If you know me in real life, by that i mean off the internet, you will know that i have a huge collection of music, thats one side effect of owning a radio station i guess, but it also means i have listened to a lot of music in my time and a lot of different genres so i thought i would just share some of my music here with you too in case i review an album that you might not have listened to and then think "hey that sounds good ill take a listen too" as i think the best way of finding new music is always through other people.
Anyways, Genesis - Selling England by the pound, has always been an album on anything i have that plays music, i have it on vinyl, cassette, cd, mp3 and have it loaded on my phone, Sam Broadcaster, laptop and i did have it on 8 track but i dont know what happened to my 8 track player as it seems to be broken, that reminds me i should get it fixed at some point or buy another one.
Yes they had released other albums before Selling England by the pound but they were just getting you ready for what was to come with this album. I am not saying that the other albums released before this werent as good, they were and indeed were unlike most other music being released at the time but it was like they were perfecting their craft into what was coming with this album. The first album was a bit flat, Tresspass was a good album and Nursery Cryme and Foxtrot were really good. This was also shown in the fan base which was getting larger and larger all the time, the live shows at the time were also getting more and more elaborate, they were on the verge of being one of the best bands in music and with this album they reached their peak i feel.
With this album, Genesis almost single handedly represented everything that was good about the Prog Rock scene in the early 70s. The album has witty lyrics that comment on England at the time and the music is some of the best from Genesis, on earlier albums they had been a bit too extravigant with the play style of the music but here they manage to keep it under control and still manage to make it complex enough to sound better than what had come before
Steve Hackett shows how he is one of the best guitarists of the time with his elaborate solos he shows how masterfully he can play and doesnt repeat riffs or over use styles, he was always a good guitarist to listen to just for his playing where as some guitarists get lost in the production, you can always hear what he is putting down here clearly and he makes it sound effortless.
Mike Rutherfords bass is also very well done on this album compared to some of the earlier ones where he was more in the background, here his basslines are elaborate and complex but fit the style perfectly and go well with Hacketts guitar.
What would a Genesis album be without the keyboards? Here Banks' keyboards are one of the main components of the songs but not overpowering them like in some of the earlier Genesis works. At the time you had other prog rock keyboard players like Kieth Emerson from Emerson, Lake and Palmer whose keyboards were overpowering and over the top, you get none of that here with Banks' playing who always makes sure his fellow band members also get the time to shine. He also doesnt push the fact that he is a great keyboard player into your face like some prog rock bands did at this time, yet you still see his genius throught the album
Peter Gabriel's voice is great here too, he had a vocal range different to a lot of other prog rock singers at the time and it fitted well with the style of music that Genesis were playing at the time and upto this album he had shown what he could do both on record and in live shows where his voice and on stage personas fitted the music perfectly, he could change styles and notes perfectly which, to be honest, a lot of other singers at the time in other prog rock bands struggled with and just ended up sounding the same, you dont get that here for sure
Phil Collins also shows his vocals on "More Fool Me" and throught the whole album shows how good he is as a drum master and why on this album he had become one of the best drummers in rock and he plays complex drum fills and rolls which show his talent
This album isnt just one of the best prog rock albums i would class it as one of the best albums of all time. This was however the pinacle of the original Genesis and maybe the album was too good and took too much out of them because of their passion for their musical art only a while later Gabriel and Hackett would leave and go solo and Phil Collins descovers he can sing a full album and Genesis move on with the Collins, Banks, Rutherford era.
If you are looking for a prog rock album to begin your journey into the genre then this would be a good starting point if you want a really well played and well produced album i cant think of many others that can give the same experience to someone who has never listened to Prog Rock before.
I would give Selling England by the pound - Genesis - 9/10 but thats just my opinion, dont take my word for it, take a listen for yourself and see what you think.
Anyways, Genesis - Selling England by the pound, has always been an album on anything i have that plays music, i have it on vinyl, cassette, cd, mp3 and have it loaded on my phone, Sam Broadcaster, laptop and i did have it on 8 track but i dont know what happened to my 8 track player as it seems to be broken, that reminds me i should get it fixed at some point or buy another one.
Yes they had released other albums before Selling England by the pound but they were just getting you ready for what was to come with this album. I am not saying that the other albums released before this werent as good, they were and indeed were unlike most other music being released at the time but it was like they were perfecting their craft into what was coming with this album. The first album was a bit flat, Tresspass was a good album and Nursery Cryme and Foxtrot were really good. This was also shown in the fan base which was getting larger and larger all the time, the live shows at the time were also getting more and more elaborate, they were on the verge of being one of the best bands in music and with this album they reached their peak i feel.
With this album, Genesis almost single handedly represented everything that was good about the Prog Rock scene in the early 70s. The album has witty lyrics that comment on England at the time and the music is some of the best from Genesis, on earlier albums they had been a bit too extravigant with the play style of the music but here they manage to keep it under control and still manage to make it complex enough to sound better than what had come before
Steve Hackett shows how he is one of the best guitarists of the time with his elaborate solos he shows how masterfully he can play and doesnt repeat riffs or over use styles, he was always a good guitarist to listen to just for his playing where as some guitarists get lost in the production, you can always hear what he is putting down here clearly and he makes it sound effortless.
Mike Rutherfords bass is also very well done on this album compared to some of the earlier ones where he was more in the background, here his basslines are elaborate and complex but fit the style perfectly and go well with Hacketts guitar.
What would a Genesis album be without the keyboards? Here Banks' keyboards are one of the main components of the songs but not overpowering them like in some of the earlier Genesis works. At the time you had other prog rock keyboard players like Kieth Emerson from Emerson, Lake and Palmer whose keyboards were overpowering and over the top, you get none of that here with Banks' playing who always makes sure his fellow band members also get the time to shine. He also doesnt push the fact that he is a great keyboard player into your face like some prog rock bands did at this time, yet you still see his genius throught the album
Peter Gabriel's voice is great here too, he had a vocal range different to a lot of other prog rock singers at the time and it fitted well with the style of music that Genesis were playing at the time and upto this album he had shown what he could do both on record and in live shows where his voice and on stage personas fitted the music perfectly, he could change styles and notes perfectly which, to be honest, a lot of other singers at the time in other prog rock bands struggled with and just ended up sounding the same, you dont get that here for sure
Phil Collins also shows his vocals on "More Fool Me" and throught the whole album shows how good he is as a drum master and why on this album he had become one of the best drummers in rock and he plays complex drum fills and rolls which show his talent
This album isnt just one of the best prog rock albums i would class it as one of the best albums of all time. This was however the pinacle of the original Genesis and maybe the album was too good and took too much out of them because of their passion for their musical art only a while later Gabriel and Hackett would leave and go solo and Phil Collins descovers he can sing a full album and Genesis move on with the Collins, Banks, Rutherford era.
If you are looking for a prog rock album to begin your journey into the genre then this would be a good starting point if you want a really well played and well produced album i cant think of many others that can give the same experience to someone who has never listened to Prog Rock before.
I would give Selling England by the pound - Genesis - 9/10 but thats just my opinion, dont take my word for it, take a listen for yourself and see what you think.
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