Crime of the Century was Supertramp's commercial breakthrough in many countries, most notably in the UK, Canada and Germany where it peaked in the Top 5 while also making the Top 20 in Australia and France. It was the band's first album to chart in the United States, reaching No. 38 on the Billboard 200. The album was eventually certified Gold in the US in 1977 after the release of Even in the Quietest Moments.... In Canada, it was eventually certified Diamond (sales of one million copies). The album was Supertramp's first to feature drummer Bob Siebenberg (at the time credited as Bob C. Benberg), saxophone and clarinet player and vocalist John Helliwell, bassist Dougie Thomson, and co-producer Ken Scott. 

After the commercial failure of their first two albums and an equally unsuccessful tour, it looked like the end of Supertramp, but Rick Davies and Roger Hodgson revitalized the band, recruiting drummer Bob C. Benberg, woodwinds player and backing vocalist John Helliwell, and bassist Dougie Thomson. The photograph for the cover was Paul Wakefield's first album work. A&M Records' art director Fabio Nicoli invited Wakefield to the studio where the band were recording and had him read the lyrics. With the album title already chosen, Wakefield started asking himself "what an appropriate sentence could be for 'the crime of the century'" and combined it with a line from the song "Asylum": "when they haunt me and taunt me in my cage." 

TRACKLIST

School
Bloody Well Right
Hide In Your Shell
Asylum

Dreamer
Rudy
If Everyone Was Listening
Crime Of The Century