SELLING ENGLAND BY THE POUND

"Can you tell me where my country lies?" Said the uni faun to his true love's eyes "It lies with me!" cried the Queen of Maybe For her merchandise, he traded in his prize "Paper late!" cried a voice in the crowd "Old man dies!" The note he left was signed 'Old Father Thames' It seems he's drowned, Selling England by the pound

The 2nd Highest rated album on Prog Archives (behind Close to the Edge), and it deserves it's place. It also takes a place as my second favorite Genesis album (every moment The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway is a masterpiece, and there is nothing you could say to convince me otherwise...) This IS a concept record, about the commercialization of England, and a yearning for past times. I'm not going to go in-depth with all the lyrics, but nevertheless, let's review 'Selling England by the Pound'

Track One: Dancing with the Moonlit Knight 'Can You tell me where my country lies...' Starting off with an a Capella opening by Peter Gabriel (which is the text quoted above) it quickly transitions into my favorite guitar lick of all time, right after Gabriel says 'Selling England by the Pound'. Hackett is on fire throughout this album, he's really found his groove. With an extended outro, the song clocks in at 8 minutes. It really picks up after voice two, as the track then builds for a bit, and settles back down for that outro. Great song, at the moment, it's my favorite off the album.

Fun Fact: This was originally a part of a 'Selling England by the Pound Suite' comprising of 'Dancing with the Moonlit Knight / The Cinema Show / Aisle of Plenty' you can hear these tracks put together over on YouTube, it's a great way to listen to them, and I like them that way.

Track Two: I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe) 'It's one O'Clock and time for lunch, bum te dum, te dum..." Genesis's first hit, now it wasn't a HUGE hit, but it was a hit nonetheless, while it's not the greatest song the band has ever written, it has it's charm to it. Not much to say on this one, it's a cute little track, very English

Track Three: Firth of Fifth "The Path is clear, though no eyes can see" If you're one of those, 'OH this is a great song, it's so beautiful and Bank's piano intro and Hackett's solo are some of the best things Genesis did then you're absolutely right. The song lives up to it's reputation as one of Genesis's best. Clocking in at 9:35, the piano solo for the intro was carefully composed, so were the lyrics, (though many of the band members now hate the lyrics for this song, they're good in my opinion). The guitar solo however, was just one of those magic studio moments where the tape happened to be rolling. The entire thing was improvised. This once again proves why Hackett is a genius

Track Four: More Fool Me "Here I am, who while away in the mornings...." 'Dear God, i'd completely forgotten about 'More Fool Me'' - Phil Collins. It's ok Phil, we did too. This song, hidden between the prog-peaks of 'Firth of Fifth' and 'The Battle of Epping Forest' could've easily been left off the album, I don't think it brings it down per-se, but It certainly doesn't add anything. The album is long as-is, this one probably could've been dropped. It's still a decent track however.

Track Five: The Battle of Epping Forest "Along the Forest Road, there's hundreds of cars - luxury cars..." Many accuse this track of being a bit wordy and busy (which is ironic for Prog-Heads) but nevertheless, I agree with the sentiments. I think this is the least-best track. Not 'worst' as it's still a 'good' song, but it could've been shortened. It is a fun showcase for the many voices of Peter Gabriel though. It's the longest track by about a minute. It could've been shortened to about 8, but it's still a good track despite my criticisms.

Track Six: After the Ordeal (Instrumental) I love this song, and it's better than 'Epping Forest' it's such a pretty song, it's probably the most over-looked on the album. The song works in isolation, and it works as a coda to 'Epping Forest' beautiful guitar work from Hackett here.

Track Seven: The Cinema Show "Home from work, our Juliet clears her morning meal.." I know, I know, I've used the word' Beautiful' a lot in this review (or variations thereof), but I mean it everytime! This is especially true for what is tied with "Dancing with the Moonlit Knight' as my favorite track on the album, and for good reason! I'm a sucker for 12 strings, (My father has been playing them for nearly 40 years). This has three distinct sections, The opening and first two verses, 'Father Tiresias', and then the 4 1/2 minute synth solo. (almost as if It was originally part of a larger suite... hmmmmm...) Each perfectly crafted, and this melds perfectly with the 8th and final track.

Track Eight: Aisle of Plenty "I don't belong here", said old Tessa out loud, Easy, love, there's the safe way home..." Originally the closing section of the 'Selling England by the Pound Suite' it exists now to give the album a very satisfying book-end conclusion to an otherworldly album. The return of the guitar lick from 'Dancing With the Moonlit Knight' on classical guitar is a beautiful addition.

This album gets a 10/10 it doesn't deserve anything less!

"Peek freans family, assorted from 17 and a half to 12 Fairy liquid giant slashed from 20 pence to 17 and a half Table jelly's at four pence each Anchor butter down to 11 pence for a half Birds eye dairy cream sponge on offer this week Fairy liquid giant ? slashed from 20 pence to 17 and a half"