【乐评】Genesis《Selling England By The Pound》、《Foxtrot》

乐评来自：

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虾米：Selling England by the Pound在线试听、Foxtrot在线试听

豆瓣：Selling England By The Pound、Foxtrot

VianaProghead是PA上一个撰写了极多乐评的大神，而且质量很高，首页上经常看到他密密麻麻的评论，熊猫哥哥认为他的乐评非常有价值，因此抽空会翻译出来以飨读者！目前大神已经写了86篇乐评，他的乐评特点是对于乐队和专辑会有详细的背景介绍，然后对每首歌进行细致分析，最后有一个十分客观的评论，对于理解专辑来说很有帮助，因此很有参考价值。

BTW，I'M THE BIG FAN OF GENESIS!

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【乐评】Genesis《Selling England By The Pound》

In the first place, I must say that this is my first review on Progarchives. In the second place, I decided that "Selling England By The Pound" would be my first choice. This wasn't by chance, because it was my first purchase and I bought it in 1975. Unfortunately, I have no longer my first vinyl copy, because I offered it to my then girlfriend, in 1977. Today, I think that probably my noble act had only the effect of lose the first record of my musical collection, an album so important to me that would become a real mark in my future taste by progressive music. Now, I'm sincerely convinced that my noble act probably failed to bring one more soul to our progressive universe.

首先，我必须说明这是我在PA的第一个评论。第二，我选择《Selling England By The Pound》作为我的处女评这并不是巧合，因为它是我在1975年第一张购买的专辑。不幸的是，它已经不在我身边了，因为我在1977年将它给了我当时的女朋友。今天看来，我当时慷慨而高尚行为的唯一结果是让我的音乐收藏里失去了我购买的第一张唱片(•ิ_•ิ)。这张唱片对我来说如此重要，它变成了我将来对前卫摇滚音乐品味的一个真正的标记。现在，我诚实地确认，我慷慨而高尚的行为并未让另一个灵魂进入我们挚爱的前卫摇滚宇宙(•ิ_•ิ)。

So, this is the album and the band, which brought me to the universe of progressive music. So, Genesis was my first love, and even today I still listen to their music, still thinking that they're probably my greatest music love.

所以，这张唱片和这支乐队带我进入了前卫音乐的宇宙。所以，Genesis是我的初恋，时至今日我始终在听他们的音乐，始终在想他们的音乐也许是我最爱的音乐。

And what an album I choose to rate in the first place! In my humble opinion, this is the best Genesis studio album and it's also one of the best albums ever made. It belongs to a very rare type of albums of which very few can belong. It's also interesting to note that this is an album consistently positioned in the first four places in the Top Prog Rock Music Albums List of Progarchives for so long, which is an honour for me to have the same opinion. Ok, I know that this is one of the albums most reviewed on Progarchives, but I also need to give my opinion about it, urgently.

我第一次评价的是怎样的一张专辑呀！在我看来，这是Genesis的最佳录音室专辑也是曾诞生的最佳专辑。它属于一个非常罕见的专辑的类型。值得注意的还在于它是一张一贯占据PA网站上Top Prog Rock Music Albums列表前四位置的专辑，如此之久。荣幸的是我也和此评价有同样看法。好的，我知道这是在PA上最多被评价的专辑，但我也必须急迫地给出我的评价。

The line up of "Selling England By The Pound" is undoubtedly the best of the band with Peter Gabriel, Tony Banks, Steve Hackett, Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins. This was their fifth studio work and was released in 1973. It was also their biggest seller to date, reaching number 3 in England, where it remained on the charts for 21 weeks, and number 70 in America, who went gold in 1990.

《Selling England By The Pound》的制作成员无疑是乐队的最佳组合：Peter Gabriel, Tony Banks, Steve Hackett, Mike Rutherford 和 Phil Collins。这是他们的第五张录音室专辑，1973年发行。这也是他们至今发行最多的专辑，在英国榜达到第三位，并停留了21周，在美国榜达到第70位，在1990年认证为金唱片。

All songs were written and composed by all band members. The album combined a collection of short stories, fables, and fairy tales, retaining the ambient and the yearning of the ancient medieval England. It contains several pieces of music that would become central to Genesis live performances, even for the band members and ex-band members, when they performed on live concerts a solo, or on new versions of the original songs, like Steve Hackett usually do.

所有的歌都是每个乐队成员创作和完成的。专辑是短篇小说、寓言和神话传说的集合，保有着古老的中世纪英格兰的氛围和憧憬。它包含很多将来会成为Genesis现场演出的重点的音乐片段，甚至对乐队成员和前成员来说，当他们在现场演出或是给予旧版本一个全新的演绎时，这些音乐片段都很重要，就像Steve Hackett经常这么做一样。

"Selling England By The Pound" has eight tracks. The first track "Dancing With The Moonlit Knight" is a song that begins with Peter Gabriel's voice very calm and that progressively gets louder and more upbeat. The final result is a very powerful song. The second track "I know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)" was the first charting single by the band. It's a very fan song with some characteristics of a pop song. This is also a great song. The third track "Firth Of Fifth" is one of the best songs from the band and one of the most representative progressive songs of the group. Despite the song be credited to the band, it's essentially a Tony Banks' song. The fourth track "More Fool Me" is a ballad and is the simpler song on the album. It's made only with vocals and acoustic guitars. Curiously, it's the second song sung by Phil Collins in the band, until that date. The first was "For Absent Friends" from their third studio album "Nursery Crime". The fifth track "The Battle Of Epping Forest" is one of the two longest tracks on the album, and has a great vocal work by Gabriel, changing voices for different characters. It has also very different musical changes throughout the entire track. The sixth track "After The Ordeal" is an instrumental track clearly made with Steve Hackett's hand. The song has something that reminds us the medieval times and is a very simple and beautiful ballad. The seventh track "The Cinema Show" is the other long track on the album and that became as the great epic track of the album and one of their best tracks ever. The eighth track contains the final song from the album "Aisle Of Plenty". It's the shortest song on the album, and it's a reprise of the opening track "Dancing With The Moonlit Knight".

《Selling England By The Pound》有八首歌。第一首歌"Dancing With The Moonlit Knight"始于Peter Gabriel平静的歌声，渐渐变得响亮和更愉悦。结果是成为一首很有力量的歌。第二首歌"I know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)"是乐队第一首打榜歌曲。它有一些流行歌曲的特色，非常有趣。这也是不错的歌。第三首歌"Firth Of Fifth"是乐队最佳的歌曲之一也是乐队最具代表性的前卫歌曲之一。尽管歌曲被归于乐队的整体创作，但它本质上是Tony Banks的歌。第四首歌"More Fool Me"是一首民谣，是专辑中较简单的歌。只是由人声和木吉他构成。有趣的是，这是至今为止Phil Collins在乐队的第二首歌，第一首歌是"For Absent Friends"，来自第三张专辑《Nursery Crime》。第五首歌是"The Battle Of Epping Forest"，是专辑的两首长曲之一，有Gabriel伟大的人声，在不同的特征处转变嗓音。整首歌都充满了不同的音乐上的变化。第六首歌是"After The Ordeal"，是纯器乐作品，显然出自Steve Hackett之手。这首歌令我们想起中世纪，是一首很简单而美丽的民谣。第七首歌"The Cinema Show"是专辑的另一首长歌，是专辑最伟大的史诗歌曲，也是他们历史上最好的歌曲之一。第八首歌"Aisle Of Plenty"是专辑最短的歌，是开场曲"Dancing With The Moonlit Knight"的重奏。

Conclusion: "Selling England By The Pound" is a perfect concept album with lyrics, powerful symphonic music and great vocal work. It remains to me as one of the most solid albums in progressive history. It also remains to me as my favourite album from them, despite their previous studio album "Foxtrot" was maybe a more emotional album and their next studio album "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway" was maybe a far more ambitious album. Sincerely after all those years have passed, I still prefer listen to "Selling England By The Pound". My favourite song on the album is "Firth Of Fifth", which is also one of my favourite songs from the band and one of the best and most progressive songs made by them. In my humble opinion, the two tracks, "Firth Of Fifth" and "The Cinema Show" are clearly the two best tracks on the album and two of the best songs ever made. As a final conclusion, we can say that "Selling England By The Pound" belongs to a very rare class of albums.

结论：《Selling England By The Pound》是完美的概念专辑，拥有精彩的歌词，充满力量的交响音乐和伟大的人声演绎。它在我看来是前摇历史中最坚实的专辑之一。这也是我最爱的他们的专辑，尽管他们之前的《Foxtrot》也许更为充满情感而下一张《The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway》则更充满野心。真诚地说，尽管这么多年过去，我依然喜欢听《Selling England By The Pound》。专辑中我最爱的歌是"Firth Of Fifth"，它也是我最爱的乐队的歌，它也是乐队做过的最好的和最前卫的歌了。在我看来，"Firth Of Fifth" 和"The Cinema Show"显然是专辑最好的两首歌，也是曾制作过的最好的歌。作为最终结论，我们可以认为《Selling England By The Pound》是那种非常罕见的专辑。

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【乐评】Genesis《Foxtrot》

As I wrote before, in some other reviews, Genesis was my first love, and still is. In my humble opinion, Genesis is with Pink Floyd and Yes, the three best progressive bands who ever existed, and they are also the most influential groups in the universe of the progressive rock music.

就像我之前在其他的评论中写的，Genesis是我的初恋，现在依然是挚爱。在我看来，Genesis和Pink Floyd与Yes是三支存在过的最前卫的乐队，也是前卫摇滚宇宙中最具影响力的组合。

'Foxtrot' is the fourth studio album of Genesis and was released in 1972. For me, it's the second best album from the band, after their fifth studio album 'Selling England By The Pound' released in 1973. 'Foxtrot' belongs to the golden musical era of the group, which started with their third studio album 'Nursery Crime' released in 1971, continued with 'Foxtrot' and 'Selling England By The Pound' and ended with their sixth studio album 'The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway' released in 1974. These four studio albums are the only ones that have the best line up of the group, which are, Peter Gabriel, Steve Hackett, Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins.

《Foxtrot》是乐队的第四张专辑，发行于1972年。对我来说，则是乐队的第二佳专辑，排在他们的第五张专辑《Selling England By The Pound》（1973年发行）之后。《Foxtrot》属于乐队的音乐黄金时代，这个时代始于他们的第三张录音室专辑即《Nursery Crime》（1971年发行），还包括《Foxtrot》和《Selling England By The Pound》以及作为终结的第六张专辑《The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway》（1974年发行）。这四张专辑有着乐队的最佳组合：Peter Gabriel, Steve Hackett, Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford 和Phil Collins。

'Foxtrot' was the band's album, which quickly reached the big moment in the musical career of the group. It was the first album from the band to enter to the UK Top 20, reaching the 12th position, and this was only the starting point of a long and very successful chart career of Genesis. The album also reached the 8th position in the Italian charts and Italy has become a country with a big Genesis fan base. 'Foxtrot' represents the turning point in Genesis history. It became the album that finally solidified their musical career and reputation as great songwriters and performers.

《Foxtrot》很快令乐队达到了他们音乐生涯的重要时刻。这是乐队第一张进入英国排行榜前20的专辑，达到了第12位，这也是乐队长时间和非常成功的打榜生涯的开端。专辑也在意大利榜上达到了第八位，意大利随后拥有了大量Genesis的粉丝。《Foxtrot》代表着Genesis历史的转折点。这是一张稳固他们音乐生涯的专辑，也令他们有了伟大作曲家和表演家的声誉。

The line up on the album is Peter Gabriel (lead vocals, flute, oboe, bass drum and tambourine), Steve Hackett (electric guitar and 6 and 12 string guitars), Tony Banks (backing vocals, organ, acoustic and electric pianos, mellotron and 12 string guitar), Mike Rutherford (backing vocals, bass guitar, bass pedals, cello and 12 string guitar) and Phil Collins (backing vocals, drums and percussion).

专辑制作成员是：Peter Gabriel (主唱, 长笛, 双簧管, 贝斯，低音鼓和手铃), Steve Hackett (电吉他与6弦吉他、12弦吉他), Tony Banks (和声, 风琴, 电钢琴, 合成器与12弦吉他), Mike Rutherford (和声, 电贝司, 低音踏板, 大提琴和12弦吉他) 以及 Phil Collins (和声, 鼓与打击乐)

The cover artwork for the album was created by the London based magazine Time Out. It has happened before, with the art covers of their two previous studio albums, 'Trespass' and 'Nursery Crime'.

封面艺术由伦敦当地杂志Time Out创作。这在以前也有过，比如他们的前两张专辑：《Trespass》和《Nursery Crime》。

'Foxtrot' has six tracks. All the tracks were written by all band members. The first track 'Watcher Of The Skies' is one of the most popular and beloved songs by their fans, and one of the most played live by the band. Even Hackett, plays often this song on his live concerts. This is a great opener to the album and gives a very sense of majesty and power, to the beginning of the album. The second track 'Time Table' is a very beautiful and graceful song, which brings calm, after the great intensity of 'Watcher Of The Skies'. It's a song about the medieval times, with a catchy tune, a nice piano intro and fairly intense chorus. The third track 'Get'Em Out By Friday' is a very good song, in the form of a mini rock opera, with great musicality and singing, showing Gabriel's amazing vocals versatility and the skills of Banks on the keyboards. The fourth track 'Can- Utility And The Coastliners' is another song with very beautiful vocals by Gabriel, and a great finale by Banks and Hackett, which makes the song very dramatic and melodic. It has some lovely bass pedals and mellotron musical sections, and it also features one of the few guitar solos on the album.The fifth track 'Horizons' is the smallest track on the album. It starts with the central idea of a track made in the baroque style, and is a typical Hackett's classical guitar track. It's absolutely superb. This piece is influenced by the central idea of the 'Prelude Of The First Cello Suite' by the baroque composer J. S. Bach, of whom Hackett is a great fan. The sixth track 'Supper's Ready' is divided into seven parts: 'Lover's Leap', 'The Guaranteed Eternal Sanctuary Man', 'Ikhnaton And Itsacon And Their Band Of Merry Men', 'How Dare I Be So Beautiful?', 'Willow Farm', 'Apocalypse In 9/8 (co-Starring The Delicious Talents Of Gabble Ratchet)' and 'As Sure As Eggs Is Eggs (Aching Men's Feet)'. It's the lengthiest track on the album, it's probably the most known and beloved song by the fans, and is also their most progressive track. This is a great track, full of amazing musicianship and lyrics, and is one of the most representatives of the progressive music. It stands as a true testament to how unique and creative Genesis was during the early 70's.

《Foxtrot》有六首歌。都是由乐队所有成员创作的。第一首歌'Watcher Of The Skies'是他们粉丝最喜爱的歌曲，也是乐队最常演出的歌曲之一。甚至是Hackett也经常在自己的音乐会上演绎这首歌。这是专辑一个伟大的开场，给人一种庄严与力量的感觉。第二首歌'Time Table'是非常美丽和雅致的歌，在伟大的'Watcher Of The Skies'的亮度后给我们带来宁静。这是关于中世纪的歌，有着悦耳的曲调，美丽的钢琴阴子和非常热情的合唱。第三首歌'Get'Em Out By Friday'也很不错，是迷你摇滚歌曲的形式，伴随着伟大的音乐性和演唱，展现了Gabriel令人惊讶的多才多艺的嗓音和Banks在键盘上的了不起的技巧。第四首歌'Can- Utility And The Coastliners'是另一首有着Gabriel漂亮嗓音的歌，有着Banks 和Hackett制作的伟大的收尾，让歌曲显得非常富有戏剧性、旋律优美。它有着许多优美的低音踏板与合成器的段落，也是专辑中少数以吉他独奏为特色的歌曲。第五首歌'Horizons'是专辑中最短的歌，开场以巴洛克的方式铺陈一段核心旋律，它是典型的Hackett的古典吉他的歌曲。它绝对是卓越的。它是受到巴洛克作曲家巴赫的 'Prelude Of The First Cello Suite'的启发。Hackett是巴赫的大粉丝。第六首歌'Supper's Ready'有七个部分：'Lover's Leap', 'The Guaranteed Eternal Sanctuary Man', 'Ikhnaton And Itsacon And Their Band Of Merry Men', 'How Dare I Be So Beautiful?', 'Willow Farm', 'Apocalypse In 9/8 (co-Starring The Delicious Talents Of Gabble Ratchet)' 和'As Sure As Eggs Is Eggs (Aching Men's Feet)'。是专辑最长的歌，也许也是粉丝间流传最广和最爱的歌了，也是他们最前卫的歌曲。这是伟大的歌曲，充满惊人惊讶的音乐技巧和令人惊讶的歌词，是前卫音乐的最佳代表之一。它真正证明了在70年代初期Genesis是有多么的独一无二和充满创造力。

Conclusion: 'Foxtrot' is, in my humble opinion, a much more mature album than their preceding work, 'Nursery Crime' and is less balanced than 'Selling England By The Pound' is, which is by far, my favourite Genesis album. Some of us may say that Genesis made more significant albums than 'Foxtrot' like 'Selling England By The Pound' and 'The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway', but 'Foxtrot' was basically the reason why Gabriel started dressing up on stage, in strange masks and costumes. By the other hand, 'Foxtrot' is the album that contains one of the songs that people still talk about with a certain reverence and which inspired many other bands to write long suites, even today.

结论：在我看来《Foxtrot》比起他们之前的《Nursery Crime》是一个更成熟的专辑，比起我最爱的Genesis专辑《Selling England By The Pound》来说则更不平衡一些。也许有人会说Genesis制作了比《Foxtrot》更有重大意义的专辑，比如《Selling England By The Pound》和《The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway》，但《Foxtrot》是Gabriel开始在舞台上化妆打扮、穿着怪异服装和面具的基本原因。另一方面来说，《Foxtrot》是一张包含了人们至今依然在怀着敬意谈论的歌曲的专辑，它激发了许多其他乐队去书写很长的组曲，时至今日。