GENESIS - Selling England by the Pound (1973-2014) RM / SHM-CD / FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Genesis proved that they could rock on Foxtrot but on its follow-up Selling England by the Pound they didn't follow this route, they returned to the English eccentricity of their first records, which wasn't so much a retreat as a consolidation of powers. For even if this eight-track album has no one song that hits as hard as "Watcher of the Skies," Genesis hasn't sacrificed the newfound immediacy of Foxtrot: they've married it to their eccentricity, finding ways to infuse it into the delicate whimsy that's been their calling card since the beginning. This, combined with many overt literary allusions -- the Tolkeinisms of the title of "The Battle of Epping Forest" only being the most apparent -- gives this album a storybook quality. It plays as a collection of short stories, fables, and fairy tales, and it is also a rock record, which naturally makes it quite extraordinary as a collection, but also as a set of individual songs. Genesis has never been as direct as they've been on the fanciful yet hook-driven "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)" -- apart from the fluttering flutes in the fade-out, it could easily be mistaken for a glam single -- or as achingly fragile as on "More Fool Me," sung by Phil Collins. It's this delicate balance and how the album showcases the band's narrative force on a small scale as well as large that makes this their arguable high-water mark. by Stephen Thomas Erlewine  

Tracklist:
1 Dancing With The Moonlit Knight 8:03
2 I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe) 4:10
3 Firth Of Fifth 9:35
4 More Fool Me 3:11  Vocals – Phil
5 The Battle Of Epping Forest 11:43
6 After The Ordeal 4:15
7 The Cinema Show 10:41
8 Aisle Of Plenty 1:58

Credits:

Drums, Percussion, Vocals – Phil Collins

Electric Guitar, Classical Guitar [Nylon] – Stephen Hackett

Keyboards, Twelve-String Guitar – Tony Banks

Twelve-String Guitar, Bass, Sitar [Electric] – Michael Rutherford

Vocals, Flute, Oboe, Percussion – Peter Gabriel