THE LAMB LIES DOWN ON BROADWAY

Ah, the controversial Double Album that goes too far. This mainly a Peter Gabriel Concoction, as he writes all the lyrics and the band writes all the backing music. This is where fans started to see Genesis as only Peter Gabriel, with the rest of the band just doing background music. He certainly had lost his stage fright from earlier in his career, and was now an all attracting stage presence. The Band was rather annoyed by this, and Gabriel could sense it. this is one of the several reasons why he left Genesis after the tour for this album. And what turned out from all this was, interesting, to say the least. I won't go deep into a song by song review, but rather do an overview of each disc.

Disc 1: Great piano opener, fading in as if it were a dream, which the Lamb is purported to be. Classic track, with RAEL IMPERIAL AEROSOL KID being introduced. Fly on a windshield continues in a dreamy manner, and the second part has good vocals and lyrics perfectly summing US pop culture history. Broadway Melody is a nice short interlude. cuckoo cuccoon does little to forward the story, and leads into the beastly In the Cage. A keyboard track all the way, Tony lets loose on hammond and synth. Gabriel also has some passionate singing here, making it a classic. Grand Parade is a cool silly Genesis song with lots of effects. Back in NYC is a rough rowdy song that tells of Rael's punk days in NYC. Hairless heart is a beautiful instrumental interlude. Counting out time is the first mediocre song, sounding too poppy for my liking, and using an effect i dont like. Carpet crawlers is beautiful with Phil doing some nice backing vocals. Chamber of 32 doors is good, just a little boring. We leave disc 1 wondering where Rael will go next.

Disc 2: Lilywhite lilith is unlike Genesis' usual style, and its not so good. Waiting room is a cool experimental track, but again, unlike Genesis. Anyway has some great piano and guitar from Banks and Hackett, respectively. Supernatural Anaesthetist is the one and only time Hackett gets to let loose, and boy does he. greeat solo. The Lamia contains some beautiful melodies and a pseudo love story, ending in despair. Great keyboard work from Banks here. Silent Sorrow is a spacious interlude, maybe emphasizing Rael's sorrow, as it is mellow and sad-sounding. Colony of Slippermen is not a very good song, i dont think. Its a little repetetive in the Hammond organ section, and it just doesnt go over well with me. Ravine is another spacey instrumental, theyre starting to bother me a bit, but not too much. The Light Dies Down is a great return after a couple of shoddy tracks,using melodies from the Lamia and the title track. It seems to describe an epic choice between life and death. Riding the scree is another mostly instrumental song, but it opens with a great synth solo from Banks, one of the more complicated hes ever done. In the Rapids is a softer, mellower song, which paves the way for IT: the dramatic closer to this Wacky Gabriel Tale, IT is assumed to be love, because Rael loves his brother John.

Overall, not their best, and certainly starting their decline into pop and schmaltz. Gabriel's guiding light would leave, Collins would guide them through 2 more proggy albums, and then Hackett would leave and everything would fall apart. But for all its pop and filler, the Lamb is still quite an interesting excursion in Gabriel's Mind, and a last hurrah for the classic Genesis.