SELLING ENGLAND BY THE POUND

They don't have a 4.5 category so 4 it is. It was the first Genesis album I got to know and for about 15 years was my favourite till I finally came around to Foxtrot. First the negative. I can't give it the full five because of filler like More Fool Me, a so-so pop song in I Know What I Like and a nearly good but unsuccesful Epping Forest.

The Good:

Dancing With the Moonlit Knight - A great opener. Gabriel's vocals are never better, great guitar work, great synth, interesting chord and tempo changes. I'm just a bit disapointed in the ending which just seems aimless, like they tried a lot of their tricks and couldn't come up with anything that worked.

Firth of Fifth - A classic. It owes a lot to In The Court of the Crimson King but that doesn't mar my enjoyment. The piano is captivating, the vocals just burst in, the flute/synth/guitar instrumental in the middle is one of their best, the melodies are great and it's perfectly arranged. They really pack a lot of great mysic into this piece.

Battle of Epping Forest - Parts of this are very good. The opening verses for about 4-5 minutes are lively and interesting and there's a great part starting with the "Its 5-4 on william wright; he made his pile on derby night" piece. Banks has a sort of counterpoint going that works really well with Gabriel's vocals. After that they lose their way. The longish section started of by "They called me the reverend when I entered the church unstained" sounds like they're struggling to, I don't know, keep the song alive, bring it hiome, do something interesting...it doesn't work for me. If they could have cut it off around the 8 minute mark it would have been another gem.

The Cinema Show - My favourite on this album and in my A+ group of all Genesis songs (along with Supper's Ready and the Genesis Live version of Musical Box). The first part is pleasant enough - a decent song augmented by Gabriel's vocals but then comes prog's, and maybe all of rock's greatest instrumental. Everything just flows on the synth and accoustic guitar piece and Phil's drumming is excellent. The early melody is beautiful and then the synth bass/chorus sound blows it into the stratosphere. After that you have the spacey scale runs bracketed by the struming and drumming and an extended closing of another diminishing scale run perfectly backed up by a slower, Gilmourish-tempo mellotrony (it's probably just a different synth) chorus that gracefully fades into the accountic guitar notes of Moonlit Night. This is a masterpiece and would be the career achievement for any other band. The closing Aisle of Plenty really ought to be considered part of Cinema Show and ends the album wonderfully.

Every prog fan ought to give this album a few listens and then just see if doesn't become part of your permanet playlist.