Genesis - New Selling England documentry

[rael74]

What better way to celebrate the anniversary of our divorce than rekindling the Anglo-American love-affair.
Duck for cover as I challenge a few of the oft-quoted myths about this album.
Plenty of conversational hand-grenades thrown in here for good measure.
Here comes the cavalry...

[Steve983]

Thanks, will watch later.

[clivey]

Watched and enjoyed this episode. Fabulous. The artwork and music fuse with the voiceover perfectly. It is a high quality production crammed with information concerning the band and SEBTP that many viewers, myself included may be unaware of. Thank you for the volume of work that it has taken to bring this to fruition.

[Koreabruce]

Once again you've given us an excellent documentary of a legendary Genesis record. Thank you!

I love how you incorporate the demos of the various tracks as well as instrumental versions of songs, isolated guitar & vocal parts, and alternate takes, and more recent alternate versions done by other people. All of these elements bring us an intimacy to this long-familiar work that we have never before experienced. I also have to say that your use of period photos and other related imagery throughout this is stellar. Well done, sir!

Most of your critical assessments ring true with me as well. More Fool Me might best have remained a B-side like Happy the Man or Twilight Alehouse, especially considering the album's length. Ending Side 1 with the exquisite piano fade-out of Firth of Fifth would have been a much better choice, I like to think. Also, count me among those who always found The Battle of Epping Forest something of a slog due primarily to the incessant word barrage, exceedingly clever and funny though it may be. Separately, both the music and the lyrics are undeniably brilliant. The band members themselves on several occasions have said as much, too.

It was informative to get the backstory about the actual history and situation circa 1973 surrounding the gang activities in Epping Forest. Not being from the UK, nearly all of this was new to me. I also thought your breakdown of the various lyrical references to the increasing influence of commercial culture in England that appear peppered throughout the album was especially relevant and helpful.

I'm not so sure where I stand about the supposed John Lennon quote though I do indeed remember that same claim way back in the day that he was listening to Genesis. Unlike you, I personally think it is entirely plausible that he said that. Considering John's deep fascination with wordplay, he would have entirely appreciated Gabriel's deliciously irreverent and ironic usages of the Queen's English.

Thank again. I look forward to all of your Genesis mini-documentaries yet to come!

[calyx]

Another great mini-documentary, thanks!

re: the Lennon endorsement, the lack of documentary evidence is certainly problematic. On the other hand, would Gabriel have entirely made it up? Perhaps it's not an interview but hearsay, or someone close to Lennon mentioning that it was a band he was into... This needs to be further investigated.

[flowerking]

Excellent job, this might be your best one yet (although Winds & Wuthering was excellent too).

[rael74]

Excellent job, this might be your best one yet (although Winds & Wuthering was excellent too).

I screwed the sound up on that. The voice is too muffled. I'm learning more technically what to do with each video.

[rael74]

I love how you incorporate the demos of the various tracks as well as instrumental versions of songs, isolated guitar & vocal parts, and alternate takes, and more recent alternate versions done by other people.

It's a joy to weave them all together. I'm just using Audacity software.
You made some good observations there and I'm really glad that you, and others are loving this video.
I may actually do a different band next.

[Progatron]

Bookmarked for later, this will be great!

[proggy_jazzer]

Another truly top-shelf video! In reference to the lyrical density, Genesis (and this album in particular) have always been a cherished source of anecdotal tidbits about the UK to this American, much as Monty Python was. I love deciphering the references, and you provided confirmation of several I had only guessed at previously. One that still eludes me that I was hoping you might explain is from Aisle of Plenty: 'still alone in O-Hell-O, see the deadly nightshade grow'. Any thoughts?

[interbellum]

Thanks for making and sharing. Lovely told story.

[mozo-pg]

Just wonderful. I appreciate this brilliant work - immersurably.

[chalkpie]

Outstanding....loved it. Cheers

[Firth]

Superb!

[Steve983]

It's a joy to weave them all together. I'm just using Audacity software.
You made some good observations there and I'm really glad that you, and others are loving this video.
I may actually do a different band next.

What?? I was looking forward to Invisible Touch!

[EBES]

Your documentaries are of course always a joy, and highly appreciated. Very much looking forward to a watch.

[starless and bible black]

Another great documentary! Thanks again for your hard work and Keep 'Em Coming (hopefully Foxtrot will be the next one).

[clivey]

Another great documentary! Thanks again for your hard work and Keep 'Em Coming (hopefully Foxtrot will be the next one).

Me too, very humbly lives in hope that they all get the treatment.

[Trane]

Great continuation of the Genesis saga.

Will rewatch the whole thing in chronological order once we've gotten to the first two.

I'm a little surprised that soo many internal tensions & resentments (MFM, ATO and Epping Forest) were already popping up at that time.

In terms of lyrics, clearly Moonlit Knight and Epping Forest are tour de force and yes, at first, they were difficult to comprehend as a non-brit, but once I investigated...

thanks also for the clarification that the title did not come from the Labour Party... Indeed, no UK politician on the national scene would've made that mistake to use "England"... except maybe for the openly-racist National Front party, then at the height of its nuisance.

I suppose Tony & Peter thought that "Selling The United Kingdom (or Great Britain) By The Pound" didn't sound as good

[Firth]

I find that the focusing purely on the vocals at times in this piece, made the heard lyrics more intelligible. Of seeing the lyrics in text was all ways helpful.

[Jvalvano]

Really awesome! I’ve enjoyed everyone of your documentaries. Thank you

[miamiscot]

Fantastic stuff!!! Highly enjoyable.

[Sunlight Caller]

That was truly exceptional, I learned so much about one of my perennial favourites, thank you.

[wilcox660]

Excellent! Loved it! By the way - I ate some delicious Sun Maid yogurt covered raisins while watching this!

[Firth]

It reminded me of a music class I took at NC State, which had a professor who previously conducted the USAF band, in that context about the art and political history concurrent with the time of music creation was provided. Outstanding piece of media!