Supertramp

They were great from the start but I do agree with the OP. The Paris album is imo a maturation where they got it just right on the prior Breakfast tunes. Definitely one of the 10 best of all time bands.

I've always enjoyed Crisis, What Crisis? and Even in the Quietest Moments. Maybe all cuts aren't as polished and brilliant as Breakfast or Crime but still excellent and fresh. They have not been so over played on the radio. Sonics are excellent on both. No doubt about that. I have 3 versions of the albums original lp, first generation cd, and cd reissues. I'd rank them this way for SQ.
MFSL LP Crime of Century
Then all 4 regular issue LPs
Original CD releases
CD Reissues

It is not that the reissues sound bad, they sound fine, I just think the original CDs are truer to the original CDs.

Another Supertramp fan here. The LP that did it for me,
"Even in the Quietest Moments". The title track &
'Fool's Overture' are favorites from that. ("There's a
lot of me got to go under before I get high." -
profoundly true in so many ways.) I listened to it over and
over back in the day before the internet and CDs. I don't
think I even knew what other recordings they had out until
Breakfast In America came around. I don't own, "Crisis
What Crisis?" or "Crime of the Century"!
Guess I'll have to fix that. I tend to like the long track,
e.g., Fool's Overture, Breakfast in America, Bro. Where You
Bound that seems a hallmark of the recordings I do own. So
do the 5 I have (mix of LPs and CDs) cover enough of their
discography? I have a cassette a buddy made of the Paris
recording. Guess that should be added to the list.
Anything else? Good thread, Donjr.

Wait to you hear Crime of he Century. You'll be amazed.

I recorded the simple striking piano chords of Crime into a ring tone and wonder if some will be able to identify it.