SELLING ENGLAND BY THE POUND

There's something special and magical about this release that makes it arguably Genesis' finest album, even if their prior two albums FOXTROT and NURSERY CRYME are just as loaded with brilliant tunes. Perhaps it's the enriched production? The fullness of the sound?

For me, this album marks the end of that amazing trilogy. Of course, THE LAMB LIES DOWN contains some brilliant songs (Carpet Crawlers, Anyway, Slippermen), as does TAIL (Entangled, Mad Mad Moon) and WUTHERING (Blood On the Rooftops, Unquiet Slumbers/In that Quiet Earth), but these are less brilliant albums than collections of songs with brilliant moments (as well as moments that don't work).

Newcomers should probably start with this album, and play it over and over until its brilliance becomes apparent.