Genesis: Selling England by the Pound
Analogue Productions CAPA 002 SA
Stereo Hybrid
Pop/Rock
Genesis
Analogue Productions (Atlantic 75 Series). Celebrating the 75th Anniversary of Atlantic Records!
Selling England By The Pound - Genesis' gold-selling fifth studio album!
Mastered directly from the original master tape by Bernie Grundman
Recorded in August 1973 — the tour for Foxtrot (1972) having ended in May of that year — Genesis' members joined for a short time to write new material which covered a number of themes, including the loss of English folk culture and an increased American influence. Hence the inspiration for the title Selling England by the Pound.
Several tracks from the album became fan favorites and were featured as a regular part of the band's live setlist well into the 1980s. "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)," was released in February 1974 and became the band's first Top 30 hit in the U.K. In 2012, the album ranked seventh in Rolling Stone's "Readers' Poll: Your Favorite Prog Rock Albums of All Time." Selling England by the Pound reached No. 3 on the U.K. charts and No. 70 on the U.S. Billboard Pop Albums chart.
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Comment by Leslie Hanagan - March 26, 2024 (1 of 3)
Just to correct the mastering credit. The mastering is by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering
Comment by Downunderman - April 15, 2024 (2 of 3)
There has been one previous SACD release of this title Genesis: Selling England By The Pound#comments
Listening to the new Analogue Productions (AP) version back-to-back with that 2008 SACD has been an interesting exercise that generated a number of philosophical musings for me.
Broadly speaking they are not necessarily directly comparable because the mastering intent is so different.
The AP mastering sounds like a pretty flat transfer, albeit a quite detailed one, that preserves the mixing quirks of the original 1973 release. It sounds very natural, only slightly boosted (Average DR of 12), and of its time.
The Virgin SACD from 2008 on the other hand was remixed and remastered. Creating a modernized mix that also corrected various issues in the original mix and in the process boosted the levels (Average DR of 10). It sounds great on its own terms, but I confess to missing the quirks.
I got to wondering what the title sounded like on the original playback gear in the mastering studio. Were they even aware that the quirks, that are now more apparent, even existed when playing the vinyl test pressings on their much more primitive playback equipment?
I'm guessing that neither version sounds like what the original 1973 version sounded like played on the mastering and general playback equipment available back then.
Comment by Mark Werlin - April 16, 2024 (3 of 3)
Downunderman, the Analogue Productions SACD sounds very close to my ca. 1980 UK Charisma LP copy (minus the ticks). In the opening section of "Dancing with the Moonlit Knight", Tony Banks' grand piano sounds like an actual instrument. On Genesis: Selling England By The Pound, the piano seems artificially focused, like the effect you get when using too much 'unsharp mask' in Photoshop.
The remastering of this release is respectful to original era sound.