SELLING ENGLAND BY THE POUND

Now that that's out of the way, let me do a little explaining:

1) Dancing with the Moonlit Knight - Wow, this is an incredible opener. It starts out with Gabriel singing acapella then each instrument slowly comes in, this is all building up to the chorus, followed by a long instrumental passage with a blistering solo by Steve Hackett. The lyrics are wonderful, dealing with the English dream or somesuch, maybe I'm wrong about that but at least they paint an image in your head, and that image will be different depending on who you are, unlike YES, but I'll review that some other day... Some more verses, chorus again, then my favorite part: a 2 minute instrumental passage which is just amazing, the same four or five notes being repeated while layers of percussion, cymbals, fading mellotrons, and plucked strings add some atmosphere. In a word, haunting. 5/5

2) I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe) - Now this is really good fun! Starts out with a low synth note, perhaps to represent the "cosmic lawnmower", and a spoken word intro by Gabriel: "It's one o'clock and time for lunch, When the sun beats down and I lie on the bench I can always hear them talk." The lyrics deal with young, English, upper-middle class children who just seem to want to laze about all day and "know what (they) like, like what (they) know". The melody is very memorable, great instrumentation, great playing and singing... this may be the closest they ever came to a pop song in the Gabriel years. 5/5

3) Firth of Fifth - Beginning with a classic(al) piano intro by Banks, the verses are rather simple in structure, and the lyrics maybe a bit pretentious, but it's the instrumental parts that really cook here: It's all based on variations on the original intro, played by Banks, and Collins' drumming is just superb, almost jazzy. Rutherford plays seemingly simple basslines, but they're really almost the heart of the song, nobody could play them better, then after a sort of synth solo by Banks.... a stupendous, moody, wailing (I mean that in the best sense of the word) solo by Hackett. It isn't played fast, but you can hear the emotion he puts into every note. After another verse, the song fades out with another piano melody from Banks. 5/5

4) More Fool Me - Now this is just a complete step away from all the previous songs. A simple love song with an acoustic guitar as its only accompaniment? And yet, it seems to fit in perfectly, I honestly need a break from the epic songs once in awhile and after the first three tracks (especially Firth of Fifth) I could use a breather, which is why I have no problem with it, really. As for the song itself, its actually really sweet and heartfelt (for a Collins ballad) and his voice isn't that bad, though definitely not as emotional as Gabriel's. The lyrics are great, and the chorus very uplifting. There's nothing wrong with this song. 5/5

5) The Battle of Epping Forest - This is probably one of the greatest epic prog song ever written. It fades in with a sort of military-style snare drum pattern and flute accompaniment, (Gabriel is just great here, he overdubs several times to make some great harmonies), then slowly fades out. It's a great way to start, I always feeling like I'm a soldier marching through a field, about to fight in some great battle taking place just over the horizon. The song is actually about a gang fight going on in a residential area of England, and it very cleverly draws comparisons to a real battles between nations ("Here come the cavalry"). Gabriel's singing is just incredible here, with various characters and puns used in the lyrics. The concept is just genius, and the instrumentals are unique for each verse. If you listen to the lyrics you can hear the story of each gang member, it's all very good fun. Then, out of nowhere, a new part: The story of a reverend, who inadvertently solicits a prostitute and becomes involved in the smuggling trade. In all honesty, it's hilarious, which is what I think they intended. Good prog bands should let you laugh at their songs, unlike YES (oh, here we go again). In the end: nobody wins because everybody's dead! They flip a coin to decide who's won; the whole thing was for nothing. I don't understand why even some seasoned Genesis fans tend to dislike this song, but listen to it with an open mind and you will be rewarded. 5/5

6) After the Ordeal - An ordeal that last song certainly was, but a good one. This is an instrumental, don't ask me about the concept, but the instrumentation is great, with each part as complex as the next (no drums, though). It's somewhat medieval in style, bar the guitar, basically just a great song, you can tell they took a lot of time with this one. 5/5

7) The Cinema Show - This is technically the last original song on the album, about a couple destined to meet at the cinema show. Ok, so the plot may be a little silly, the lyrics are fine, but the instrumental bits are what make this song wonderful. Gabriel plays his flute more than in any other track, and he does great. It's mostly acoustic, and Hackett is wonderful on the playing that way. Then in the middle we suddenly have a change of tempo, we go into 7/4, and we get a great synth solo from Banks accented by Collins' drumming, probably his best effort on the album along with "Dancing with the Moonlit Knight", all building up to a climax with the whole band playing, then it all quiets down, we hear the guitar riff from "Dancing", and it fades into the last song... 5/5

8) Aisle of Plenty - A reprise of the theme from "Dancing with the Moonlit Knight", the lyrics have been changed, it shows in the end the dream has been lost, and all it was was crass consumerism, that England has lost its culture in this new world. A salesman starts to recite prices of his various items, and it slowly fades out. A fitting end. 5/5

Final: What else is there to be said. I'll say it again: This is the greatest progressive rock album of all time. Get it at all costs, if you can't afford it, sell an organ on the black market. Just make sure it's a non-important one. Like your appendix. Selling England by the Pound gets 5 stars out of 5.

Share this GENESIS review

Social review comments () BETA

---

---

Review related links

• Send comments to DamoSuzuki
• Report this review (#254656)
• Buy GENESIS music online with PA partners
• Show all GENESIS MP3/Stream
• Go to GENESIS page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to Selling England by the Pound page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for GENESIS related discussions