SELLING ENGLAND BY THE POUND

'Selling England by the Pound' is possibly GENESIS' greatest work although GENESIS' style of symphonic prog is definitely not for everyone and I happen to be one of those people. There is some definite great music on this album but the main problem I have is the bands' more pop based approach to prog and their often overly pretentious humour and approach to the music.

That said there are some fantastic tracks here, 'Dancing with the Moonlit Knight' is head and shoulders above the rest, with some great symphonic moments and a killer middle breakdown featuring some blistering guitar work from Steve Hackett featuring one of the earliest recorded examples of guitar tapping technique. 'Firth of Fifth' is the most symphonic song on the album with a great classically inspired piano introduction then moving into organ and mellotron laden territory.

Songs like 'The battle of Epping Forest' do drag on a lot though and I loathe the silly accent impersonations that Gabriel employs here. 'More Fool Me' is purely and simply a filler track, as is the lackluster instrumental 'After the Ordeal'. 'The cinema show' does end the album pretty strongly though with some great prog jamming in the end.

'Selling England By the Pound' is a good album on the whole but it is boring and pretentious in a lot of places, most fans of 70's prog will definitely enjoy this though.

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