SELLING ENGLAND BY THE POUND

The process of reviewing the Gabriel era Genesis albums has become a positive, fulfilling and enlightening exercise for me. The process has allowed me to listen to a huge part of my music collection and to REALLY scrutinize the music for WHAT IT IS, instead of listening to it through a veil of prejudice, sentimentality and biases affected by common and popular beliefs.

In other words, I don't care what anyone else thinks. I'm going to review these early Genesis records based on what my heart and ears tell me, not on what is socially acceptable or what is historically significant.

That being said, I should say that Genesis is one of my favorite prog bands of all-time. I enjoy their music IMMENSELY. Yet, I find inconsistencies with their Gabriel era work that it makes me sit back and take a closer look at all of these so-called prog masterpieces.

I'm finding that, after several decades of listening, some of the Gabriel era Genesis albums don't age very gracefully. They have too many holes in them. Too many bad moments that lessen the overall effect of the album.

For starters, SEBTP contains some of THE MOST SUBLIME music ever made; in any genre. On the other hand, it contains some cheesy moments that would make any honest-hearted music fan cringe in disgust.

I typically don't like to do a song-by-song analysis but being that this album is so high on most everyone's list I will go into more detail than usual.

First, the BAD:

4. More Fool Me (3:09): What the! This is MUCH WORSE than anything Phil Collins did after Hackett left the band(up to, and including, And Then There Were Three). Why is this song on this record? What compelled the band to have it come after Fifth of Firth? Who in their right mind would allow this song to coexist with everything else on this record? But it's not alone. Read on...

2. I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe) (4:06) : This tune is SO OUT OF PLACE on this record that it makes me wonder if Peter Gabriel era Genesis ever understood how an album is mastered; ie. the flow of one piece to the next. A VERY basic concept when creating an album. Specially when the album is supposed to be a concept of sorts.

The aforementioned tunes are some of Genesis' lowest points, only to be matched by the cheesiness of Collins solo ballads and some of Gabriel's own solo work.

Those two songs are VERY REVEALING and clearly tell me that the band had very little breadth. They certainly could go very deep into some pieces(see the GOOD parts below) but didn't have enough material available to make a flawless recording, needing to add some very bad filler material.

Now, the GOOD. What saves this record is that the good is VERY GOOD to flat-out MASTERFUL.

1. Dancing With The Moonlit Knight (8:01): It's simply one of the most creative and emotional songs ever made. A LOT has been said about the opening voice and how the music kicks in creating a dense and symphonic masterpiece. Certainly, one of the highlights of the prog genre. If the record contained this song and no other, it'd earn four stars. It's that good.

3. Firth Of Fifth (9:34) : Why didn't this piece come directly after the opening track boggles my mind. Anyway, this is another prog classic. The way it FLOWS through various moods is totally sublime. Of course, the much heralded Hackett solo is the highlight of the piece, but the opening classical style piano by Banks should not be downplayed; it's excellent.

5. The Battle Of Epping Forest(11:43) : This is one of the most lyrically complex Genesis pieces ever written by Gabriel. He threw in the kitchen sink and then some. But it works and works very well. The conversation that persists throughout the piece between Gabriel and Rutherford is quite entertaining and paints a VERY convincing picture of the story line. This is theatrical prog at its best. Too bad that The Lamb couldn't achieve this same level of theatrics. This one is a masterpiece.

Finally, 7. The Cinema Show (11:06) : I have to admit to being a hardcore Tony Banks fan. Throughout Genesis' history Banks has been its most consistent force. I don't think any other member has contributed as much to the Genesis sound. The Cinema Show is Tony's place to shine on this record and he takes the limelight quite well, majestically soloing throughout the majority of the piece in a graceful and melodic style that Tony does so very well.

In conclusion.....

Selling England By The Pound contains some of THE BEST music in the history of prog. BUT, the low points are so low that it's nearly impossible to give this one the five star rating. I'm not one to scrutinize every part of every song for sonic and compositional perfection while doing a review. However, I don't expect any one song(or two as is the case with this album) to stick out so prominently that it tarnishes an otherwise flawless record. Filler material is unacceptable from this level of musicianship.

FOUR STARS.