SELLING ENGLAND BY THE POUND

This is it. This is the one. This is Prog Rock. If I were to pick one track to demonstrate the all of prog rock, it would be the opener Dancing with the Moonlit Knight. Starting with a capella Peter Gabriel, it builds from pastoral bliss to blistering frenetics with sixteenth note drumming and one of the earliest use of guitar tapping. The perfect prog song. The ultimate.

This track earns this album 5 stars by itself. Now add in Firth of Fifth containing both arguably the best composed key part in prog and the best guitar solo. Then we get Cinema Show which is a grand mini- epic that is as good as any in Genesis' repertoire save perhaps Supper's Ready. Great lyrics, great composition, just amazing music.

Unlike some other prog masterpieces, however, this record is not without flaws. The much maligned More Fool Me is actually more listenable than it's reputation, but in retrospect it does stick out on an album of this high standard. I imagine Genesis had no idea that we'd be debating the merits of this album almost 40 years later (and surely we will be then too), so including a short foray for the guy in the back was not seen as a very critical choice at the time.

The rest of the record is solid prog, ranging from the quirky single I Know What I Like to the odd time Battle of Epping Forest to the instrumental After the Ordeal. All are very good prog, though not the heights that the rest of the album climbs.

CTTE and DSOTM are more flawless, but even they don't quite reach the heights you find here. As many many people have said, if you don't own and know this album, it is pretty hard to call yourself a prog fan.