Selling England By The Pound
by Genesis

From paladisiac TOP 100 COMMENTER 12/08/2011 23:00 | #32331 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

"can you tell me where my country lies? said the unifaun to his true love's eyes." Thus begins the delicate opening to "dancing with the moonlight knight" which takes on more ominous tones as the song progresses. I love the moog and synth (and stole the sound of the keyboard at the bridge for one of my songs). Hackett, with the tapping technique EVH would later copy, continues to weave above the fray. "firth of fifth" is one of my top 10 favorite genesis songs. tony banks's piano playing is classically majestic. Visuals inside the lyrics match Banks's playing -- describing "a waterfall, his madrigal; an inland sea, his symphony" while "undinal songs urge the sailors on / 'til lured by the siren's cry". "i know what i like (in your wardrobe)" is a fun sing-along. "cinema show" is crystal statue containing one of my favorite genesis lyrics "Once a man, like the sea I raged, / Once a woman, like the earth I gave. / But there is in fact more earth than sea.", beautifully epilogued by "aisle of plenty". Elsewhere, phil makes his genesis lead singing debut on simple ballad "more fool me".

This is one of the true masterpieces of the prog rock genre. To start with the negatives, this isn't a perfect album as it does have a couple flaws such as the elongation of The Battle Of Epping Forest. However, none of these flaws hold it back significantly and for the most part they are people picking out tiny details that aren't really important. Then there are the positives of this album which is pretty much all of it. Musically, it is absolutely stunning with some of the arrangements on here completely blowing my mind every time I revisit this release. Then there is the instrumentation which is a marvel with this record having some of the greatest prog guitar and drum work I have ever heard. They then build upon this with a diverse array of instruments which are all performed beautifully and add such depth to the music. Their layering is fantastic as well with there being so much for us to explore and discover about the music on here. Then there is the songs as a whole which are beautiful compositions with the peak of this being The Cinema Show and Firth Of Fifth. Finally, you add on top an outstanding vocal display from Peter Gabriel and then you have a cohesive, fulfilling masterpiece that only gets better the more times you hear it. Overall, this is a phenomenal record and it deserves all the praise it receives as it is truly one of the greatest albums of all time. (Edited)

The opening of this album must be one of my favorites, "Can you tell me where my country lies" and the following 2 minutes or so, just beautiful. This album is probably the most coherent of all early Genesis albums, although I prefer Foxtrot and Lamb. The music is great with some wonderful passages. It is very "British", and Peter delivers some of his best lyrics here.
My favorite track is The Cinema Show, followed closely by Dancing with the Moonlit Knight and Firth of Fifth. The Battle of Epping Forest is probably the most disputed song on here, but I grew to love it over time, Phil shines with his drumming skills.

I think this may be Genesis' peak. If not, you could just select the preceding or succeeding album (or, hell, even A Trick of the Tail) and get little resistance from Genesis fans. This album shows that Genesis was evolving in a "two steps forward, one step backward" mentality; they continued to perfect their sound and musicianship, but they also brought back previous elements to their style, such as the whimsical and folk-ish tendencies of Trespass and Nursery Cryme. It's a very British record, as the title would suggest. The album is highly melodic, intricate, whimsical, and warm; it's not cold like a King Crimson or ELP album, but it's also not as folksy as a Jethro Tull LP. I see it as a more refined and mature Nursery Cryme, mixed with some of the majesty and power of Foxtrot. In a world: balanced.

All the songs are great, BTW.

From ponkine 03/13/2012 19:06 | #38265 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

Near-perfect masterpiece. I would have removed 'After The Ordeal' to make a more concise record. Of course 'Dancing With The Moonlit Knight', 'Cinema Show' and 'Firth of Fifth' are beloved by all prog fans. Amazing album.