Is Selling England really the greatest prog album?

stonebeard wrote: There is no "best" prog album. Anyone who tries to say there is should try to get a job with a pretentious, head-up-ass magazine, like RollingStone or NME.

Tell us what you really think

an album has to be known to be recognized. there are probably a lot of better albums, probably even a lot of that would be considered to be "better" by those who currently think SEBTP is the best, if only they knew of them. it is the same with books. do you have any idea how many masterpieces have been written that just never were discovered? a good example of an almost forgotten masterpiece is "Les Chants de Maldoror" by Lautréamont. if surrealist Philppe Soupault had not discovered it by chance in 1917 (in the mathematic section of a small Parisian bookshop, of all places!) and had passed it on to André Breton, who was as equally enthusiastic about the book as Soupault, we would have been bereft of what is now widely considered to be a masterpiece of French literature


Edited by BaldJean - March 25 2009 at 10:52

I don't care much for it. Moonlit Knight and Firth of Fifth are awesome songs, but the rest of the album is pretty average. Foxtrot and Trespass, on the other hand, are pure brilliance from beginning to end.

Well actually people tend to forget that there is no such thing as BEST, there is only FAVOURITE... and while SEBTP is a hell of an album, my FAVOURITE is TFTO.

Ricochet wrote: Offf...every time an album (other than CTTE) is #1 on the "Top rated prog albums" list, someone jumps in and ask "I don't find it the best prog album ever released". It's the "top rated prog albums" list, people. Top rated =/= best prog album ever.

Just notice that most people have said that it's not their favorite prog album. Sure it's the top rated, but is that because it's the best or because of it's popularity.

It's a great album. I gave it 5/5 stars, but I still don't think it's the greatest prog album. There are probably a lot of people like me, who love it, gave it 5 stars, but still don't think it's the best. Because so many prog fans know of this album, and also love it, that's probably how it got to be the highest rated prog album, possibly without being the best.

Ricochet wrote: NaturalScience wrote: There exists no album, prog or otherwise, that I could possibly rank above all others. So...Western Culture and Love Beach are of the same rank for you?

Goof. 

I can easily rank Western Culture above Love Beach.

I cannot rank Western Culture above every other album I have.

NaturalScience wrote: There exists no album, prog or otherwise, that I could possibly rank above all others.

So...Western Culture and Love Beach are of the same rank for you?

It may well be. It has some unbelievable work on it that ranks up there. It has two different songs (Firth and Moonlit Knight) that may be the best prog song of all time. At the same time, it's far from flawless.

Offf...every time an album (other than CTTE) is #1 on the "Top rated prog albums" list, someone jumps in and ask "I don't find it the best prog album ever released".

It's the "top rated prog albums" list, people. Top rated =/= best prog album ever.

I have fond memories of the album when I first heard it and it still turns up in my circulation, but this whole "greatest" or "best" thing is nuts.  But then I don't want to personally engage you in the battle of Epping Forest or anything.