Prog Rock Saturday: Selling England by the Pound

Genesis - "Selling England By The Pound" (1973) - The Famous Charisma Label

Hello friends and welcome to another Prog Rock Saturday here on "V in the V"!

Tonight we've got Genesis's Selling England By The Pound on the turntable and boy is it a weird one!  This is Peter Gabriel-era Genesis, so for those of you familiar with the hits of the late 70's and 80's Phil Collins-version of the band, you're in for a real treat and/or shock.

This LP is proggy, political, challenging and just plain weird.  Its also very English with a lot of the lyrics making cryptic references to people & places uniquely British!

Side One is definitely the more listenable side.  The opener, "Dancing with the Moonlight Knight", has Gabriel making ironic references to British credit card debt, the controversial Green Shield Trading Stamp Program, fatties and the growing presence of the "Wimpy" fast-food burger chain across England's towns and hamlets.

Next we have the band's highest charting single to date, the fantastic "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)" about a young man who is perfectly content mowing his neighbors' lawns and not concerned with the complications of adulthood and success!  

Next is the epic-sounding, "Firth of Fifth" with its weird time signatures, chord progressions and Gabriel-played flute solos.   

Side One concludes with the quiet Phil Collins ballad, "More Fool Me".  Featuring sparse vocals and only acoustic guitar, its quite a calming force in the middle of the maelstrom of complex art rock.

If Side One is the "rock" side, then Side Two is definitely the "prog" side.  "The Battle of Epping Forest" is a mini-opera about a London turf war in which Peter Gabriel changes his voice when singing about different characters like "Bob the Knob" and "Mick the Prick".  Again, there's lots of time changes and chord progressions so for the beginner Genesis fan, there's a lot to wrap your head around!  Its like West Side Story on Adderall! 

Next up is the Renaissance fair-sounding instrumental, "After the Ordeal" which actually features some remarkable guitar-playing by Steve Hackett.

There's more theatrics in Gabriel's update of "Romeo & Juliet" in "The Cinema Show".  Again, not a bad song, but the four-plus minute keyboard solo in the songs second-half is a bit of a deal breaker!

  

Side Two concludes with "Aisle of Plenty" which is a reprise of the album's opener.  This time with Gabriel making ironic wordplay about British grocery stores: Fine Fare, Safeway, Tesco & The Co-op.  (Apparently, Gabriel did his shopping at Sainsbury!)

And, we've come full circle!  Yes its a little weird, but Selling England By The Pound is another proggy masterpiece.  And for all his eccentricities, Gabriel was ahead of his time thematically.  Singing about debt, laziness, obesity and a nation obsessed with blind consumerism in 1973?  One can almost forgive his goofy outfits!


RATING: 4.5 Lawnmowers out of 5... Keep them mowing blades sharp!