Genesis: Selling England by the Pound (crystal clear vinyl, indie exclusive) [RHINO]

Why you'll love it

This limited indie exclusive puts the album on crystal clear vinyl as part of Atlantic's 75th anniversary series. It reached No. 3 in the UK, went Gold in the UK and US, and gave Genesis their first UK top 30 single.

This edition

• Crystal clear vinyl
• Indie exclusive
• Limited edition
• Atlantic 75 series
• Pressed in Germany

About the album

Peter Gabriel borrowed the title from a Labour Party slogan, partly so the British press couldn't accuse the band of selling out to America. What followed was the most English record Genesis ever made, full of folk memory, gang warfare in Epping Forest and supermarket wordplay.

The classic five-piece of Gabriel, Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford, Steve Hackett and Phil Collins wrote most of it in a rambling house in Chessington, where the neighbours imposed a curfew, and finished it below the Una Billings School of Dance in Shepherd's Bush. Collins had been listening to Mahavishnu Orchestra and pushed into trickier time signatures on "Dancing with the Moonlit Knight," while a stage riff of Hackett's grew into "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)." Banks stitched three ideas into "Firth of Fifth," home to Hackett's soaring solo, and "The Cinema Show" stretches into a long instrumental workout. The band produced it with John Burns.

Its reputation has kept climbing on lists of the best progressive rock albums ever made. Gabriel wrote all his lyrics for it in two days, which is roughly how long it takes us to alphabetize the prog section.

Also at Kops: more Genesis on vinyl · browse Rock

Tracklist

Listen

On Charisma / Atlantic / Rhino (cat# RCV1 516781), a reissue of the 1973 album.