Here's a quick copy&paste from another forum that I posted to about this release.
So I finally received the 40th Anniversary vinyl reissue of Supertramp - Crime of the Century this past Thursday. It came in a nice enough box and the vinyl came in plastic/paper sleeves at least. The jackets however are sub-standard IMO and a disappointment. Seeing as this was a UMG Back To Black product I wasn't surprised. I can't play the vinyl right now, but I hear it's a pleasant enough pressing and that's good enough for me.
I bought this 3LP boxset not for the album, but instead the previously unreleased 1975 LIVE concert from London's Hammersmith Odeon theatre. That concert takes up 2 of the 3 discs in this boxset. As a huge fan of this album and the band in general this was a no brainer purchase for me.
As has become fairly commonplace now it came with a download code, so I was able to listen to the LIVE concert without having to wait until my new TT is in place. The weird thing is that the studio album came as a 320/MP3 and the Live concert as a 256/MP3. I didn't need the studio download, but the code forced me to get it. Otherwise I could have passed on that code.
Anyway. Supertramp is a studio band. That pretty sums it up. Listening to the concert it's clear that post-production techniques are a marginal singer's best friend. That's not to say it isn't an enjoyable experience, because it is. I saw them live 3 times in the 70's and truly loved every one of the concerts I attended. I suppose a copious amount of smoke may have helped. LOL!
This live concert btw includes selections from Crime of the Century and their follow-up release Crisis? What Crisis?. Despite my misgivings I'm very glad to now have it.