SELLING ENGLAND BY THE POUND

As i've attended the Musical Box tribute to "Selling England..." yesterday, i feel it's time to add my stone to the monument! Here is my personal all-time greatest one. Accurately enough, or so it seems, the sole failure of yesterdays faithfull rendition of the concert -and of the wholre album minus "After the Ordeal", was and remains on the record "The Battle of Epping Forest". I like the different characters Gabriel played, i love the "here comes the cavalry..." segments, but then it just seems to long and at time the only part of the album where Genesis haven't reached the nicest balance of their sound under Gabriel's reign as it is otherwise the case for SEBTP.

Does a record can begin and close in a much nicer way than Gabriel's sole voice on "Dancin with the Moonlit knight, and the coda of the end? The medieval inspiration, the pristine acoustic guitars, the dynamic instrumental section and the floating conclusion make of the first one of the most powerful "unsung classic song" of the prog repertoire. After the idiosyncrasic guilty pleasure of "I know what i like" , you go to the great piano overture of Firth of fifth, the fiery keybord flight, and the most sensitive and emotional guitar solo i've esperienced, excuses to mrs Gilmour and Latimer. The Collins singin' interlude and the underrated "After the ordeal" set the table for the greatest song (if not piece of music) of the greatest record of my personal listening experience. These acoustic guitars and vocals harmonies (ni nan na nan, nan na nan na nan... well excuse me here i go again...) letting place to the dual conversation between Collins and Banks, how many times in my life!

To me,never has Gabriel sung and wrote lyrics better than this; this is also the record where Steve Hackett acquired his status, and the one on which i realized all the importance of Michael Rutherford in the overall sound of the band. Their last record as a band under this incarnation and their crowning achievment. The "tossing of the score" at Epping forest can't prevent me to give the highest rate. As for the Musical Box tribute by the way.