Genesis (UK): Tony Banks (guitar); Mike Rutherford (bass instrument); Phil Collins (background vocals); Peter Gabriel, Steve Hackett.
Personnel: Tony Banks (vocals, 12-string guitar, keyboards); Peter Gabriel (vocals, flute, oboe, percussion); Phil Collins (vocals, drums, percussion); Steve Hackett (guitar, electric guitar); Mike Rutherford (guitar, 12-string guitar, sitar, electric sitar).
Audio Remasterers: Chris Blair; Geoff Callingham; Nick Davis .
If one had to pare the prog-rock story down to a handful of essential albums, this would undoubtedly be one of them. SELLING ENGLAND BY THE POUND was the culmination of all that Genesis had been striving for since their late-'60s inception, the refinement of the vision that developed on TRESPASS, NURSERY CRYME, and FOXTROT (somewhere in the world, there's been a second-wave prog outfit named after every one of these albums). The fusion of a complex classical mind with an electrified rock heart and pastoral folk spirit defined Genesis' anatomy, and never more effectively than on SELLING ENGLAND.
Peter Gabriel's startlingly unpretentious tale-spinning is at its best on "The Battle of Epping Forest." Tony Banks's elegant, sophisticated keyboard work is a vital element of nearly every tune, and the electric/acoustic guitar tapestry woven by Steve Hackett and Mike Rutherford is the perfect icing on the cake. Somewhat anomalous but entirely welcome is the Gabriel-era band's catchiest, quirkiest song "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)," the tale of a somewhat daft gardener. Phil Collins's lead vocal on the gorgeous acoustic ballad "More Fool Me" paints the shape of things to come. If you only buy one Genesis album, make it this one.
Professional Reviews
Q (12/94, p.162) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...deeper than anything they'd previously tried...`Dancing With The Moonlit Knight' and `The Cinema Show' (an ambitious attempt to evoke the mood of T.S. Eliot's `Waste Land' in the pop vernacular) are genuinely moving..."
Mojo (Publisher) (3/01, p.82) - "...Featuring some of the band's most bizarre lyrics to date 'I Know What I Like; nevertheless showed that [they] might yet find a home in the singles charts..."
