THE LAMB LIES DOWN ON BROADWAY

After the positively bucolic 'Selling England By The Pound" this album is almost shockingly modern sounding. I am not going to even comment on the supposedly indecipherable story line other than to say there's not really that much to decipher. It has always seemed like a fairly straightforward albeit weird tale. As for the music itself, I always felt that this album was more a left turn rather than a progression from the previous album.For a start there are very few complex longform tracks with Side one's "In the Cage" probably the closest thing to a "Classic" Genesis song full of urgent instrumentation and a particularly memorable keyboard solo from Tony Banks.For the most part, this album actually comprises fairly short songs interspersed with instrumentals.Only the quirky "Colony Of Slippermen" with its herky jerky rhythm is reminiscent of earlier albums especially "Foxtrot" The good news is that they are with a few exceptions particularly excellent. The tile track is just superb- it really feels like an opening number for some big Broadway production which was presumably the idea- great piano work, great driving base riff and a to-die-for chorus.What a truly great song it is, the like of which would have been almost unthinkable only a couple of years previously.Counting Out Time is another straightforward but catchy rocker featuring a surprisingly heavy guitar riff from Steve Hackett and an almost Beatlesque chorus.Another notable song is "Carpet Crawler" with its memorably melodic chorus and a particularly beautiful almost Celtic sounding guitar part waling in the background. Probably the most shocking song on the whole album has to be ":Back In N.Y.C.- it almost predates Punk by a couple of years especially with Gabriel unusually aggressive vocals. I always felt the production on this album is superb with a very live-in-the-studio feel throughout and indeed a lot closer in ambience to what Genesis were like in Concert.The group also experiment a lot more than on previous albums no doubt aided by the 2 disc format allowing them to do that.Therefore we are treated to some exciting dynamic abstract workouts like "Fly On a Windshield" and the freakout jam that is "The Waiting Room"as well as the blissed out ambient mellotron-drenched "Silent Sorrow In Empty Boats". Really I do not think it is essential to "understand" this album to enjoy it. Unlike many so called "Classic" double albums this album never meanders- it is absolutely crammed to the capacity with great songs, great instrumentals and superb playing. An absolute stone cold Classic

5 Stars

Share this GENESIS review

Social review comments () BETA

---

---

Review related links

• Send comments to Lupton
• Report this review (#2497314)
• Buy GENESIS music online with PA partners
• Show all GENESIS MP3/Stream
• Go to GENESIS page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for GENESIS related discussions