Tracks
- Dancing with the Moonlit Knight
- I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)
- Firth of Fifth
- More Fool Me
- The Battle of Epping Forest
- After the Ordeal
- The Cinema Show
- Aisle of Plenty
Selling England by the Pound is a majestic album. The music is progressive rock. That means most songs filled with long instrumental jams. And with Genesis, especially on this album, each song is packed full with lyrics, too. Genesis is heavy on the keyboards and less reliant on the guitar.
The songs are uniquely English, the same way the Kinks' Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the English Empire) is English; it's about modern English society told via Victorian era musical and lyrical references. Peter Gabriel's lyrics feature a wide range of characters acting within the stories he tells. It's something that seems unique to Genesis' style.
While Genesis is a progressive rock band, they don't seem to have shared the close relations that other prog rock bands shared with each other. Thus, Genesis differs greatly, stylistically. However, Genesis seems to be the band which fulfils most completely the qualities that makes one a prog rock band. Arguably, the lyrics are the most colorful and sensible. During long instrumental jams, Genesis does a better job transitioning from one section to another. I think the albums, especially this one, are more conceptionally cohesive. I think Genesis rarely included filler. Even More Fool Me and Aisle of Plenty adhere to the mood and concept of the album.
I've been listening to this album for almost thirty years and it's still magical. This album is certainly worth listening to. It's a must-have for progressive rock listeners. I think it deserves to be on the 1001 Albums list for being one of the best prog rock albums.
All the songs are good. The stand outs are Selling England by the Pound, I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe), Firth of Fifth, The Battle of Epping Forest, After the Ordeal and The Cinema Show.
★★★★★★★★★★
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