Free as a Bird

Free as a Bird is the tenth album by progressive rock band Supertramp, released in 1987. Originally, the vinyl album featured four color variants - blue, green, yellow and pink. The bird in the picture was a cut-out. The album was a turn of direction of sorts, with most of the songs stepping back from their progressive rock sound, employing synthesized dance beats and rhythms. Chief songwriter Rick Davies later recalled "Free As A Bird was an experiment to try and be modern and build it up with computers and drum machines and have people come in one by one, which makes you lose the band spirit a little bit." The album was the first Supertramp album to feature guitarist Mark Hart. He would later become a full-fledged member of the group. Despite the fact that "I'm Beggin' You" was a club chart-topping hit and Free as a Bird's title cut was a minor hit, the album did not do well peaking at #101, making it the first Supertramp album since 1971's Indelibly Stamped not to crack Billboard's Top 100 on the album charts. The band disbanded after the tour in support of the album and would not reconvene until 1997. They did so without bassist Dougie Thomson.