I just watched the video
I watched it as well and agree it's crap. But then most of Steve's videos are... and, honestly, I think most music videos in general are.
I like the song a little better on second listen, though. Sure, it has all of Steve's trademark nonsense, but he's done worse stuff on his recent albums.
Update to my list:
SURRENDER OF SILENCE: Held in the Shadows.
(Don't have a definite pick from UNDER A MEDITERRANEAN SKY.)
Yep, it sounds pretty much like what I can expect from Steve these days. There are bits of promising ideas, shoved together in a way that has no logic or flow, making Steve sound like he has about a 20-second attention span. The best ideas fail to be explored to any satisfying extent, and the time they should have been given is instead handed over to a bunch of pointless meandering. Overall, the result is more interesting for what it could have been than for what it actually is.
So... it's got good stuff in it, but it isn't what it could have been.
I think Steve is the only artist I've ever wished would make his material a little more conventional, if only in terms of song structure.
Sounds fine as far as it goes, but it's not enough to really tell anything from. It's unmistakably Steve, anyway.
Not terrible, and a fairly impressive attempt at pulling off a very long and complex piece of music. But it's my least favorite piece on a generally great album.
As I think I mentioned before, my first copy of the album (LP) didn't have printed lyrics included, and I found several lines of "Epping" to be impossible to understand as a result.
Display MoreMama
Illegal Alien
Taking it All Too Hard
Silver Rainbow
Just a Job to Do
That's All
Home by the Sea
Second Home By the Sea
It's Gonna Get Better
I like your thinking, but that would give a side 1 that's way longer than side 2. I'd be OK with it, though, as long as IGGB was the unedited version (which would balance things out a little).
I always found the cover of ACTING VERY STRANGE rather amusing. I don't quite understand all the hate for it. It's not as bad as some of the singing on the album, anyway...
As I've mentioned, I don't care for many of Kim Poor's covers for Steve's albums, including VOYAGE. She did do some good ones, though, and I agree that PLEASE DON'T TOUCH is one of those.
A lot of my favorite Genesis solo covers are from Ant. Peter Cross's LP covers always give you lots to look at, especially on BACK TO THE PAVILION. The downside is that they lose a lot when reduced to CD size. For that reason I've kept most of the LPs even after getting the CDs. NEW ENGLAND is a case where it never was an LP to begin with, but it looks too small as if it actually was an LP cover shrunk to CD size.
That's the ugliest Steve album cover ever, and certainly the worst in a long time. If I didn't know better I'd think that Kim Poor was back on the job, and doing it even worse than before. (Not that she didn't do some good ones, but they were the exceptions.)
Well, I don't buy albums for their covers, and some of Steve's albums have demonstrated this well!
Musically lovely, especially on the verses, but the lyrics get weird and kind of twee, with the listener annoyingly left in the dark as to what they're supposed to be about. Approximately my 2nd least favorite ATTWT track (after "Ballad of Big"). Rutherford's songs on side two are far better.
STILL is my favorite Banks album. I consider "Score" to be roughly an average song for that album, and that's a compliment to it.
BTW, I generally wouldn't think about things like whether a song was "dated" for its time or "should have been a hit."
This may be rather simple / "unproggy"
Well, the verses are partially in 7/4. I wouldn't consider that "unproggy."
Steve speaking in an interview about the cover:
"Kim (Poor) was never happy with the sleeve design. It was a painting of hers that she'd already done in oils, and I said, 'I think that would make a marvelous front cover for something.' She wasn't so sure... For years, Kim had said, 'If you'd let me one day, I'd really like to do something else with this... another kind of cover.' So, who was I to argue at this point? If the original artist was unhappy..."
Thoughts about some of the songs:
"Kim" - This is improved over the original mainly by the added flute parts, but I think the chimes are a bit much.
"St. Elmo's Fire" - I consider this the Hackett piece that reminds me the most of something Ant Phillips might do.
"Second Chance" - This is a different recording from the 1981 B-side, correct? I would assume so since the B-side version was a bonus track on the CURED remaster.
"Tales of the Riverbank" - Same question as with "Second Chance."
Firth of Fizzle
That would make a great user name.
I can see why people would have thought it was heresy to remake a Genesis song.
I didn't really have a problem with a Genesis song being remade. I didn't even really have a problem with Phil's arrangement of BTL. I think what annoyed me in the past was the way the lyrics were messed with. (I've also found it annoying when Phil has messed with the lyrics of Genesis songs performed live.)
Very good, but I think I actually prefer the Face Value version.
In contrast, I initially so disliked the FACE VALUE version that it almost singlehandedly kept me from listening to the album for years. Now I at least tolerate it.
DUKE was my first Genesis album. I decided to check it out after hearing "Turn it on Again" and "Misunderstanding" on the radio. When I first put the record on and heard "Behind the Lines," I knew it was going to be a great album.
Contrary to what seems to be a popular misconception, "A Call to Arms" did not emerge from the "Shapes" sessions as anything close to a complete song. There was just a "bit" from the rehearsals that neither Tony nor Phil wanted to develop further, which Mike built a song around with his M+M cowriters.
HIGHLY STRUNG can perhaps be considered the album where Steve made it clear that he was going to be doing most of his own singing going forward. With HS, Steve became the first (and only) "non-singing" Genesis member to sing lead on more than one entire solo album. It may not be Steve's best album, or the one with his best vocals, but it's a consistent work.
On the original release "Camino Royale" is the opening track, but I prefer the U.S. LP track order that has it as track 3.
Note that "Camino" centers around an instrumental theme that's also heard in "Cell 151" and comprises most of "Hackett to Pieces."
1. When did you buy Selling England By The Pound (or have received it as a gift)?
1982
2. How old were you when Selling England was released?
12
3. Was Selling England your first Genesis album? If not, how many Genesis albums did you own before getting Selling??
No. I bought DUKE first, then bought almost all of the rest of the band's albums (FGTR thru ABACAB) on the same day in 1982. (I had to get FOXTROT a little later as it wasn't immediately available, but I'd already heard it.)
4. If you had to rank all Genesis albums, where does Selling England stand?
I'd say 4th
5. Which track was your favourite when you bought the album?
The Cinema Show
6. Which track is your favourite today?
The Cinema Show
7. Which track do you think is the best track on the record despite your own taste?
Dancing With the Moonlit Knight
8. How many versions of the album have you bought / owned? (Vinyl, CD, Remaster, Cassette, SACD etc)
1. Vinyl LP
2. CD (Definitive Edition Remaster)
To be fair, that is easy for any keyboard player with the right keyboard.
That was actually the point of my joke: Holding down keyboard notes for a long time really isn't an accomplishment!
the Mellotron can only hold a note for 8 seconds, due to the tape length, but on "The Voyage" on the Moody Blues "On The Threshold Of A Dream", Mike Pinder holds a note for 11 seconds, without studio trickery. How?
I have no idea, but I've heard that he was able to do things with the Mellotron that others couldn't.
the 3 [instrumentals] on ACF are just lifeless filler.
Wow, I don't agree with that at all.
