Selling England By The Pound: Will it become the Most Celebrated Prog album?

[StevegSr]

I've noticed a subtle shift over the last few years in some prog quarters where Selling England By The Pound by Genesis has become more regarded than the Lamb Lies Down on Broadway album. It's even started to muscle into the highly exalted area at the top of most people's top 3 prog albums along with CTTE and TAAB.

When Yes is done touring for the umpteenth time with it's multiple vocalists, and people regularly joke that DSotM is crossover prog, will Selling England By the Pound ultimately become the most celebrated prog album?

[NogbadTheBad]

There is no definitive prog album & certainly not one by Genesis.

[StevegSr]

There is no definitive prog album & certainly not one by Genesis.

Yes, definitive is too strong a word. Most celebrated sounds better.

[Facelift]

The top 10 prog albums on Gnosis

1. KC - In the Court of the Crimson King
2. KC - Larks Tongues in Aspic
3. PFM - Per un Amico
4. Banco - Darwin
5. Anglagard - Hybris
6. Genesis - Selling England By The Pound
7. Yes - Close to the Edge
8. Hatfield & The North - Rotters Club
9. Banco - Io Sono Nato Libero
10. PFM - Storia Di Un Minuto


Not top 3, but 6 isn't bad.

[StevegSr]

The top 10 prog albums on Gnosis

1. KC - In the Court of the Crimson King
2. KC - Larks Tongues in Aspic
3. PFM - Per un Amico
4. Banco - Darwin
5. Anglagard - Hybris
6. Genesis - Selling England By The Pound
7. Yes - Close to the Edge
8. Hatfield & The North - Rotters Club
9. Banco - Io Sono Nato Libero
10. PFM - Storia Di Un Minuto


Not top 3, but 6 isn't bad.

Thanks, but if I'm not mistaken, it was not even in the top 10 years ago.

[Facelift]

Thanks, but if I'm not mistaken, it was not even in the top 10 years ago.

SEBTP was Number 1 overall at one point, around 14-15 years ago. There has never been a time I'm aware of when TLLDOB was rated higher then SEBTP on Gnosis, and I've been following the site since within its first year of launching. TLLDOB has consistently been the 4th or 5th highest-rated Genesis album.

[Mikhael]

Not for me. Anytime anyone asks me what prog is, I hand them "Close to the Edge".

[StevegSr]

SEBTP was Number 1 overall at one point, around 14-15 years ago. There has never been a time I'm aware of when TLLDOB was rated higher then SEBTP on Gnosis, and I've been following the site since within its first year of launching. TLLDOB has consistently been the 4th or 5th highest-rated Genesis album.

Ok, can't argue with the facts, and thanks for pointing out that it was actually rated number 1 at one time!

[StevegSr]

SEBTP was Number 1 overall at one point, around 14-15 years ago. There has never been a time I'm aware of when TLLDOB was rated higher then SEBTP on Gnosis, and I've been following the site since within its first year of launching. TLLDOB has consistently been the 4th or 5th highest-rated Genesis album.

Btw, how would you answer the question aside from Gnosis?

[Baribrotzer]

It's certainly one of the most celebrated, and I've always preferred it to The Lamb... But better or more celebrated than Close to the Edge? No. Possibly equal to it, though.

It's all a matter of opinion, anyway, and everyone's is different.

[StevegSr]

It's all a matter of opinion, anyway, and everyone's is different.

Thanks! I don't hear that here too often. Just statistics, it seems. LOL

[Facelift]

Btw, how would you answer the question aside from Gnosis?

Well, Progarchives, for example, has it rated somewhat higher - No. 2. There are a few albums in the PA top 10 that Gnosis doesn't even have in its top 100 (Wish You Were Here) or its top 200 (Dark Side of the Moon) or even top 600 (Animals). So, I would say that the two groups have contributors from differing viewpoints and (probably) prog experience levels. That said, the really high praise for the same three Genesis albums (SEBTP, Foxtrot, Nursery Cryme) on both would attest the very broad appeal of Genesis among fans of progressive rock.

I don't know that I would say that SEBTP is "gaining" on other classic albums to the extent that it will soon be recognized as the quintessential prog album. However, SEBTP does appear to have solidly held the status as the most-loved Genesis album, and that's certainly saying something, considering the number of Genesis albums in the top 100 of both sites.

As far as TLLDOB goes, I'd always thought that it divided fans somewhat. Not to the extent that TftO does, but I've thought that there was a "best Genesis album" faction and a sizable "good-but-not-great" faction.

[Digital_Man]

I've noticed a subtle shift over the last few years in some prog quarters where Selling England By The Pound by Genesis has become more regarded than the Lamb Lies Down on Broadway album. It's even started to muscle into the highly exalted area at the top of most people's top 3 prog albums along with CTTE and TAAB.

When Yes is done touring for the umpteenth time with it's multiple vocalists, and people regularly joke that DSotM is crossover prog, will Selling England By the Pound ultimately become the most celebrated prog album?

I agree it's in the top 3 with TAAB and CTTE. Progarchives even has those as their top three. I don't think it will ever take over CTTE though(mainly because of the sloppy mess called "Battle of Epping Forest"). It's no longer even my favorite Genesis album(that would be ATOTT). However, I recognize it's greatness. FoF and CS are two of their best tracks ever(right behind SR imo).

[StevegSr]

As far as TLLDOB goes, I'd always thought that it divided fans somewhat. Not to the extent that TftO does, but I've thought that there was a "best Genesis album" faction and a sizable "good-but-not-great" faction.

Pretty good reply, thanks. I'm going solely by chats on social media on the SEbtP deal. It seems to me that friends that have avoided the album for years seemed to have just miraculously discovered it! This same bunch mostly like TLLDOB, but all hate TfTO. Go figure.

[Zeuhlmate]

In my household it can be the most celebrated Genesis album. But I find the first 8 Gentle Giant albums better than any Genesis album.
Gnosis or not.

[StevegSr]

In my household it can be the most celebrated Genesis album. But I find the first 8 Gentle Giant albums better than any Genesis album.
Gnosis or not.

Yeah, but I don't think they're on PA's top 10 either.

[Facelift]

In my household it can be the most celebrated Genesis album. But I find the first 8 Gentle Giant albums better than any Genesis album.
Gnosis or not.

Gentle Giant is very well respected on Gnosis. In a Glass House is #18. Octopus is #23. Three Friends is #45. Giant on the Box is #56. Acquiring the Taste is #69. Thats five in the top 100. I believe that Progarchives also has 5 GG albums in their top 100.

[Baribrotzer]

Thanks! I don't hear that here too often. Just statistics, it seems. LOL

Well, statistics are the only way you can back up a claim like that, but in this case they're meaningless except as statistics. For your own listening, your own opinion should always count more than some poll like that, but only for your own listening - it probably won't apply to anyone else, and there's no reason it should. The one thing useful about such statistical polls is in looking for something new - they tell you, "Lots of people with related tastes liked this, so maybe you will."

And my own Top Ten? I don't have one - never bothered to compile such a list, and it changes all the time anyway.

[Digital_Man]

TLLDOB as strange as it is lyrically is actually rather accessible and easy to listen to. TFTO on the other hand imo is a bit more difficult to sit through due to the song lengths. All my opinion of course. I like both although neither is probably in my top 3 or 4 by either band.

[Digital_Man]

Gentle Giant is very well respected on Gnosis. In a Glass House is #18. Octopus is #23. Three Friends is #45. Giant on the Box is #56. Acquiring the Taste is #69. Thats five in the top 100. I believe that Progarchives also has 5 GG albums in their top 100.

SEBTP, Foxtrot, Nursery Cryme and possibly TLLDOB. I'm not sure what else. Regardless, SEBTP is rated higher than any GG on there. It's not a pissing contest anyway is it?

[philsunset]

How can these albums still be called prog-ressive? They are 40 years old. They are, in the main, complex "oldies" now.

[JKL2000]

It probably comes in at #4 for me. Not that you don't have a right to ask, but it seems a silly question.

Personally, I really don't care how other people rank albums. Rankings are boring.

[itserik]

statistics have no place in prog, music in general, or any artistic endeavor. The rankings would only be meaningful to me if was based on people who have *exactly* the same musical taste as I do...and that's a moving target.

[Baribrotzer]

statistics have no place in prog, music in general, or any artistic endeavor. The rankings would only be meaningful to me if was based on people who have *exactly* the same musical taste as I do...and that's a moving target.

But they don't have to be. For yourself, just take them as suggestions. Suppose you had the Crimson, Genesis, and Yes albums from the list above. Then, the fact that many listeners had ranked the Banco, PFM, Hatfield, and Anglagard up there with them might suggest that you should at least check those out; maybe look for tracks from them on YouTube. Perhaps you'd think they were fantastic, perhaps you'd find you had trouble with non-English vocals. On the other hand, if you had come into prog fandom "sideways" - perhaps by being a fan of Downtown NYC jazz, avant-classical, and psych - you might realize after a few tries that those Gnosis and PA poll-winners were well-crafted but way too vanilla and predictable for you, and you'd do better to investigate the Cuneiform, ReR, and AltRock catalogs. Each of which reflects just one guy's tastes, but those three specific guys might come closer to what you like.

[A. Scherze]

SEBTP is the Donald Trump of prog-rock.