Genesis – Selling England By The Pound(1973)

Biography
Genesis started life as a progressive rock band, in the manner of Yes and King Crimson, before a series of membership changes brought about a transformation in their sound, into one of the most successful pop/rock bands of the 1980s and 1990s. In addition, the group has provided a launching pad for the superstardom of members Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins, and star solo careers for members Tony Banks, Michael Rutherford, and Steve Hackett. Their roots go back to 1965 and a pair of rival groups, the Garden Wall and the Anon, formed by students at the Charterhouse School in Godalming, Surrey. They merged, with the result that 15-year-olds Peter Gabriel, Tony Banks, and Michael Rutherford joined with 14-year-old Anthony Phillips, calling themselves the New Anon and recording a six-song demo featuring songs primarily written by Rutherford and Phillips. Charterhouse alumnus, recording artist, and producer Jonathan King heard the tape and arranged for the group to continue working in the studio, and it was also King who renamed the band Genesis.  Genesis then lost two members. Mayhew left over the unhappiness with aspects of his playing, and was replaced by Phil Collins, a former child actor turned drummer who had previously played with Flaming Youth — he also added an occasional additional lead vocal to their sound. Much more unsettling was the departure of guitarist Anthony Phillips, who had developed crippling stage fright. For some time afterward, Genesis worked as a four-piece with the guitar parts covered by Banks’ keyboards. Finally, just prior to Genesis beginning work on their next album, their lineup was completed with the addition of guitarist Steve Hackett, a former member of Quiet World.

Album & Cover
Following the critical success of Foxtrot, and having the live reputation to secure them gigs aplenty in medium-sized venues, the one thing Genesis lacked was a really successful album to put them up amongst their peers like Yes, and King Crimson. It was time to up their game once more. Strangely they did this by backtracking. Their work had always contained a pastoral yearning and a sense of wanting to return to past times. Undoubtedly their adherence to this surreal form of nostalgia sprang from their public school backgrounds at Charterhouse, but following Foxtrot’s rather obtuse statements about the end of the world, it was a sense of loss for the old order that informed Selling…Hence its title. http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/selling-england-by-the-pound

Dreams of Merrie Olde England turn into consumerist nightmares on Genesis’s third album — and its last as a cohesive creative unit. “Can you tell me where my country lies?” sings Peter Gabriel in “Dancing With the Moonlit Knight,” the first of several songs that pillory and parody the island nation’s hey-nonny stereotype. For guitarist Steve Hackett, who trips the light fantastic throughout, Selling reflects “the sense of old England being taken over; the cornershop giving way to the multinational [corporation].” Selling also contains “Firth of Fifth,” the longish composition that many consider the band’s finest moment, as well as “More Fool Me,” their first Phil Collins vocal vehicle and a taste of poppier things to come. Gabriel carried the record’s sometimes Monty Python-esque Arthurian caricature to the ensuing tour, appearing onstage costumed as the knight Britannia. R.G. http://www.rollingstone.com/genesis-selling-england-by-the-pound

Tracklist

Credits
Drums, Percussion, Vocals – Phil Collins
Engineer [Assistant] – Rhett Davies
Guitar [12-string], Bass, Sitar [Electric] – Michael Rutherford
Guitar [Electric, Nylon] – Stephen Hackett
Keyboards, Guitar [12-string] – Tony Banks
Producer – Genesis, John Burns
Vocals, Flute, Oboe, Percussion – Peter Gabriel