SELLING ENGLAND BY THE POUND

This is, in my humble opinion, the best progressive rock album ever (followed closely by Dream Theater's Scene's From a Memory, which is knocked down only by the vocals and some unnecessary, though good, filler). Gabriel has such passion in his voice, he not only sang, he played the character of the song. In this respect, my favorite song on the album is The Battle of Epping Forest. Tony Banks has proved himself time and time again with his songwriting chops, you can feel his presence in the music here, the keyboards add a nice roundness to the music that you could not achieve with just guitars. Steve Hackett is the most graceful guitarist I've ever heard (followed immediately by John Petrucci of Dream Theater). He adds a level of beauty and artistry to his solos that you don't see very often in a genre dominated by macho sounding, blues-based guitar solos. Phil Collins is a capable drummer, and has a nice voice suited for back-up vocals, a very good asset for any musical ensemble. Mike Rutherford provides the much needed support with all this crazy stuff going on, underrated, but a necessary component to the classic Genesis sound.