SELLING ENGLAND BY THE POUND

Ok, many people consider this to be the greatest progressive album of all time, and I cannot help but disagree to this opinion of the album (personally, I find albums such as "Close to the Edge" by YES and "The Wall" by PINK FLOYD to be far stronger). The being said, this is a really good album, and one that cannot be missed by fans of GENESIS, or fans of prog in general.

The album starts off with "Dancing With the Moonlit Knight", as song that, while it starts on the slow side, once it gets going, it has one of the coolest riffs in prog. The album then continues with the laughably absurd, but enjoyable "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe).

The third track, which is one of the high points of the album (and of prog in general) is "Firth of Fifth". All I can say to this song is "wow". The song begins with an excellent piano intro (although it sounds a bit like a bad sitcom intro). The verses have impressive singing by Gabriel, and excellent organ/mellotron work from Tony Banks. After a flute solo by Gabriel, the listener is spun into a frenzied keyboard solo by Banks, followed by one of the best guitar solos ever in prog. Tony Banks once negatively described the song as "too King Crimson-y", and I agree with this statement. However, I think the comparison to King Crimson should be a positive one (it sounds a lot like KING CRIMSON's "Epitaph"), as the epic Crimson-eqsue mellotron sounds gives the solo an extra edge to it.

The next three songs aren't necessarily bad songs, but I kind of feel that they are lacking and pretty unmemorable. AMong these songs is the weakest of the album, "Battle of Epping Forest". While again, not a terrible song, I find that it drags on way too much and is overall kind of boring.

The audience is then shown "The Cinema Show", another must-listen for progressive rock fans. The first half of the song is what we come to expect from Genesis- a nice acoustic song with some allusions to times of yore- and is overall pretty harmless and reminds me a lot of "The Musical Box" off "Nursery Crime". Had "The Cinema Show" been just those first 6 mins, then "The Musical Box" would easily be the stronger song. However, the second half we are greeted to one of the best synth solos in prog. Seriously, "wow" is all I can say again. It's not easy for a keyboardist to hold a 5 minute keyboard solo, but Banks does it in spades. I can't even begin to describe it- you will just have to listen to it and experience yourself.

Overall, this is a very good album, but I wouldn't put it as the top prog album of all time (top 10...hmmm maybe). If you are a prog fan, do yourself a favor and listen to it- you won't be disappointed. If you can't listen to the whole album, then just listen to "Firth of Fifth" and "The Cinema Show".