- Dancing With the Moonlite Knight
- I Know What I Like (in Your Wardrobe)
- Firth of the Fifth
- More Fool Me
- The Battle of Epping Forest
- After the Ordeal
- The Cinema Show
- Aisle of Plenty
Dancing With the Moonlite Knight
Peter Gabriel's voice leaps out from the shadows on a piece that seems to mourn the passing of some mythical England as the country enters into the commercialised, strife torn world of the uncertain Seventies. Little did Gabriel and Genesis know what lay in store in the Eighties. However, the line 'Selling England By The Pound,' seemed to touch a political nerve, even if the lyrics now seem dated, with fleeting references to Wimpy hamburgers and Green Shield trading stamps. The band plays at tremendous speed, urged on by Collins' dazzling drums. Steve Hackett introduces some amazing guitar effects. It's all much tighter, brighter and better organised, and 'Knight' concludes with an ethereal section that ebbs and flows in a sound wash of pristine beauty.
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I Know What I Like
Strange whining noises like a helicopter taking off herald Gabriel's quaintly matter-of-fact spoken introduction: "It's one o'clock and time for lunch..." This is the band's first straight ahead pop rock song, with a stomping steady beat and hook lines galore. A kind of African tuned drum produces a distinctive note behind the chanted chorus, where Gabriel and Collins combine. Even though this is a great pop song and a deserved hit which helped transform the band's fortunes, there is nothing ordinary about its conception.
The lyrics are rich in imagery and full of comic surprises. What were average pop fans to make of the line: "Me – I'm just a lawn mower. You can telI me by the way I walk." They loved it and Genesis fans were mostly delighted to see them gain public recognition.
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Firth of the Fifth
Most successful of the major works on the album, it starts with crashing left hand piano notes and a delicate right hand melody before the band joins forces in a rather obvious 'edit'. Peter offers some ringing phrases like "The scene of death is lying just below", and plays a flute duet with the keyboards. In the background it's possible to detect a howl from Phil that sounds like an early ancestor of 'Mama'. The swirling pattems developed by Banks and Hackett here would become familiar to fans at the band's increasingly grandiose stadium shows.
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More Fool Me
After all the bluster of 'Firth Of Fifth' this is a stunning contrast and a telling lesson in the power of simplicity. Phil Collins makes his second vocal appearance with a poignant tale of a damaged relationship, sung to a simple acoustic guitar. It was written by Collins and Mike Rutherford while sitting on the steps of Island Studios and later became Phil's featured vocal spot on the subsequent tour. In many ways it is the most effective item on the album and foreshadows Phil's future solo career.
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The Battle of Eppig Forest
An overblown attempt to introduce a note of realism and modernity. A real life gang fight over territorial rights, widely reported in the newspapers, encouraged Genesis to produce a wordy but strangely dull monologue that is not helped by the flat production. In fact the whole album lacks dynamics and the sense of surging urgency that characterised their work hitherto. But 'The Battle' made a good stage piece and there was one good joke: "There's no one left alive – must be a draw." The piece is littered with characters, none of them as memorable as Harold The Barrel.
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After The Ordeal
An epilogue to the 'battle' with rhapsodic piano introduction and a pleasing duet between Banks and Hackett. The latter, incidentally, is shamefully underused throughout the album. The curious unwillingness of any of the band to push their particular skills or put their individual stamp on proceedings is probably the reason for the sense of a collective stand-off that prevails.
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The Cinema Show
Romeo and Juliet go to the pictures, while the band accompany their exploits with pieces that hark back to 'Musical Box'. There are no musical surprises here and little drama, but the piece does take off during a driving jazz-rock instrumental passage where at last Collins' drums catch fire and the band hits a groove. 'Cinema Show', like 'Firth Of Fifth', would sound much better live.
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Aisle of Plenty
Barely concealed references to Tesco, Safeway, Fine Fair and other supermarkets are heard on this throwaway piece, which fades out as Phil and Peter recite bargain offer prices. It's not surprising their manager felt a tad disappointed when he first heard an album that has touches of briiliance, a hit song and Phil's stunning vocal debut, but lacked cohesion and Genesis' indefinable magic.
