Customer Reviews

The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway [Vinyl]

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

English art rockers Genesis released their seventh (and lone double studio) album entitled The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway in November of 1974.
The album was created at a time where tensions in the band were astronomically high. Lead singer Peter Gabriel was going through some personal and professional problems while this album was being created (his daughter was born prematurely and uncertainty if his daughter would live (luckily she survived), his failed attempt at a filmscript and his bandmates were angered that Peter was more concerned about his family than the band (in later years, all the members would become parents)).
Despite the on-going tensions in the group, Gabriel created one final masterpiece with Genesis before he left the band in May of 1975 after the tour in support of The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway where the band did the WHOLE DOUBLE ALBUM live start to finish (only The Who and Pink Floyd were other bands of the era that played whole albums start to finish in their set, let's see Britney Spears or any pop fool try it).
The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway was a concept album about a Puerto Rican kid named Rael whom falls into a netherworld known as New York and struggles to find himself throughout the course of the album. Some of the many standouts on this album are the title cut, "In the Cage" (arguably the best song on the album and was resurrected for the 2007 tour), "Back in NYC", "Counting Out Time" (released as a single but flopped), "The Carpet Crawlers" (a concert staple for many years and resurrected for the 2007 reunion tour), "The Chamber of 32 Doors", "The Lamia", "The Colony of Slippermen" and the closing track "It".
The album's other tracks "Fly On a Windshield", "Broadway Melody of 1974", "Cuckoo Cocoon", "The Grand Parade of Lifeless Packaging", "Hairless Heart", "Lilywhite Lilith", "The Waiting Room" (a great instrumental from the same band who would later write "I Can't Dance" and "Hold On My Heart"), "Anyway" (whose roots go back to pre-Hackett and Collins era Genesis musically), "Here Come the Supernatural Anaesthetist", "Silent Sorrow in Empty Boats", "Ravine", "The Light Dies Down On Broadway", "Riding The Scree" and "In The Rapids" are no filler as well and are great songs though some fairweather Genesis fans may think these tracks stink.
I first discovered this album in early September of 1997, when I picked up a used cassette copy (would buy the remastered CD two months later), and I was shocked on how excellent it really is and is today one of my Top 20 favorite rock albums of all time.
Unfortunately Peter Gabriel left after the tour in support of this album and eventually guitarist Steve Hackett would quit as well in late 1977.
The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway peaked at #41 in early 1975 and would eventually go Gold in the US over time proving that people were willing to give pre-1980s Genesis a chance after discovering the band in the 1980s.
In November of 2008, Rhino/Atlantic re-released the album as a 2-CD/1-DVD set. The album was painstakingly remixed by engineer Nick Davis in stereo for excellent sound (kind of like what was done to The Who catalog in the 1990s). The new mixes are AMAZING and I hear things in the new mixes that I have not ever heard before. The DVD was in 5.1 and had an excellent slide show with the album and interviews with band members and an appearance on French television in 1974. In March, 2009, Virgin/EMI re-released the 2008 mix of the album as a 2-CD set. Those who have the box and get annoyed with sliding the CDs in and out of sleeves should get a backup copy in case the discs were badly destroyed from sliding in and out of sleeves.
This new mix of Lamb is recommended!

For all of us Lamb fans. The band The Musical Box is playing The Lamb in the Usa and Canada this year with Genesis and Gabriel's blessing. DO NOT MISS IT. Pass the word. I already got my tickets for San Francisco. We saw the original in '74 and want to experience it again. They will be playing the East/South East early next year...

"The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" is probably Genesis's most exciting release. The long list of numbers of varying length and style makes it an album that you do not easily get an overview of. The story itself (yes, it is a concept album) is not very easy to catch, and personally I was never really caught by it. It's the music, which for me makes thi a special album. Some of the group's most beautiful compositions can be found on this album. As goes for the previous three albums (Nursery Cryme, Foxtrot and Selling England) a lot of experimenting goes one; especially concerning rock song structures. These breaks from predictability make Genesis (with P. Gabriel) one of their era's most interesting bands.

Of course there are also many songs where the melodic and more traditional songwriting is predominant and it is among these the key tracks of the album are to be found. The songs "The Carpet Crawlers," "Cuckoo Cocoon", "The Light Dies Down on Broadway" and "The Lamia" are all well written and performed that they still give a chill down my spine.

The short instrumental "Hair Restless Heart" is a number that contradicts that instrumental tracks are always a little boring. "Lily White Lillith" is arguably some of the best rock the band ever recorded.

Among the more complex numbers "Anyway" and "In the Rapids" are among the favorites. And we must not forget the title-track and the single "Counting Out Time"

Part of music is strongly linked to the context of the album and may hardly work very well outside that context - this applies in particular for some instrumental passages.

Unfortunately, Peter Gabriel left the group after this album, and although ithe commercial success continued, much of the magic disappeared with him.

Here, several decades after, the Genesis' albums with Gabriel still appear relevant and exciting, while most subsequent albums seem time-typical and less interesting than they seemed in their time.

(This review is actually of the '94 mix, I haven't heard this '09 mix, but have read elsewhere it is louder/harsher than the earlier one, and the 94 remix is also harsher and more cluttered than the orginal vinyl....)

"If you think that it's pretentious, you've been taken for a ride" PG

In 1974 Genesis peaked with the release of THE LAMB (their Revelation you could say). Over 35 years later it is still not only listenable, but interesting, unpredictable and fresh sounding and still musically challenging. What other rock-opera/concept album can you say that of? (only Zappa's, WE'RE ONLY IN IT FOR THE MONEY from almost a decade earlier).

THE LAMB is an album/concept/achievement of mythic proportions. For how dysfunctional the recording process was supposed to have been, the result is an amazingly successful synthesis of 5 musical talents at their peak. And what they produced, while directly connected to their earlier sound (traced through the progressively improving TRESPASS, NURSERY CRYME, FOXTROT & SELLING ENGLAND BY THE POUND), was also different by a quantum leap. How could Genesis continue as a band after such an achievement? They didn't. Gabriel went on to explore his 'Electric Shaman' persona in an even more down to earth, less introverted way, and the rest of the band turned to churning out increasingly superficial (and successful) pretty pop hits.

In '74 when this was first released my local FM station played the whole double album in it's entirety. I was an aspiring young Genesis fan then and when I stayed up late to record it, I wasn't sure how to digest the new sound or concepts. I didn't understand it all. It was clearly going to be an acquired taste, something I had to grow into. Years later after it was burned into my mind it became in some weird way my first religion - before I found something more substantial. And yet THE LAMB is still clearly a valid, grand, mythic morality play, incorporating sounds that both root us to Earth and Cosmos..., with words and concepts that unite Greek myth, English romantic literature, psychic archetypes and psychedelic music. It is in essence a story of, and guide to, adolescent male rite-of-passage initiation ritual. You could say The Who's TOMMY did this first, but being more complex, poetic and complete, THE LAMB has endured better.

What resulted was the band's swansong, but each individual was distinct and unique and vital. Peter Gabriel was clearly inspired for this production, taking a lead creative role. His voice is strong, confident and flexible and his lyrics a string of inventive, sometimes profound and often witty one-liners. Phil Collins gives solid powerfully nimble drumming, as well as excellent backing vocals (a role he was always best suited for). Michael Rutherford's bass is a force of nature, crunching and churning along like the inexorable shift of tectonic plates (augmented by that deep and simple bass pedal). Tony Banks is all over the place tying it together with sustaining keyboards played with supreme, dexterous confidence. And then there is Steve Hackett, with a guitar sound and understated vibe that comes and goes like the plaintive song of a humpback whale in the deep, never flashy, always tasteful. And this is the rare accomplishment of this recording - a psychedelic classic that takes you on a trip (in whatever condition you begin in), to expand and challenge and reunite but in an accessible, never creepy or harsh way (like The Grateful Dead, or Pink Floyd could do). From the opening alienated Broadway street scene to the exalted final resolution of It, the album flows in one continuous blended series of sounds (made of a variety of catchy 4-5 minute songs tied together by the those incredible segues...)

Like many of these reviews, this one is long on words and high on praise. For many years I thought I'd put this album with it's adolescent associations and apparent pretensions behind me. But listening to it now as an 'old fart', I see how formative (and transformative) it was. I'm glad to have met and absorbed and been changed by it, and to have moved on, out of the depths and into the ongoing vastness of It. This sounds like a lot to expect from a rock band and album, but it's true.

Genesis / The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway (Double LP on Two CDs): This is a Rock Opera with an unfollowable story, but the music is so magnificent that it's still a Masterpiece. The concept comes from some dreams that Peter Gabriel had which he developed into this story involving a fellow named Rael who has a split personality and he is looking for his brother, who is actually his other half (please don't ask me anything more about the story because I can't stand the headache it causes). However, despite the incomprehensible nature of the story, and the turmoil within the band during the creation of this album, the music (and even the lyrics) are magnificent. Just kick back and enjoy this one...make up your own story to go with it, but this is one you ought to have (whatever it's about). Five Stars.

The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway is the single greatest accomplishment of progressive rock. The only way to review it is to do it in 4 sides, because that's the way it was written. Peter Gabriel or the band never even got close to playing music like this again. They peaked in 1973, we just didn't know it at the time.

Side One starts with the title track, one of their most famous songs. Cuts 4 and 5, "Cuckoo Coccon" and "In The Cage" are as good as it gets folks. The keyboards by Tony Banks on cage along with Phil Collins on drums: WOW. Brings me back to the first time I ever heard it and then I knew what music was supposed to sound like. "The Grand Parade of Lifeless Packaging" is an underrated song, Phil Collins is the best drummer in prog rock and proves it here.

Side Two starts with "Back in NYC" and is the one song on this that I seen Peter perform live. "No time for romantic escape. When your fluffy heart is ready for rape. No" Steve Hackett is featured on the "Hairless Heart" a great piece of music and it goes right into "Counting Out Time" a fun song that sounds like a lot of Peter songs to come. "The Carpet Crawlers" and "The Chamber of 32 Doors" finish off side two in grand fashion. Two incredible songs both musically and vocally. This was a great side of an album and probably the worst of the 4. That's how good this masterpiece is.

Side Three is the most progressive of the album and starts with "Lilywhite Lilith" and she gonna lead you right. A wonderful piece of music, with both Peter and Phil adding vocals. Every time I listen to this CD I am amazed at the skill of these musicians. Especially Phil Collins, this music is not possible without him, he is just so damn good. "The Waiting Room" is a strange number and one that CD reproduces better than vinyl or tape. "Anyway" and "The Supernatural Anaesthetist" keep the story moving and the side ends with the classic "The Lamia" one of the best songs ever written by Peter Gabriel, and then "Silent Sorrow in Empty Boats."

Side Four is my favorite side of the album and starts with "The Colony of Slippermen" my favorite song on the album. "Don't delay, dock the dick": Ouch! "Ravine" is another instrumental that features some nice acoustic guitar from Steve. "The Light Dies Down on Broadway" continues the title track, though Rael is now in a lot rougher shape. "Riding The Scree" has some great keyboards from Tony and great guitar work from Steve on "In the Rapids." The last number is "It" with great guitar and vocals. "It is warm, just watch it grow." It is great.

Summary: This is it, the single greatest album in Progressive rock history. It is everything progressive music should be and when it came out it was one of a kind. There was nothing like it and it's never been topped. From the title track to "It." There are a few weak instrumental parts that were used in the stage shows for Peter to change costumes. Even those are 5 star in my book. "It's only knock and knowall but I like it."

Yes, "Dark Side of the Moon" and the other concept albums were great, but "The Lamb" is beyond great. This is the crown jewel of Progressive Rock. If you don't own this album, you have a giant black hole in your collection. This is a must have, not just to have, but to listen to over and over.

One of the best albums EVER. I spent an entire summer listening to it, learning it and loving it. Give it time and let it grow on you and you'll be glad you did.

The band was excellent with Peter Gabriel vocals in his last Genesis's performance.
If you don't know this band this is the CD to know them. Enjoy.

reading the other reviews gave me goose bumps. Just the memory of these tracks in my head. This album may be slightly different than the others, but it is so good. Most tracks are shorter and to the point. Many seem to fit in to a larger whole. But don't let the "concept album" label scare you. The lyrics by Gabriel - edited by Banks are memorable - unforgettable. This is a must have. The few instrumentals themselves make this worth owning as Hacket get some room to burn. I think Carpet Crawers (one of the few played) is ok but its only a just a mild taste of the many more spicy and beautiful pieces. Get it out!