SELLING ENGLAND BY THE POUND

There is about 80% of the site proclaiming it as one of the best, one of five or so quintessential prog records, and giving it similar titles, so to speak. I don't give any album 5 stars if it has even one song that's entirely unlistenable. Unfortunately The Battle of Epping Forest and Aisle of Plenty are to me, unlistenable, and brings down this album. When I listen to it, I skip and then it is a 4 or 5 star album. The album is unified around the basic concept of the shrinking of the British Empire on which "the sun never sets." This is a reference to how, given the huge size of the British Empire, it is always daytime in some part of the empire. However, Britain is not taking care of itself, and is shrinking, such that the sun will eventually set on the empire. The opener to the album is one of the best openings to any album, ever. It has such power, it sucks you in from the start, and then gets even better over time. Dancing With the Moonlit Knight is one of the few songs I will give a perfect 5/5, and it deserves every single hundredth.