It Was the Best of Times It Was the Best of Times It Was the Best of Times is the third live album by the English rock band Supertramp, released in April 1999. The album title makes use of the opening line from "A Tale of Two Cities" by Charles Dickens. "It Was the Best of Times" was recorded in September 1997 at the Royal Albert Hall, London, England, UK during the "It's About Time" tour (set up in support of the "Some Things Never Change" studio album). The band includes vocalist/guitarist/keyboardist Mark Hart performing songs originally sung by Roger Hodgson. Supertramp are also augmented by
It Was Written and Jim Farber of the "New York Daily News" named it the sixth best album of 1996. German-based magazine "Spex" ranked it number four on its "End of Year" list, while the UK-based magazine "The Face" named it the twenty-fourth best album of 1996. "If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)" was ranked number 29 on "NME"<nowiki>'</nowiki>s Singles of the Year list, and number 20 on "The Village Voice"s Pazz & Jop critics' poll. It was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance in 1997. Since its release, "It Was Written" remains Nas' best-selling release to date.