep the title Hello Stranger, he was convinced by Hodgson to change it to Breakfast in America. Hodgson commented later: "We chose the title because it was a fun title. It suited the fun feeling of the album."[7] Due to the title and the explicit satirising of American culture in the cover and three of the songs ("Gone Hollywood", "Breakfast in America", and "Child of Vision"), many listeners interpreted the album as a satire of the US. Supertramp's members have all insisted that the repeated references to US culture are purely coincidental and that no such thematic satire was intended.[7] Hodgson has described the misconception as a parallel to how Crime of the Century is often misinterpreted as being a concept album.[7]

"Gone Hollywood" is the opening track of Breakfast in America. Written by Rick Davies, the song tells about a person who moves to Los Angeles in hopes of becoming a movie star, but finds it far more difficult than he imagined—struggling and frustrated, until he ultimately gets his break and becomes "the talk of the Boulevard." The lyrics were originally more bleak, but under pressure from the other band members, Davies rewrote them to be more optimistic and commercial.[8]

"Child of Vision" is the closing track. Much like "The Logical Song", it uses a Wurlitzer electric piano as the main instrument. After the lyrical part, the song goes into a long grand piano solo alongside the original Wurlitzer electric piano melody. The track fades out with a short saxophone solo by John Helliwell. Roger Hodgson has said that the song was written to be an equivalent to "Gone Hollywood", looking at how Americans live, though he confessed that he had only a limited familiarity with US culture at the time of writing.[9] He also said there is a slight possibility that he subconsciously had Rick Davies in mind while writing the lyrics.[9]

Since all of Supertramp's songs are contractually credited to both Davies and Hodgson, it is difficult to determine who wrote what. Roger Hodgson's management has described "The Logical Song", "Breakfast in America", "Take the Long Way Home", "Lord Is It Mine" and "Child of Vision" as "Roger's songs";[10] however, this apparently does not mean he necessarily wrote them by himself, as Hodgson has credited Davies with writing the vocal harmony on "The Logical Song".[8] Davies has referred to "The five songs that I did on Breakfast",[7] but does not specify which ones.

Recording

The album went through two rounds of demos. The first were home demos, each of which consisted of the chief songwriter (either Rick Davies or Roger Hodgson) playing either acoustic piano or Wurlitzer electric piano and singing.[8] The second were eight-track demos recorded at Southcombe Studios in Burbank, California during late April and early May 1978. It was in recording these demos that the band worked out the backing track arrangements for all the songs (with the exception of "Take the Long Way Home") and determined the order in which they would appear on the album.[8]

In order to avoid spending a lot of time on mixing, the band and their production team devoted a week to experimenting with different sound setups until they found the perfect arrangement. The effort proved to be wasted, as the engineering team would end up spending more than two extremely stressful months searching for the right mix, and were only finished after that length of time because the deadline had arrived, not because they felt at all satisfied with the results.[8]

Tensions between Hodgson and Davies were reportedly almost non-existent on this album. Engineer Peter Henderson recalled: "They got along fantastically well and everyone was really happy. There was a very, very good vibe and I think everyone was really buoyed up by the recordings and A&M's response to them."[8] Hodgson contested this, saying that he and Davies had increasingly different lifestyles, and that he felt that Davies disliked many of his songs and only kept quiet about his displeasure because he sensed that he would be voted down.[9] Melody Maker journalist Harry Doherty offered a third take on the duo's interactions during the album sessions: "In three days with the band, I don't think I saw Davies and Hodgson converse once, other than to exchange courteous greetings."[7]

Breakfast In America features a number of songs played on the Wurlitzer electric piano, displaying its most distinctive abilities. In particular, the different sounds made by the Wurlitzer depending on how hard it is played – songs such as "Child of Vision" or "The Logical Song" are built upon this sound. The peculiar sound of the Wurlitzer had already been put forth in older songs such as "Dreamer" or "Lady" but never so extensively into an entire album. Six of the ten tracks have the Wurlitzer on them.

Artwork and packaging

The album's front cover resembles an overlook of New York City through an aeroplane window. It was designed by Mike Doud and depicted Kate Murtagh, dressed as a waitress named "Libby" from a diner, as a Statue of Liberty figure holding up a glass of orange juice on a small plate in one hand (in place of the torch on the Statue), and a foldable restaurant menu in the other hand, on which "Breakfast In America" is written. The background featured a city made from a cornflake box, ashtray, cutlery (for the wharfs), eggboxes, vinegar, ketchup and mustard bottles, all spraypainted white. The twin World Trade Center towers appear as two stacks of boxes and the plate of breakfast represents Battery Park, the departure point for the Staten Island Ferry. The back cover photo, depicting the band members having breakfast while reading their respective hometown newspapers, was taken at a diner called Bert's Mad House.

Breakfast In America won the 1980 Grammy Award for Best Recording Package, beating out albums by Talking Heads and Led Zeppelin, among others.

The album's cover became the basis for a 9/11 conspiracy theory.[11]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic 4.5/5 stars[12]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music 4/5 stars[13]
Mojo 4/5 stars[14]
Record Collector 3/5 stars[2]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide 3/5 stars[15]
Smash Hits 8/10[16]
Uncut 3/5 stars[17]
The Village Voice C+[18]

In a positive review for Rolling Stone magazine, music critic Stephen Holden viewed Breakfast in America as an improvement over the "swatches of meandering, Genesis-like esoterica" on Supertramp's previous albums and called it "a textbook-perfect album of post-Beatles, keyboard-centered English art rock that strikes the shrewdest possible balance between quasi-symphonic classicism and rock & roll ... the songs here are extraordinarily melodic and concisely structured, reflecting these musicians' saturation in American pop since their move to Los Angeles in 1977."[1] In a mixed review, Robert Christgau of The Village Voice said that the "hooky album" evokes "random grunts of pleasure", but lacks emotional substance because of "glib" lyrics and no "vocal personality (as opposed to accurate singing) and rhythmic thrust (as opposed to a beat)".[18]

Breakfast in America topped the US Billboard 200 for six weeks and became Supertramp's biggest selling album, while producing four hit singles—"The Logical Song", "Goodbye Stranger", "Take the Long Way Home", and the title track.[13] Colin Larkin, writing in the Encyclopedia of Popular Music (2006), said that the "faultless" album "elevated" Supertramp to "rock's first division".[13] "The Logical Song" won the 1979 Ivor Novello Award for "Best Song Musically and Lyrically".[19] Breakfast in America would become Supertramp's most popular album. By the 1990s, it had sold in excess of 18 million copies worldwide.[12]

In a retrospective review for Allmusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine praised the album's "tightly written, catchy, well-constructed pop songs" and described it as the band's "high-water mark".[12] John Doran of BBC Music said that the songwriting has an "unbeatable quality" and asserted that "any of the ten tracks could have been hit singles".[20] Sputnikmusic's Tyler Fisher said that its singles are mostly the highlights because of their "catchy hooks", and found the ballads "absolutely terrible".[3] Rob Sheffield, writing in The Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004), also felt that its "nice moments" were the highlights, including "the jolly 'Take the Long Way Home,' the adjectively crazed 'Logical Song,' [and] the bitchy fuck-and-run ditty 'Goodbye Stranger.'"[15] William Pinfold of Record Collector considered the album "a classic example of flawlessly-played and -produced late 70s transatlantic soft rock" and "a perfect demonstration of why punk had to happen".[2] By 2010, the album had sold well over 20 million copies.[20]

Accolades

In the 1987 edition of the The World Critics List, music critic Joel Whitburn ranked Breakfast in America the fourth greatest album of all time.[21] In the 1994 edition of The Guinness All Time Top 1000 Albums, Breakfast in America was voted No. 207 in the all-time greatest rock and pop albums,[22] and it was voted the 69th greatest British rock album of all time in a 2006 Classic Rock industry poll.[23] Triple M listeners voted the album No. 43 in the "100 Greatest Albums of All Time".[24] Recognising the band's disfavour among music critics during their career,[25] Q magazine ranked Breakfast in America second on its "Records it's OK to Love" list in 2006.[26]

Reissues

The album was first re-released as a remaster on Gold CD from MFSL.

2002 A&M reissue

On 11 June 2002 A&M Records reissued Breakfast in America with full original album art plus the label art from side one recreated on the CD. It 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. It makes limited use of dynamic range compression and peak limiting, rejecting the loudness war trends of modern CD releases.

2010 Deluxe Edition

A deluxe edition was released on 4 October 2010 including a second disc with songs recorded live in 1979, in particular songs not appearing on the live album Paris.

2013 Blu-ray High Definition Disc

A&M offers a High Definition Blu-ray Disc of the Album. It contains the Album in 3 different sound formats: In 2-Channel PCM 24bit/96 kHz, 2 Channel DTS-Master Audio 24bit/96 kHz and 2-Channel Dolby True-HD 24bit/96 kHz. This High Definition Blu-ray Disc is only playable with Blu-ray Disc players.

Chart positions
Chart (2010) Peak
position
Belgian Heatseekers (Ultratop Flanders)[27] 7
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[28] 86
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[29] 62
2010 Super Deluxe Edition

A super deluxe edition, which was released on 6 December 2010, includes the 2 disc Deluxe Edition CD, Vinyl LP, Poster, DVD, hardcover book, and other memorabilia.

Track listing

Standard edition

All songs written and composed by Rick Davies and Roger Hodgson. 

Side one
No. Title Lead vocals Length
1. "Gone Hollywood"   Davies and Hodgson 5:20
2. "The Logical Song"   Hodgson 4:11
3. "Goodbye Stranger"   Davies 5:50
4. "Breakfast in America"   Hodgson 2:38
5. "Oh Darling"   Davies 3:49
Side two
No. Title Lead vocals Length
6. "Take the Long Way Home"   Hodgson 5:08
7. "Lord Is It Mine"   Hodgson 4:09
8. "Just Another Nervous Wreck"   Davies 4:26
9. "Casual Conversations"   Davies 2:58
10. "Child of Vision"   Hodgson, Davies and Helliwell 7:25

Deluxe edition

All songs written and composed by Rick Davies and Roger Hodgson. 

Disc 2
No. Title Lead vocals Length
1. "The Logical Song (Live At Pavillon de Paris)"   Hodgson 4:06
2. "Goodbye Stranger (Live At Pavillon de Paris)"   Davies 6:11
3. "Breakfast In America (Live At Wembley)"   Hodgson 3:05
4. "Oh Darling (Live In Miami)"   Davies 4:21
5. "Take The Long Way Home (Live At Wembley)"   Hodgson 4:48
6. "Another Man's Woman (Live At Pavillon de Paris)"   Davies 7:32
7. "Even in the Quietest Moments (Live At Pavillon de Paris)"   Hodgson 5:36
8. "Rudy (Live At Wembley)"   Davies and Hodgson 7:29
9. "Downstream (Live At Pavillon de Paris)"   Davies 3:28
10. "Give A Little Bit (Live At Pavillon de Paris)"   Hodgson 4:03
11. "From Now On (Live At Wembley)"   Davies 6:53
12. "Child Of Vision (Live At Pavillon de Paris)"   Hodgson, Davies and Helliwell 7:32

Personnel

Musicians

Supertramp

Session musicians

Production

  • Producers: Peter Henderson, Supertramp
  • Rehearsal: Southcombe Studios, Burbank, CA
  • Recording: The Village Recorder/Studio B, Los Angeles, CA
  • Mixing: Crystal Sound/Studio B, Los Angeles, CA
  • Engineer: Peter Henderson of Air London
  • Assistant engineers: Lenise Bent, Jeff Harris
  • Re-Mastering (2002): Greg Calbi, Jay Messina
  • Oberheim Programming: Gary Mielke
  • Concert sound engineer: Russel Pope
  • Art direction: Mike Doud, Mick Haggerty
  • Design: Mick Haggerty
  • Cover design: Mick Haggerty
  • Cover art concept: Mike Doud
  • Artwork: Mike Doud
  • Photography: Mark Hanauer
  • Cover photo: Aaron Rapoport

Charts

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Australia (ARIA)[51] Gold 25,000
Belgium (BEA)[51] Gold 25,000
Canada (Music Canada)[52] Diamond 1,000,000
France (SNEP)[53] Platinum 3,072,100[54]
Germany (BVMI)[55] Platinum 500,000
Japan (Oricon Charts) 178,000[36]
Netherlands (NVPI)[56] Platinum 100,000
Norway (IFPI Norway)[51] Gold 25,000
Portugal (AFP)[56] 2× Gold 40,000
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[56] 2× Gold 100,000
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[57] Gold 25,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[58] Platinum 300,000
United States (RIAA)[59] 4× Platinum 4,000,000

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

Awards

Grammy Awards

Year Winner Category
1980 Breakfast in America Best Recording Package
1980 Breakfast in America Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical
Year Nominated Category
1980 Breakfast in America Album of the Year

See also

References

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External links

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Preceded by Dutch Mega Chart number-one album
7 April – 12 May 1979		 Succeeded by
Voulez-Vous by ABBA
Preceded by Australian Kent Music Report number-one album
16 April – 27 May 1979		 Succeeded by
The Bob Seger Collection by Bob Seger
Preceded by Norwegian VG-lista number-one album
15 – 18, 1979		 Succeeded by
Voulez-Vous by ABBA
Preceded by
Träumereien by Richard Clayderman
 West German Media Control Chart number-one album
4 – 10 May 1979		 Succeeded by
Spirits Having Flown by Bee Gees
Preceded by Billboard 200 number-one album
19 May – 15 June 1979
23 June – 6 July 1979		 Succeeded by
Bad Girls
by Donna Summer
Preceded by
Minute by Minute
by The Doobie Brothers
 Canadian RPM Chart number-one album
26 May 1979 – 23 June 1979
7 – 14 July 1979		 Succeeded by
Bad Girls
by Donna Summer
Preceded by
Don't Walk, Boogie by Various artists
The Very Best of by Leo Sayer
Communiqué by Dire Straits
In Through the Out Door by Led Zeppelin
 New Zealand Chart number-one album
3 – 24 June 1979
8 – 29 July 1979
19 August 1979
16 September 1979		 Succeeded by
The Very Best of by Leo Sayer
Communiqué by Dire Straits
Fate for Breakfast by Art Garfunkel
In Through the Out Door by Led Zeppelin
Preceded by Austrian Chart number-one album
15 December 1979		 Succeeded by
Träum was Schönes by James Last

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  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Les Meilleures Ventes de CD/Albums depuis 1968, InfoDisc.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 Buskin, Richard (July 2005). CLASSIC TRACKS: Supertramp's 'Logical Song', Sound on Sound.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 (2009). 30th Anniversary Breakfast in America Feature, In the Studio.
  10. ↑ Child of Vision – Roger Hodgson, Writer and Composer on YouTube. Retrieved 30 April 2012. See video description.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ The World Critics List. 1987
  22. ↑ Guinness: All-time top 1000 albums. 1994. Archived at rocklistmusic.co.uk
  23. ↑ "100 Greatest British Rock Album Ever". Classic Rock. April 2006. Archived at rocklistmusic.co.uk
  24. ↑ 100 Greatest Albums. 4MMM. Retrieved 18 June 2011.
  25. ↑ Marsh, Dave. "Sez Who? Bands & Singers Critics Love to Hate". New Book of Rock Lists. Sidgwick & Jackson. 1994.
  26. ↑ Guilty Pleasures!: Essential Playlist of the 115 Records it’s OK to Love. Q magazine. September 2006. Archived at rocklistmusic.co.uk
  27. ↑ Supertramp - Breakfast In America - Deluxe Edition (in Dutch). ultratop.be/fr. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
  28. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Supertramp – Breakfast In America - Deluxe Edition" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
  29. ↑ "Spanishcharts.com – Supertramp – Breakfast In America - Deluxe Edition". Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
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    • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  57. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  58. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Enter Breakfast in America in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Platinum in the field By Award. Click Search
  59. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
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