Genesis
Selling England By the Pound - Famous Charisma 1973
Tracks: 1: Dancing with the Moonlit Knight / 2: I Know What I Like / 3: Firth of Fifth / 4: More Fool Me / 5: Battle of Epping Forets / 6: After the Ordeal / 7: The Cinema Show / 8: Aisle of Plenty
Comments:
"Selling England By the Pound" was the first Genesis album I heard and shortly after also bought. It took me a while to get used to the, for that time, rather long and complex songs, but the start of "Dancing With The Moonlit Knight" was sufficiently catchy that I initially became interested coming to a better understanding the group's music. It soon proved to be worthwhile, and now many years later, after have bdecome thoroughly acquainted with most of the group's music, I still consider this album as one of their best.
The record was a great success for the group in 1973 and some time later the single-track "I Know What I Like" also became a minor hit. A fun song that shows the group from its humorous side. "Firth of Fifth" is like the opening track a complex compostion, built up with different, but very fine musical pieces. The quiet acoustic "More Fool Me" is a little pre-taste of Genesis with Phil Collins as lead singer.
The original side two opened with the album's longest track, the dramatic tale of "The Battle of Epping Forest" This is followed by the delicate instrumental "After the Ordeal" that ends with a majestic guitar solo. "The Cinema Show" is another long composition, where especially the vocal parts are very melodic and catchy - and which include a sequence where the vocals remind me a lot of Crosby, Stills and Nash. "Aisle of Plenty" is a little reprise of the "Selling England by the Pound" theme.
Definitely one of Genesis' strongest and most enduring albums.
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