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Genesis - Selling England By The Pound [Definitive Edition Remaster] (1973)

Genre: Progressive Rock

The place of Selling England By the Pound in the Genesis canon is one hotly debated among the band's faithful. Some find it lacking in the epic scope of Foxtrot's "Suppers Ready" or The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, while others find it difficult to penetrate the thicket of very English concepts in the lyrics. For others, myself included, this is the best of Genesis, a document of a band at the peak of its powers. Not only that, it is the ultimate example of Genesis's flavor of symphonic prog, an example that is still being imitated today.

The album kicks off with an unaccompanied Peter Gabriel asking "Can you tell me where my country lies?", setting the stage for the lyrical tone to come. Steve Hackett once said that "selling England by the pound" was literally the platform of one of the major political parties in Britain in the early 1970s. As a result, most of the lyrics seem to relate to commentary on that time and place, which is either an interesting thing to be investigated or something so dense as to ruin the album. For me, it is definitely the former. For all the head scratching the lyrics create, they never, in my mind, overshadow the music. In "Dancing With the Moonlit Knight," that includes some sublime Mellotron work (the "the captain leads his..." section) and nice guitar work from Hackett.

Oddly, for this benchmark of prog, it also includes the band's first bonafide single success, "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)." It's not the album's best track, but it's enjoyable in a playful sort of way. The walking bass line in the chorus is one of my all time favorites.

That leads to "Firth of Fifth," which may be the archetypal symphonic prog song. Tony Banks' acoustic piano intro gives way to the full band supporting Gabriel's mythic lyrics. The heart of the piece is the middle instrumental section, which begins with a mournful flute solo from Gabriel before kicking in a tricky up tempo section led by Banks's synth solo. From there, cue Hackett for a solo that is probably the standard to which all his disciples strive. Soaring and melodic, this is where Hackett shows that being a talented musician sometimes means not being the best technician in the world. The song concludes by returning to Gabriel's vocals. A classic.

The rest of the album contains, in essence, two interstitial palette cleansers, two epics, and a coda. The two shorter tracks are effective in their way, although neither is spectacular. "More Fool Me" is noteworthy as the first appearance of Phil Collins on lead vocal, while "After the Ordeal" is a longing instrumental that suits its place on the album.

That place is after "The Battle of Epping Forest," which is either a complete mess of over the top eccentricity or a sublime example of the band's lyrical style at its most absurd. It is based, rather loosely, I imagine, on gang fights which occurred in a certain area of London. I personally think the song works well, particularly the scathing ending where it is revealed that all the carnage was for naught as the heads of the factions flip a coin to "settle the score." Your mileage my vary. The other major track is "The Cinema Show," which includes a short vocal introduction about young lovers (and more mythic overtones) followed up by a long instrumental workout. The version on this album seems somewhat lifeless and dull compared to the live one on Seconds Out, but is still a fine piece, particularly with Hackett's guitar lines sliding in, out, and around the vocal lines in the first section.

The album ends with a brief return to the opening vocal melody in "Aisle of Plenty." It brings the album together in a way that, while not truly a single concept, it certainly shares a similar mindset and point of view throughout.

As I said, I think this is the peak of Genesis. From here it was only downhill, although fairly slowly so (until at least the 1980s). It's not surprising that the other releases of that year from the band's contemporaries were equally outstanding (think Larks' Tongues in Apsic, Brain Salad Surgery and Octopus, among others). Was it something in the water? Who knows. It was a very good year, and Selling England by the Pound was top of the heap. A classic. ~ Review by Jon Byrne @ Buy Book at Lowest Price on Amazon

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Tracklisting:

1. Dancing With The Moonlit Knight (8:04)

2. I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe) (4:08)

3. Firth Of Fifth (9:37)

4. More Fool Me (3:10)

5. The Battle Of Epping Forest(11:46)

6. After The Ordeal (4:16)

7. The Cinema Show (11:06)

8. Aisle Of Plenty (1:31)

Total Time: 53:38

Line-Up:

- Tony Banks / keyboards, 12 String guitar

- Phil Collins / drums, percussion, backing vocals, lead vocals (4)

- Peter Gabriel / lead vocals, percussion, flute, oboe

- Steve Hackett / electric guitar, nylon guitar

- Mike Rutherford / bass guitar, 12 string guitar, electric Sitar

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Rating:
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