SELLING ENGLAND BY THE POUND

In my opinion, the highest mark of Genesis's career, and what I consider a perfect album from start to finish. From Dancing With the Moonlit Knight until the Aisle of Plenty, we get Genesis in their full glory of their classic lineup.

The album starts with Peter a cappela, singing the intro to Dancing with the Moonlit Knight, followed slowly by keyboards, guitar and bass. The song builds until it gallops hectically through the middle until the slow denoument as the instruments tinkle away into the intro to the next song, I Know What I Like, the groups first single hit. Next we have the absolutely brilliant Firth of Fifth which features some of the best work ever by Tony Banks on piano and Steve Hackett on guitar. The album would be worth three stars if this was the only song on it...it's that good!

Side one closes out with Collins' second lead vocal in Genesis with the plaintive More Fool Me. Side two starts out with the gang war song the Battle of Epping Forest where, like last album, Gabriel tries to stuff too many lyrics in the spaces of the music...but it's still an excellent piece. After the Ordeal is the next song which leads to the climax of the album - The Cinema Show. This is one of the three best songs in the Genesis collection in my opinion. It is near perfection, especially when ending with Aisle of Plenty, which reprises Dancing With the Moonlit Knight's melody.

All in all, a must have for any prog fan, especially a symphonic prog fan. Five stars.