Selling England By The Pound: Genesis — Analogue Productions (Atlantic 75 Series) 45 RPM vinyl reissue
My journey discovering rock music has been very slow, but over the past year, it has accelerated. I’ve begun to appreciate and enjoy a lot of bands. A few I’ve grown to admire and love. Living the life of a classical musician, playing it, teaching it and writing about it, has left me precious little time for genres other than classical music and jazz. As a well-bred Brit, I’ve always liked The Beatles. But not much music past the genius of Paul McCartney. I’ve heard a lot of rock music, of course, but never really listened. As such, please take my words about this new remaster/recut of Genesis’ fifth studio album, Selling England by the Pound with at least three grains of salt. I’ll try not to write anything stupid. Here goes.
Selling England by the Pound was released on 28 September 1973 on Charisma Records. This is Analogue Productions’ Atlantic 75 Series recut by Chris Bellman released just last week. It’s my first Genesis album.
Genesis was not on my radar, though as one of the early bands of “Prog Rock”, maybe they should have been. As 2023 has gone by, I’m finding it’s my favourite rock subgenre by a long way. As such, other than The Beatles and Stones (I reviewed The Rolling Stones in Mono (2023 Coloured Vinyl) box set and loved it), I lean towards Jethro Tull and Pink Floyd. I’m constantly searching for the best original pressings of both bands. It’s been fun. Happily, for us, companies like Analogue Productions are taking the guesswork out of collecting. They’ve hit more recut home runs than Hank Aaron. So for about $60, at least in this “Atlantic 75” series, you’re getting the best remastering, pressed at Quality Record Pressings on a double, 180-gram 45 RPM. Most importantly, for me, Bellman cut Selling England by the Pound directly from the original master tapes at Bernie Grundman Mastering. So, how’d he do?
In a word, excellent.
For comparison, I’ve only streamed the album. As I said, Genesis was never on my radar ‘till I watched my friend Scott Wilson’s heartfelt review of Selling England By The Pound on YouTube. So compelling, I ordered it unheard. So nothing to compare it to, but taking Wilson at his word, this is the Rolls Royce pressing.
The records arrived shipped professionally, corners bend-free, and the vinyl flat and silent. The artwork is gorgeous, printed on a Tip-on old-style gatefold double pocket jacket with film lamination by Stoughton Printing. The beautiful cover artwork is a painting by Betty Swanwick titled “The Dream”.
The band’s lineup at the time was frontman/singer Peter Gabriel, keyboardist Tony Banks, bassist and guitarist Mike Rutherford, guitarist Steve Hackett and drummer Phil Collins.
Genesis at Heathrow Airport in 1974 (L to R) Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins, Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford and Steve Hackett. Photo credit: CBC Radio Canada.
Their record company gave the band a few months to develop new material after the success of their previous album, Foxtrot. The writing process was reported as difficult; eventually, they came up with :
"Dancing with the Moonlit Knight"
"I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)"
"Firth of Fifth"
"More Fool Me"
"The Battle of Epping Forest"
“After the Ordeal"
"The Cinema Show"
"Aisle of Plenty"
After being won over by Selling England By The Pound, I will be preordering Foxtrot (1972) and possibly Nursery Cryme (1971), both from the Analogue Productions (Atlantic 75) 45 RPM vinyl reissue series, but this outstanding LP reminds me of the very best “prog rock“ practices, both harmonically and rhythmically.
Each song on Selling England By The Pound highlights the group’s collective ingenuity and reflects Charterhouse's musical training (Charterhouse is one of the oldest and most famous (and expensive) of England‘s “Public Schools”). Peter Gabriel, Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford attended Charterhouse, about as far as one can imagine from Paul and John’s musical upbringing. The musical training and individual creative instinct propelled the musicians to extend harmonies, rhythms, and melodic invention past the usual “let’s get a band together” groups prevalent in much of the rock world.
Charterhouse School, Surrey. Founded in 1611.
So from the start of "Dancing with the Moonlit Knight", you know you’re in for an interesting ride. Like all great songs, the lyrics match the musical ingenuity, so epics like "The Battle of Epping Forest" have real gravitas—I was blown away by Gabriel’s powerful words. And laughed at the postlude of "Aisle of Plenty" (BIRDS EYE DAIRY CREAM SPONGE ON OFFER THIS WEEK—if you’re British, you’ve had one!).
All the songs reflect the musical brilliance of the group but I call attention to Tony Banks, whose rhythmic ingenuity digs into complex (but interesting and not for effect’s sake) rhythmic shifts. Lots of “non-union” time signatures played super accurately at high speed (7/8, 13/16 and 15/16, these last two I’ve only come across conducting or playing Stravinsky!). We even get some charming, high school-level fluting by Gabriel on "Firth of Fifth" and "The Cinema Show"—the guys threw in the kitchen sink to get their message across.
The songs are harmonically advanced as much as the rhythms. Inventive, sophisticated harmony always pricks my ear. So much of rock music is I IV, V, I, rinse and repeat or blues-based (mind you, I love a good blues album). Like Jethro Tull and Pink Floyd, harmonic progressions are varied and complex and suit the songs perfectly. "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)" features descending 7th chords in the chorus that are both catchy and quite profound. Always a hit combination in prog rock.
The über talented Phil Collins (at the time, a fairly new addition to the band) added "More Fool Me", written with Mike Rutherford on the steps of Island Studios and sung beautifully in his controlled falsetto. In some ways, this simple song is the one that sounds most impressive in Chris Bellman’s cut. More on the sound coming up.
Island Studios in Notting Hill, London. (Now closed).
The orchestrations and arrangements are also top-class. Along with flute, we get oboe, recorders, and in addition to the standard rock arsenal, famous solos by guitarist Steve Hackett (Bach had a huge influence on his musical life and it shows in his phrasing) and keyboards (piano, Mellotron, ARP Pro Soloist, the last two early models of synthesizers). There are fewer special effects than Pink Floyd employs, but some interesting and effective talking in "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)".
Musically, it’s an inspirational and very beautiful album. I have not streamed Foxtrot yet, but will order it unheard like Selling England By The Pound. If Foxtrot sounds like this Chris Bellman cut, we’re all in for an audiophile treat.
Sound
I’m not sure how these remastering engineers do all the new recuts so fast and so well. Kevin Gray does a hundred a year. Ryan K. Smith and Bernie Grundman, too. Of course, great tapes and expertise, and all that, but knowing nothing about engineering, I sometimes think they loop the tape, press play and press their preset EQ button, et voila! Another audiophile gem. Of course not, but I’d love to know the magic elixir the guys use to get such superb, consistent results from tapes of variable quality or lineage. Lots of expertise, great taste and good ears, I suppose. No matter. Chris Bellman has the magic as well. And it shows in this marvellous recut of the Genesis masterpiece.
Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering.
Because prog rock can be complex with lots of different instruments and recorded tracks, these quality recuts are a blessing. Sure, some of the famous prog rock originals with recording engineer masters like Glyn Johns and Alan Parsons overseeing the project are superb, but there’s no doubt better mastering equipment (lots of customized tube gear being used these days) helps—I’m sure the original recording of this album under studio conditions was recorded and mixed well by John Burns.
Bellman captures guitar sounds on this album like nobody’s business. Seems the Genesis guys didn’t meet a 12-string they didn’t like. There are glorious sounding leads and accompaniments throughout the record from “Dancing with the Moonlit Knight" to” The Cinema Show”. In fact, the myriad of sounds from all sorts of guitars is amazing. Guitarist Steve Hackett produces superb solos; it’s a guitar timbral masterclass. The final ritornello on the opening track features some of the most delicate 12-string playing you’re likely to hear.
It’s not the same for drums, though Phil Collins’ expertise is a constant. No Bonham heroics, here, but technically fine drumming in complex time signatures. The best are the the super fast, quiet snare fills. They emphasize the longer instrumental sections of the song “Firth of Fifth". As such, the clarity of Bellman’s recording is outstanding.
Also on “Firth of Fifth", voices are heard clearly with understandable diction. Here Gabriel’s voice sounds beautiful in the mix with nice choral work (Mellotron?) behind him. The long song is episodic but works so well.
The superb recording of the voices continues on “More Fool Me"—the playback of Collins’ vocal solo is quite unnerving and forward in the mix. The clarity easily demonstrates the overdubs with his voice hanging in the soundstage like a fragile flower. Not epic in length or depth, but a highlight of the album. Great guitar sounds accompanying, too.
On Side 3 we have “The Battle of Epping Forest” with very effective depth of field marching. It’s great to have these extended songs on a 45RPM side. As such, Bellman wrings every little bit of audiophile goodness from each song. The dynamics and bass are excellent which makes crescendos exciting.
After just a brief time with the reissue, I wouldn’t call Selling England by the Pound an “audiophile” album with the same cred as some Pink Floyd albums, but it has so much musical interest with so many varied sounds that it’s a must buy as this wonderful series continues. Very highly recommended.
Our vinyl reference system used to evaluate AP’s new 2023 Selling England By The Pound.
