Supertramp continue their 50th anniversary campaign with newly remastered vinyl editions of Brother Where You Bound and Free As A Bird, both arriving in June
by Paul Cashmere
The next phase of Supertramp’s catalogue restoration will arrive on 19 June, with half-speed remastered vinyl editions of Brother Where You Bound and Free As A Bird. The releases form part of the band’s ongoing 50th anniversary series, produced at Abbey Road Studios by mastering engineer Miles Showell.
The campaign continues a structured reappraisal of Supertramp’s catalogue, focusing on albums that sit outside the band’s most commercially dominant period of the late 1970s. While earlier reissues centred on canonical titles such as Crime Of The Century and Breakfast In America, this third instalment shifts attention to a transitional era that reshaped the group’s sound and internal dynamics.
Brother Where You Bound, released in May 1985, marked a decisive moment in the band’s timeline. It was the first studio album following the departure of founding member Roger Hodgson, leaving Rick Davies as the sole principal songwriter and vocalist. The album reached No. 20 in the UK and No. 21 on the US Billboard 200, anchored by the single Cannonball, a Top 30 hit that maintained the band’s chart presence during a period of structural change.
Beyond its commercial metrics, the album is defined by its ambitious title track, a 16-minute composition drawing on Cold War themes and incorporating excerpts from George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four. The recording features contributions from notable contemporaries, including David Gilmour on guitar and Scott Gorham, reinforcing its alignment with progressive rock traditions at a time when the band’s earlier work had leaned toward accessible pop structures.
Free As A Bird followed in October 1987 as the band’s ninth studio album and final release of new material for A&M Records. It represented a further evolution in approach, with Davies steering the project towards contemporary production techniques.
Synthesised rhythms, drum machines and layered programming replaced the ensemble-driven methodology that had defined earlier recordings. Davies later described the process as an experiment in modernisation, acknowledging that the shift towards individual tracking altered the cohesion of the band dynamic.
The results were commercially mixed. While I’m Beggin’ You performed strongly in club charts, the album itself peaked outside the US Top 100, signalling a downturn compared to earlier successes. It would also precede a hiatus, with Supertramp disbanding after the subsequent tour and not reforming until 1997.
From a technical perspective, the current reissues are positioned as corrective listening experiences. Half-speed mastering, executed at Abbey Road, allows for greater precision in cutting the vinyl lacquer, improving frequency response and stereo imaging. For albums like Brother Where You Bound, with dense arrangements and extended compositions, the process offers an opportunity to reassess production details that may have been constrained in earlier formats.
The broader significance of this reissue program sits within an industry-wide resurgence of vinyl as both a commercial format and archival medium. Legacy acts are increasingly revisiting catalogue material with upgraded mastering techniques, targeting both collectors and younger listeners encountering these recordings for the first time. Supertramp’s campaign aligns with this trend while also addressing a less examined phase of their discography.
Critical perspectives on these albums have varied over time. Retrospective assessments of Brother Where You Bound have acknowledged its compositional ambition and sonic clarity, while noting that its thematic focus on Cold War geopolitics reflects a specific historical moment. Free As A Bird has drawn more divided responses, with some critics pointing to its departure from the band’s established identity, while others highlight its willingness to engage with late-1980s production aesthetics.
What remains consistent is the role these albums play in documenting a band navigating internal change and external musical shifts. They capture Supertramp at a point where commercial expectations, technological developments and artistic direction intersected in complex ways.
With the anniversary campaign ongoing, further catalogue releases are expected to continue mapping the band’s evolution. For listeners, the current instalment offers both a technical upgrade and a contextual re-examination of a period that has often sat in the shadow of the band’s earlier success.
Tracklisting
Brother Where You Bound
Side A
Cannonball
Still In Love
No Inbetween
Better Days
Side B
Brother Where You Bound
Ever Open Door
Free As A Bird
Side A
It’s Alright
Not The Moment
It Doesn’t Matter
Where I Stand
Free As A Bird
Side B
I’m Beggin You
You Never Can Tell With Friends
Thing For You
An Awful Thing To Waste
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