SELLING ENGLAND BY THE POUND

I'll make this my first review on here, seeing as how it is my favorite album of all time. Genesis was one of the greatest progressive bands ever under the leadership of peter gabriel, and this is the peak of their awesomeness. This album is perfection in every way, shape and form. I know, of course, that every one rates this album 5 stars, and does the song by song review, but, I must do it as well. So here we go.

Dancing With the Moonlit Knight: If the peter gabriel era genesis was one of the best prog bands ever, and selling england is their best album, than this track is one of the greatest songs ever written. The acapella intro is mystifying and sets the tone for the album. the lyrics are absolutely bitlingly critical of Englands Regime and popular culture. The delicate acoustic guitars and piano are perfect for this mood. When Peter sings, "DIGESTING ENGLAND BY THE POUND", i get goosebumps no matter . The build up of this song is amazing. The blasting crescendo into the chorus is amazing, and hair-raising again, and you CAN ACTUALLY HEAR MIKE RUTHERFORDS BASS LINE. AND ITS AMAZING. Following the amazing chorus is the insane instrumental section like genesis had never done and would never do again, the closest they came was the ending of dance on a volcano. Steve Hackett brings finger tapping into mainstream music here, NOT eddie van halen, not to say he wasnt a good guitarist. This solo is only one of many great guitar moments on this album. This solo/solos is followed by another, slightly different chorus, with very imaginative imagery and allusions. This is followed by another instrumental section, this time dominated by synthesizer, very cool time changes and riffs, I like it. This is followed by a gradual slowdown into a spacey outro with acoustic guitars and flute/ mellotron. Its just an amazing song and I am still in love with it, no matter how many times i hear it.

I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe): The beginning is another strange syntehsizer fade in and and a cool drum intro by our man collins. the spoken intro by gabriel is quite good, and it opens into a blatant pop song, but i love it. another great bassline by rutherford, and some sitar-sounding guitar from hackett. The lyrics are strange, but thats a good thing here. The flute/drum solo as the outro is amazing. I hate how when they did it live, they replaced the flute with crappy sounding synthesizers.

Firth of Firth: Piano intro=godly. thats all i have to say. The lyrics come in, authored by banks himself, and are not especially good, but they fit the dramatic feel of the song. The lyrics lead into a gorgeous piano/flute duet, it nearly brings tears to your eyes. this all builds into a reprise of the opening on synthesizer, but with some kick ass drumming from phil collins to back it up. After that comes one of the most famous moments in prog rock history: Steve Hackett's jawdropping, tearjerking, emotional solo that murders me everytime. The change from minor to major key near the end is like a revelation. The reprise of the intro again on piano brings this masterful song to a close.

More Fool Me: this is an ok song, if it had been any longer it would have been bad. I do like the melody, the guitar is good, not all steve hackett guitar has to be jawdroppingly intense. He knows when to let others take the spotlight.

The Battle of Epping Forest: The drum/flute intro on this song sets the mood for the upbeat storytelling goofyness that is to follow. Tonk Banks shines alot on this song, I wont go through it much because it shifts moods so much its ridiculous. The lyrics tell of a gang fight, merging old and new with traditional song title and modern plotline. The mid song tale of the reverend and his adventures is hilarious and perfect. Near the end, they almost pioneer techno with banks' synths. all in all, a plethora of prog

After the Ordeal: Amazing Instrumental showcase, great piano and guitar duet through out, with flute and drums added near the end.

Cinema Show: The deicate acoustic intro leads us into a major league prog workout. The lyrics are great, telling yet another story about 2 lovers, each with different ideas of how their date will go, and the ever present Father Tyresias orchestrating it all. The synthesizer solo is one of banks' finest moments and also is a famous moment in prog. It all slows down and leads into the Aisle of Plenty, reprising Moonlit knight and closing the album in the most perfect way, with shopkeepers yelling their sales up and down the streets of old england.

All in all, on of the best album of all time, fully deserving the 5 stars, thank god for Genesis