SELLING ENGLAND BY THE POUND

Five Stars There's an axiom I heard from a friend - "first heard - most preferred". It was 1974 when I first heard "Selling England" and listened among the mound of similar era releases - Fragile, Tubular Bells, Dark Side - this album warmed in my ears with that "special quality" not accorded to the others in quite the same way. It has a lot to do with Genesis ability to stridently rock one moment and then crouch down with a squeaky solemness to hushed, peppery drumming, and delight in holding back. Plateaus in their compositions lead to dynamic break outs, and like any successful group of this period or any other - the vocals are strong and characteristic. I think as well there are few examples in progressive rock where the lines are fully epic - emotional, anguished, defiant - as in Bank's shiveringly brilliant climbing section in 'Cinema Show', and Hackett's celebrated re-telling of the main theme on "Firth of Fifth". Gabriel's soulful singing, his perfect ending of phrases, and his theatrical renderring on 'Battle of Epping Forest', typify this as Prog's most English record - you partake a cuppa and a football match in the lounge before you leave. The sheer level of craftmanship and the qaulity of recording and production put this album in a category above both "Foxtrot" and "Nursery Cryme", the latter in particular suffers from muddy production. The only potentially "weak" point perhaps is Collins' "More Fool Me" which is only slightly out of place musically, and lyrically lightweight, although his vocal is superb. Better to call it a 'breather' before Epping Forest begins. Words do not really come close, it leaves me speechless, it is music that is fully felt and is as timeless a record as has ever been recorded. One for the ages.