Reviews (page 8 of 8)
Genesis's fifth album is another progressive rock one, with a few long running jam songs. The band combined their older, whimsical sounds with harder & heavier rock sounds to create a magical adventure of an album. This album has been certified gold. I do like this album because it's rock music that can be put on in the background and not be distracting.
44. Selling England by the Pound - Genesis 8 tracks. This is early Genesis & I don't think I recognise any tracks. It sounds more Gabriel influenced than Rutherford or Collins & he left 2 years later. Personally I think Genesis were better after he left than before. 2/5
Yeah
started off horrifically, then behaved like it was going to be good before nosediving at the end. can't decide if it was utter crap or just middling. it belongs in the lower middle crap field.
I was too tired to pay any attention to this, but Scott says it was hard work and who am I to argue? Jude Law looks increasingly like Phil Collins. They both have hot daughters. Goodbye. 🧊
Really feels quite self indulgent, maybe a few more listens and I'd find some stuff I like but not really for me
I mean. It's Genesis.
This was quite weird. Like a concept folk album with some psychedelic rock thrown in once and a while. I didn’t dislike it but it didn’t do much for me. Might grow on me if I listened a bunch more. The first suggested Genesis song that came on after this album instantly reminded me how much they can rock, but this just wasn’t it.
Very prog, OK if you like that sort of thing but really irritated me. It felt really smug.
Generally terrible.
Småtrist. Det var inte mycket jag har att reagera på egentligen. Inget extra intressant, inget extra ointressant heller. Bara ganska smaklöst hela vägen igenom.
081021 18:08 2.5
Picnic!
2/5 nothing really stuck tbh
Tjemig, is dit nu een conceptalbum?!
Phil en Peter zijn natuurlijk beste kerels, maar het is gewoon jammer dat ik een pleuris hekel aan Progressive pop/rock heb! Ellendig dit. 2 sterren is echt het maximale wat ik kan geven.
Ik ben fan van latere Genesis, met Phil als zanger. Peter Gabriel is ook een erg puike zanger maar ik vind die oude Genesis zo theatraal, bombastisch en langdradig.
Too artsy for me
N/A
Did not really enjoy the songs on this album. Nothing very memorable
Was probably a good concept album but wasn't playing close enough attention to it so was pretty dull for me
Busy and ambitious.
Super nerd-prog menstrual vibes, concept album worth listening to once
The problem with prog rock songs is, they tend to all be half good half bad.
Really uneven. Some good moments, but some really long, repetitive moments. Lyrics were also really rough in places.
A bit slow for me, not a lot really catches the ear. Still, a solid album by a classic band. Would listen to other albums by them before this one most likely, no Phil Collins on vocals (I think...?)
Below average prog rock. 6.9/10
I didn't particularly like the album, but it was mostly just crazy to hear Collins, Gabriel, and Rutherford playing long operatic prog rock. It seemed worlds away from their "Invisible Touch" cashing in.
Can see artistic route they were going for did not like
that was some freaky weird stuff. I wanna say drugs but I dont know. I give it a ripe orange and two burnt avocado's
Its almost okay, but it just gets weird for most of the songs. Can see where they turn into a good band eventually but its not there yet.
yeah you know what this kinda sucks
Yea, not feeling it...
Another meh
Not really my type - love Genesis though
This was a slog to get through, but not awful. Not as much FUN as I expect from Genesis.
Snooze fest fornme personally, respected the vibes but fuck these Brits 2.2
it was chill
first 2 songs
This was a little too funky for me.
Wasnt as fun as nursery crymes
Not my cup of tea. I don't really like Phil Collins and many of these songs are just too pretentious.
Too much like Rush. But better than Rush.
I do not vibe with prog rock. A lot of it blended together and didn’t really keep my interest. There were some parts that were decent but I couldn’t name them specifically. I’m sure it makes sense to others but not me.
Did not enjoy, Very long songs and silly voices.
Seems like average prog noodling. Fine as a soundtrack, but if you want to do the noodling thing at least commit to a silly concept or 20-plus-minute opus. Otherwise you end up with a pop record for people who claim not to like pop. To be fair, this is much looser than your typical pop project. Whether that's good or bad is up to the listener.
I prefer 80's Genesis
No
Ugh. I really don't like prog rock.
Awful
Takeaway #1 from this project so far has been how much I hate Genesis.
Hateable mix, unlistenable
Pre-80's Genesis is such a fucking snoozefest man. This fucking bored me to tears I was so done by like song 3. *ahem* BOOOOOOORRRRRRIIIIIINGGGGGGGG!!!!
Can't explain why, but there's just something about the early genesis albums that sounds creepy to me... They were the first band I loved and listened to when I was 12 years old, and I've always wanted to connect with their early days. Back then, I thought maybe I needed to be “more grown-up” to appreciate the early albums, but to my disappointment, nothing has changed now that I’m 42. I’ll be patient and just give it another try in 30 years.
Yikes! Someone wrote: "Utter shit!" Yep, their shit goes to -11. Utter shit. Make it stop....
Not really my flavour of music….
A meandering, meaningless mess. Monstrous, in a bad way.
No
I did not have a strong view of pre-solo-Gabriel Genesis, but I'm shocked to learn that only ELP is keeping them off the very bottom of the prog stack. Obnoxious and bad in the finest prog tradition.
Nah
odie la primera canción asi que ni siquiera lo pude terminar
Nope.
I will never listen to this again. Ever.
Not for me.
Gabriel Collins und der dritte prog rock naja. c
boring prog bullshit, terrible vocals, just listen to Yes or Emerson Lake and Palmer
This is absolutely unbearable.
This was just awful - I’m sorry as I know so may people love it and Genesis but I just couldn’t find anything about it I liked. Just no redeeming features at all for me - I didn’t like the lyrics which felt trite, I didn’t like Peter Gabriel’s voice, the songs felt so boring. It was a no from me sadly.
fucking tråkigt
Not for me, but theatrical
I have such a complicated relationship with Genesis. I enjoy Gabriel's and Collins' solo stuff but when you blend them together it just doesn't gel for me personally. It feels like a mess and not at all coherent
Oh, boy. Overly theatrical 70's music. This sounds like a Cat Stevens folk record, not a true Genesis rock and roll album. 8 min, 9 min, 10 min and 11 minute songs, just agonizing and lost on me. Peter Gabriel grew out of this sound and most of the theatrics for a reason. The first 3 tracks have a ton of listens (17M, 20M and 26M), why? I cannot explain. This is one you had to grow up on or be very English to enjoy. I did not enjoy a single song, I especially didn't enjoy "The Battle of Epping Forest", wow what a slog. I kept waiting for the king and queen and court jester to walk around the corner. Utterly lost on me, I hear nothing I can relate to. 1 star from me. I'd love to understand how this is categorized as a Must Hear album.
I am discovering that I really do not enjoy prog.
So annoyingly meandering both across and within songs.
Wow. This is awful. Completely and utterly awful, from start to end. I had wondered if I would give any one star reviews to a list of supposed great albums, and on day 11 here we are. I can't believe how bad this was, in every single facet.
What a story of an album. It was okay.
Wow Phil Collins and Peter Gabriel are so much better as solo artists. This was all over the place in a bad way
Pompous nonsense.
Es la típica voz que se me viene a la cabeza cuando pienso en los 70. El álbum tiene partes excesivamente largas que hacen que te canses en algunos momentos, pero luego tiene partes guays que lo salvan. Sin embargo al ser tan largas las canciones algunas partes estan bien y otras mal, no me pegan en ninguna playlist y me dan pereza volver a escucharlas.
impossible to take a tax dodging whiner like phil collins seriously singing about a lost england. also impossible to take him seriously because this is dogshit.
I prefer to pretend the British prog rock era of Genesis doesn't exist
Folk-inflected prog. Pompous, and often overblown. Beedly-Beedly guitars, fax-classical keyboards, big dynamics. Very English.
What the fuck! Ironically without change and development from old England village cricket grounds to modernity 9they would not have been able to record this album never mind moan 8about everything! If this was recorded now it would be about immigrants taking our jobs hahahaha Oddly though I love their Mama album one of my all time favourites Its one of those albums where every band member has to have a solo! This explains the emergence of punk in one fairy encrusted record, only surprise is it took so long to arrive They clearly had aspirations to be Pink Floyd but unfortunately they fell well short Put The Clash The Clash on to expunge my 👂's .
Dated.
God, I'm bored! Could might as well be listening to Genesis. Rik Mayall, early 80ies.
Oh, this is why that guy on Top Gear hates Genesis
You almost have to be impressed by their earnest commitment to producing an album with the worst singer I have ever heard. Some of the music itself is technically sound, and enjoyable at times. Overall this feels like a student project album and I don’t see how this makes the list.
Okay, it's not my cup of 5 o'clock tea... I could definitely survive without listening to this album. First track is medieval, the second one — psychedelic rock, the third one starts as a classical piano piece... That's too much of a "Look, we're professional musicians" swag. Previously I heard some hits by Genesis, and I quite liked them. But not this album.
Glad it was all gone by the time I got to the cashier.
this was one of the roughest listens so far, not a fan of prog rock and i hated the weird medieval sound. the songs for 9 minutes and up were the most irritating to listen to and felt completely unnecessary
Boring.
Was not feeling this album at all. Not a single song...
I know this is a progressive rock album. But I really cant stand this fairy/fantasy/ pixie elf-pan flute shit. I love Peter Gabriel, but I cant in good conscience give Supertramp and Yes zero stars and think this is any better.
What a load of bollocks. You can see totally why people cringe at the term progressive rock, when progressive rock translates to a bunch of fairly talented guys churning out absolute nonsense for the sake of it. Strange guitar and bass lines with odd drumming and loads of pointless key changes. For me the point of music is to make you feel something and it at the very least to sound good, this style of music has neither of those and also by the way contains some of the worst lyrics I’ve ever heard. So so questionable, how they gained traction after this album is beyond me.
Maybe there is a place for this kind of rock music somewhere and maybe it is important in the development of the genre and breaking boundaries but I sadly cannot see or understand it. It is self indulgent and over the top but not in a good way and I just can't get on board. Sorry Genesis.
What a pile of the proverbial. Overlong crap with lyrics that belong on a rubbish parody with the battle of epping forest possibly the worst offender, search for furniture indeed.
maybe if I did acid this would have been enjoyable.
I had a revelation about prog rock while listening to this, and explains why I dislike it so much: So many prog rock songs sound like Jack Black doing a bit, except where he is goofing around, prog bands are being serious and therefore come across as more ridiculous.
This is bad
did not enjoy any of this, sonically it’s not bad I guess. Not something I would’ve ever expected to listen to in my lifetime tbh
Pretentious wank
Oy progrock. I can’t make it through the first song. It’s too much.
Prog Rock is a fucking joke. If I want to listen to flute solos I’ll watch Anchorman again.
Nope, another I couldn't get through the 1st track. Maybe I shouldn't be listening to music today.
1. dancing - 1.5 2. knouu - 1 3. fifth - 1 4. fool - 1.5 5. forrezt - 0 6. ordeal - 0 7. zhouu - 0 8. plenty - 0
Sorry. White man 70’s prog rock just ain’t my rodeo.
Eh. Intense rock album
Irritating bordering on intolerable and a contender for the whitest album on the list. I used the term self-indulgent about Genesis' previous album but this really is. I guess they're doing this for themselves, which is good because it's definitely not doing anything for me. The puns in the song titles and lyrics are eye-rolling, not a tenth as clever as they think they are. Although this is a personal thing, this music reminds me of the feeling of life around the early 90s, when everything was kind of plasticky and crap and cheap and this type of music was inflicted on society because we just didn't have the same range of choices and availability of culture we do today. I thought The Battle of Epping Forest was going to be some historical thing, then it turns out to be this overlong noodling fantasy, with the character voices just the final straw after the parping synths, arrhythmic drumming and pompous wordplay lyrics. Until this track I was finding this album better than The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, but it's nearly as bad.
This is so medieval.
This is what pink floyd sounds like to people who don't like pink floyd
Very Jethro Tull
Intolerable. Awful singing
I found this really annoying. What do Genesis fans see in this rubbish? If I ever meet one I’ll be sure to ask!
I just really hated this. Can’t explain it. On a different day it may have been different
This is really not for me. The very definition of wanky, pretentious 70s prog that I suspect people just claim to enjoy to seem smart. The medieval folk influence just adds another layer of silliness that Genesis don't really need. The longer songs simultaneously combine having lots of ideas without really going anywhere either, which is sub-optimal to say the least Ironically the song 'After The Ordeal' is actually placed with a fair amount of the ordeal still to come
Not a Genesis fan.
Parp
I'm sorry, this just isn't for me. The prog rock stuff. The weird medieval stuff. I love classic Genesis but I guess everyone needs to start somewhere. Solid 1. Nearly offensive.
Weird Phil Collins
Fucking bands going through their fucking “experiment phase”. Singing madrigals like that shit hadn’t already been done 1,000 years ago. Sounds like Marillion, and that isn’t a compliment.
I couldn't make it through. Not for me. 1/5
Love Genesis, this however, was not good.
Honestly, I don't think I said "Wow this music is really good" once while listening to this album. I found it was very messy, coming from a Prog Rock fan. I understand they're one of the pioneers, but this music really just isn't for me. 1/5
Did not enjoy at all. Disconnected, boring, random. Very disappointing.
if I’m going to listen to prog rock, this is not it
I found this one a bit painful. It's so heavy on the extended instrumental pieces, and I got lost. I felt like I was stuck in a long transition.
I tried but it didn't take five seconds to be reminded why I hate Genesis. To give them credit, they find new ways to be irritating with every album.
More Fool Me indeed. This is risible, unbridled bum rot of the highest order. Its centrepiece, the name of which I already can't remember and can't bear to look up, is an 11 minute load of nonsense in a faux cockney absence that immediately brings to mind the kind of people who re-enact battles in the woods for fun. There is one proper song on this, and the rest is self-indulgent, pompous horrible nonsense.
In the same year this album came out, Black Sabbath released "Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath." A somewhat lesser Sabbath album, but nonetheless, a far greater album than this Genesis effort. The Stooges "Raw Power" was also released in 1973. Moral of the story, better things were available to listen to than this foppish, limp attempt at prog music. I can't even say "rock" for this album.
Nope. Desperate experiment trying to find their sound at this point.
ASS
terrible
Tedioso
So so crusty
Selling England By The Pound is bad, bad prog. Genesis are fucking terrible anyway and this has all of the genre's worst indulgences by some of the most recognisable people to inflict such dirge on the world. The only thing that I took away from it is that I now know the song Richard Hammond particularly hates in many Top Gear episodes, so I can share his dismay. 1.
Did not enjoy any these songs.
"Gawd I'm bored. Might as well be listening to Genesis." If you get the reference, you'll understand and agree.
i can’t wait to stop getting these prog-rock, soundtrack-to-the-Hobbit, 10min flute solo albums randomly assigned to us. most interesting thing about this album is that i had no idea genesis was around in the early 70s, and this was already their 5th album!!?!
This seems like a joke record.
terrrible :((
This is a very odd album to my ears. The long, sprawling songs move through multiple sections and ideas, often jumping around in ways that feel theatrical and unpredictable. I can see why progressive rock fans love it, but for me it feels overcomplicated rather than immersive. There is a strong pastoral, almost Robin Hood atmosphere running through parts of it, which adds to that slightly whimsical, medieval tone. There is no denying the musicianship. The playing is intricate and ambitious, and the band clearly had huge ideas at this stage. It just does not come together in a way that keeps me fully engaged. It is interesting and creative, but not something I would choose to listen to again. Favourite song: None that truly stood out for me Least favourite: The longer tracks feel particularly hard work Album artwork: Distinctive and very much in keeping with the album’s quirky, English tone
Meh. Not my taste
This music was very dated. A lot of older music is timeless and is able to withstand the ages, but not this music. I thought it wasn't very good and I didn't enjoy any of it.
Never liked early Genesis
Ewwwwwwwww. Def one of those love it/hate it selections. So much meh and obviously I’m on the hate it side. I listened to Rick Wakeman’s “The Six Wives of Henry VIII to remind myself of a what I consider a better album selection from that year.
Oy progrock. I can’t make it through the first song. It’s too much.
Better band once Peter Gabriel left. Never heard this before - and won't ever hear it again.
Firth on Firth was epic The rest of the album is meh
This album made me realize that I like Genesis, and I like Peter Gabriel, but not together.
Not impressed
Oh, no. Dreading this. What the hell is this? What hippie shite is THIS? This album has no idea what it wants to be. It's really bad. I don't think I've heard anything worse than The Battle of Epping Forest.
Before the cocaine and drugs. Or when they were peeking….
What am I listening to?
Sucks. Length of the songs suck. The Phil Collins drum solos sucks. Sucky album.
This is largely self-indulgent trash.
I'm just really not a prog rock guy and this album is full on prog. I find it kind of exhaustingly all over the place. The constant time signature changes and super long songs simultaneously bore and annoy me. I've liked later era Genesis albums but this one doesn't do much for me. If I want long, winding songs I'll always go to something like the Grateful Dead over this type of prog rock. Standout Tracks: Firth of Fifth, Aisle of Plenty
i did not like it
I thought I liked Genesis, but this was not it
Holy shit, this is awful. I knew that Genesis was very different before the pop songs they produced in the 80s, but I hadnt heard it before. Having now experienced it, I guess its good that they split up later to make better stuff independently. 1/5
je me suis bien fait chier
I love solo Peter Gabriel. I am contemptuous to solo Phil Collins. I’d previously only heard latter day Genesis that was reductive boring FM pop. This is worse. It’s actually worse than the Brian Eno record which is really a new low charted for this list.
This was not a good start to my day. Almost as bad as ABBA.
As somebody that is admittedly pretty averse to Medieval fantasy in general, the idea of that being the theme for a concept album made by some of the most self-indulgent (but extremely talented) musicians was already a red flag. This is one book you absolutely can judge by its cover. It's so eager to jam in any idea it feels like at any time without any thought if it flows. The lyrics are comically awful but the drums are cool. This ain't it. 1/5
I prefer prog when it progresses towards something more than a random assemblage of noises.
my notes disappeared but this is one of the worst albums ive ever heard
Not for me.
Genesis - Selling England By The Pound https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kkgAn92SdFt_nUYmDjGo8jyKGKnQ_AM8Q 1-Dancing With The Moonlight Knight 2-I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe) 3-Firth Of Fifth 4-More Fool Me 5-The Battle Of Epping Forest 6-After The Ordeal 7-The Cinema Show 8-Aisle Of Plenty
Awful
Prog rock nonsense
Cam on ingerland
Not for me. Prefer Phil collins
Ughhh
Utter pish. If no stars was an option it would still be too many.
Not my jam
idk not doin it for me
To weird for me
Could not get into it at all
One of the reasons why punk happened!
Hard to get excited by prog rock noodling nonsense.
No thanks. Not for the likes of me.
Not a fan of prog rock. It sounded like the hobbit the musical
A bit prog- rock for my tastes!
I'm angry I listened to this.
No. This was weird. I didn't like it at all.
Folksy minstrel music. I never want to listen to this again.
I like the one where the big monkey plays the drums in exchange for chocolate, why isn't that on here Phil? This is vastly superior to the other prog we've had on this list, although that is a pretty low bar really. I've said it before, and I am sure I will say it again before we get to the end of these 1,001 albums, but thank the Rock Gods that punk happened.
Mince
this sucks. I had to stop because it got annoying
I know this band and this album are important in the timeline of "progressive rock," and there are a few bands in that subgenre I really like (e.g., ELP, Rush, Jethro Tull, Yes...and I know, I know, this is all loosely defined and highly subjective), but I just never clicked with Genesis. I gave this album a listen and, nah, just don't really like it.
Not for me
It was too weird for me
So random, too abstract, hard to get through
Pretty awful tbh
Too weird for me
Uninteresting. Boredom made me not finish.
it's shit
So many familiar songs so good
The cosmic lawnmower can fuck right off
pretty crappy and long, wasnt expecting the few good parts tho
Trollz
2008 remaster on Spotify. Old-school rock, good stuff.
Fijn rustig album. Zou goed zijn als LP