SELLING ENGLAND BY THE POUND

This is my favorite Genesis album ( along with the rest of the world) and one of the first I purchased. This happened 25 years after Selling England By the Pound was released in 1973. This says alot about the longevity of this album. To think that I find just as much pleasure in this album 25 years after it´s release as the ones who bought it in 1973 is a miracle. Very few albums keep their magic this long.

Genesis were at their peak when they made this album. The classic seventies lineup was still intact, and everyone seems to contribute with the best of their talents. I will have to make a special note here that you should really listen to Tony Banks keyboards on Selling England By the Pound as they have never been so omnipresent in Genesis music before. This has to be one of my favorite keyboard perfomances ever.

Dancing with the Moonlit Knight starts the album in great style with the classic Peter Gabriel a capella opening: "Can You Tell Me where My Country Lies". The song starts of mellow but soon builds into one of the most technically challenging songs Genesis ever made. I love this song and it is one of my favorite Genesis moments. I remember when I heard this one the first time. I was blown away be the fact that Genesis could be something else than the eighties hit machine I knew.

I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe) is a good song with a great humour and some nice percussion. It took me a while to like it though, as I didn´t find it that exciting to start with. It grew on me though and allthough I still don´t find it to be the best song Genesis ever wrote it´s really good.

Firth Of Fifth is a great epic song and another of my favorites. It starts out with Tony Banks playing som classical inspired piano and then comes a very heavy riff. The song ends with the classic Steve Hackett guitar lead ( solo) which is maybe his finest moment with Genesis ( there are of course numerous, but this one is very significant).

The weakest song on Selling England By the Pound and the song that almost make this album loose a star is More Fool Me. A useless pop song sung by Phil Collins. This is the worst song Genesis made with this lineup, and a step in the wrong direction. It´s rather dissapointing on an album that is so great. I always skip this song and never felt it was part of the album. Selling England By the Pound is still a masterpiece though, just don´t listen to this garbage song.

The Battle Of Epping Forest is a great epic with some very clever lyrics. Peter is at his best here, using multible personalities and voices to match them. The song is one of the more progressive Genesis songs in terms of structure. It´s a great song and an enjoyable listen.

After The Ordeal is a nice intrumental track, and it´s a breather between the two epics that surround it, as it is very mellow an soothing for the ears. Maybe not the best song on Selling England By the Pound, but certainly not a bad one either.

The Cinema Show is another one of my favorite Genesis songs. It´s really emotive and beautiful. Listen to those 12 string guitars. The song ends with a synth lead/ solo by Tony Banks that is almost in the vein of ELP, just more melodic. Aisle Of Plenty is just an outro song and plays some of the themes from the other songs on the album. OK but nothing special.

My conclusion is that allthough there are 1 weak track and a couple of good but not essential tracks on this album, they are overshadowed by the masterpieces. These songs are the best symphonic Prog rock songs ever made by any band, and I can give this album no less than 5 stars for that.

For me this is simply the most important album in the history of symphonic prog rock and the best place to start for newcomers to the genre.