The year is 1973. And it is the fifth album by the band Genesis, founded in England in 1967. With Selling England by the Pound, Genesis and their lead singer Peter Gabriel created one of the most important prog albums. Do I not care about superlatives? But yes! I liked the first song the first time I heard it. I have always instinctively liked prog. The title was taken from the Labour Party's election campaign slogan and is a social critique of the English middle class at that time.

How can a prog head not love “Dancing with a Moonlit Knight”? What starts acapella gently transitions into pastoral sounds with 12-string guitar, before turning into a firework of dynamics. Driving drums, ornate keyboards and guitar, rhythm changes and a difficult text. What a start!

“I know what I Like” sounds like catchy pop and breaks the strong structure that “Dancing with a Moonlit Knight” laid down. Here the lyrics are more important and are difficult to classify without knowledge of the quirks and peculiarities of the English middle class. This song is a parody of that.

“Firth of Fifth” starts with a piano and then turns into a broad, multi-layered and powerful song. For many, the heart of the album.

For me, “More Fool Me” is a nice love song and, thanks to Phil Collins’ vocals, it is a bad premonition of what the band’s musical style would be like in the future. In 1975, Peter Gabriel left the band and in 1977, guitarist Steve Hackett also left.

For me, “Battle of Epping Forest” is one of the good songs. Critics see it differently, the main criticism being the perceived less well thought-out structures, it seems thrown together. I see the greatest strength here in Peter Gabriel's singing, which gives each role he sings an individual touch. A fine song that deals with the youth gangs of that administrative district at the time.

“After the Ordeal” is played purely instrumentally and is a nice transition to my coming personal highlight of this album. Originally, the band was split as to whether this song should even be included on the album.

“The Cinema Show” begins gently, like a light snowfall. The vocal part is characterized by rhythm and melody of the way how the words are falling, that is simply beautiful. The following instrumental “fiddling” part of the song is prog at its finest. Also because it is free of vain boasting about who is the better musician. A really strong song.

“The Aisles of Plenty” picks up the first song again and concludes this brilliant album.

My album is from 2018, remaster, reissue, stereo, repress in 180g black vinyl. No scratches, dents or dings. Sits comfortably on the turntable. A perfect LP is especially important for this album with its fine, quiet parts. CD or LP? I prefer the LP here.

The photos are all from my LP. The rights to all motifs, logos, texts and fonts that can be seen in the photos are of course owned by the copyright holder.