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Genesis - Selling England by the Pound CD (album) cover

SELLING ENGLAND BY THE POUND

Genesis

 

Symphonic Prog

4.65 | 4657 ratings

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Codera the Great
4 stars Selling England By The Pound continues off from Foxtrot, with less of a "harder-edged" approach and softens the overall feeling of musical atmosphere within. Part of this is due to the even superior production compared to anything they've ever done up to this point. The guitars take less of a precedence here and keyboards are brought more up to the front, as new moogs and synths are first introduced alongside the older mellotrons. There is also much of a light-hearted nature with this album as well (compared to the two albums it's sandwiched between), with songs like "I Know What I Like" and "The Battle of Epping Forest" being played with more positively charged and friendly melodies that take precedence. Some of the band's best songwriting exists on this album, with songs like "Dancing with the Moonlit Knight", "Firth of Fifth", and "The Cinema Show" that remain beloved classics to this day. The underrated instrumental "After The Ordeal" is also very nice demonstration of their playing abilities. Although the album as a whole does suffer a bit more from a slightly more inconsistent flow than the previous album, "More Fool Me" is definitely not bad of an acoustic ballad, but is nothing special. "The Battle of Epping Forest" is a cool and fun piece of music, but at the same time it feels as if there is a bit too much crammed into this eleven minute epic to try and describe as many characters and musical ideas as possible. It's still a good and engaging tune, but it may have had too many ideas in it for its own good. "Aisle of Plenty" is a nice call back to the first track, but it only lasts a minute long or so and doesn't do much other than that (probably would have been better to make it part of "The Cinema Show" since it goes right into it). All-in-all, not my personal favorite, but still a highly recommended addition to your prog collection.
Codera the Great | 4/5 |

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