A Quest for Prog 18: Genesis - Selling England by the Pound

"A Quest for Prog" is a series of 50 Progressive Rock reviews to be written over a year.  The band selection is taken from the book in the first post on this blog.  And the albums I am reviewing is based on the highest user ratings for each band on Progarchives.com.

Genesis - Selling England by the Pound (1973)

Produced by Genesis & John Burns

Peter Gabriel – Lead Vocals, Flute, Oboe & Percussion

Phil Collins – Drums, Percussion, Backing Vocals & Lead Vocals ("More Fool Me")

Tony Banks – Backing Vocals, Piano, Keyboards & Acoustic Guitar ("The Cinema Show")

Steve Hackett – Guitar & Backing Vocals ("I Know What I Like")

Mike Rutherford – Bass Guitar, Bass Pedals, Rhythm Guitar, Cello ("Dancing With The Moonlight Knight") & Electric Sitar

Track listing:

Side one:

01. Dancing with the Moonlit Knight (8:04)

02. I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe) (4:07)

03. Firth of Fifth (9:35)

04. More Fool Me (3:10)

Side two:

01. The Battle of Epping Forest (11:49)

02. After the Ordeal (4:13)

03. The Cinema Show (11:06)

04. Aisle of Plenty (1:32)

Released in 1973 “Selling England by the Pound” is the fifth album by English band Genesis.  They were one of the originators of English progressive music.  The band released 6 albums with Peter Gabriel before he left to pursue a successful solo career at which time drummer Phil Collins become the singer for the band.  The Phil Collins period of the band was hugely successful and saw the band move away from their Prog roots to a commercial radio sound.

The album begins with the epic “Dancing with the Moonlit Knight”.  The song begins with a Medieval sound with Guitars and keyboards before rest of the band comes in.  The playing is intricate and with the guitars and the keyboards both having impressive solo sections.  The song is based around a strong Guitar Riff from Steve Hackett.  Peter Gabriel vocals are really strong and he delivers some great lyrics with variations of the “Selling England By The Pound” theme.  Great tune.

“I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)” follows and is quite a coy and English sounding track.  The backing is lush and quite commercial.  Lyrically this song is quite silly in places but I think that is meant to be the point.  Quite a fun song but at the same a bit frivolous.

“Firth of Fifth” is next.  A mid paced track with some subtle playing.  The band is really strong on this track and they sway and move through this track which in some respects reminded me of Pink Floyd.  The keyboard signature in the tune is strong with a nice section that is just keyboards and drums.  A real showcase for Phil Collins who surprisingly doesn’t shine allot on this album.  This is a really interesting track that goes to some pretty places over its course.

The last song on side one is “More Fool Me”.  This track is quite different to the other songs on the album in that it is quite stripped back with just Guitar and Vocals.  The song reminds me of Cat Stevens with Phil Collins being a dead ringer for him.  It’s a really nice and well written song that finished the side off on a good note.

Side two begins with “The Battle of Epping Forest”.  The song begins with marching drum and a penny whistle.  The song has interesting time signatures and with some nice guitar and funky bass.  The song has great movement with some cool Honky Tonk keyboards.  Peter Gabriel plays a number of characters in this song which he does very well.  Lyrically the song is quite clever with a number of plays on words.  This is a really fun tune that reminds me of early Split Enz.

The Instrumental “After the Ordeal” which has a classical feel to it.  The song is layered and gives the band some room to show off but does miss Peter’s vocals.

The longest track on the album “The Cinema Show” is next.  This track for the most part is a space Rock number that is quite weird in places.  The keyboards a really prominent on this track so much so at time the track reminded me of Emerson, Lake and Palmer.  Phil Collins drumming is quite high in the mix which is a welcome change from most of the album where is buried in the mix.  The guitar in the quiet section of the song reminded me of the intro to Rock Bottom by Kiss.  Cool song.

The album ends with the coda “Aisle of Plenty” which reprises themes from earlier in album most notably from opener “Dancing with the Moonlit Knight”.

I really liked this album and have owned it but not really given it a good listen.  The band is at the top of their game with the Guitars of Steve Hackett and Keyboards of Tony Banks being the stars of the album.  A great place to start when dipping your toes in the Prog Pool.

8/10