Progarchives, the progressive rock ultimate discography
Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway CD (album) cover

THE LAMB LIES DOWN ON BROADWAY

Genesis

 

Symphonic Prog

4.31 | 3353 ratings

From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website

Warthur
Prog Reviewer
5 stars Although The Lamb Lies Down In Broadway is undeniably a significant Genesis album - their sole double studio album, and their final effort with Peter Gabriel - I used to consider it rather overrated. A consequence of its length is that it's much harder to digest than their single albums of this period - but time taken to do so will be amply rewarded.

The band seem to have taken the album as an opportunity to reposition their music and edge very slightly away from the pastoral style of their previous works to appeal to a broader rock audience, and in particular to break into the States. This is most evident in the concept, which asks the listener to accept the rather baffling casting of Peter Gabriel as a New York street thug who undergoes a spiritual crisis (and might possibly have raped someone prior to the commencement of the story if you read between the lines of some of the songs), but it also crops up here and there in the music - which regularly backs away from the complexity of earlier works to embrace more mainstream material and even novelty songs (such as Counting Out Time - a hilarious spoof of sex manuals and dating advice books of the 1970s which could almost be a decades-early satire of the "Pickup Artist" movement).

Brian Eno helped out in the producer's seat this time around, with the consequence that the sound of many tracks - particularly instrumentals such as Silent Sorrow In Empty Boats - doesn't quite sound like the Genesis of old. That's fine, but I'm not sure the collaboration is completely successful either - at points there seems to be an irreconcilable clash between the prog majesty of Genesis and the increasingly ambient leanings of Eno, though I would stress that a lot depends on what mix you listen to here. (Both the original vinyl and the 2007 remaster and remix on CD strike me as being a bit more successful than the 1994 "Definitive Edition" remasters - which, given that they were replaced just over a decade later, clearly weren't as definitive as they thought they were.)

In addition, the album finds is very self-indulgent, and some may find that difficult to get beyond unless you find Genesis' particular quirks endearing. Gabriel allows his whimsy and theatricality to run free, but in truth the imagery he uses is barely coherent - are we dealing with a nightmarish allegory or a fairytale, Alice In Wonderland journey? Is Rael a naive and sensitive spiritual searcher or an abusive individual who's coming to recognise the danger his lack of control of his sexual impulses poses to those around him?

In the context of a novel ambiguities such as this might well be explored in a meaningful manner, but as far as concept albums go Gabriel doesn't really have time to explore all the different dimensions he tries to include in the story - especially since there are plenty of instrumental stretches where he doesn't sing at all - and therefore none of the alternatives quite manages to fit together. This has an impact on his vocal performance, where at one point he's expressing the agony of Rael's tortured soul and the next he's off on some twee little tangent, and he doesn't really sound wholly sincere in either mode.

On top of this, Gabriel's penchant for goofy, twee, whimsical songs is indulged mightily on this album, with The Grand Parade of Lifeless Packaging, Here Comes the Supernatural Anaesthetist and (especially) the Colony of Slippermen being particularly irritating unless you are in just the right mood for his flights of fancy: imagine Supper's Ready if Willow Farm dragged on for five minutes (though at least all those parts have enough musical ideas going on that it isn't quite as repetitive as I've made it sounds). On top of that, the story and album seem to lose their direction entirely on side four and there's a certain amount of instrumental work needed to actually pad out the double album running time. (Seriously, here's the end: Rael and John walk along by a ravine and they both end up in a river, Rael comes to a dramatic realisation. That doesn't need 16 minutes and five songs to relate.)

I'd previously felt that The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway was one of those double albums which would be an absolutely top-notch single album if the musicians involved had just trimmed down the fat and crammed as many of their musical ideas as they could into the more limited running time, though I've warmed more to its later sections over the years. Still, even if some of its sections are a bit inaccessible, others will grip you immediately. The title track is great, In the Cage is an incredible trip, Back In New York City is one of the Gabriel-era's bands most successful attempts to grow beyond their pastoral prog base, and The Lamia is a beautiful track with imagery which is in equal parts charming, sensual, haunting and disturbing - it's the point on the album where I would say Gabriel's lyrics are at their best, establishing the strange "Lewis Carroll meets Sigmund Freud" atmosphere of the concept's supernatural/subterranean elements better than any other track.

Undeniably a significant experiment on the part of the band, as well as providing a host of great sounds and moments. If you're in just the right mood, it's great listening - but I find that that mood doesn't involve wanting to follow the story of a street tough from New York called Rael so much as it is wanting to have some pastoral prog prettiness turned spooky by Brian Eno's production affectations. As an actual rock opera or concept album, I feel that it's more interesting for the weird imagery Gabriel plays with than for any attempt at an actual narrative, but as a collection of songs and the capstone to the Gabriel era it's phenomenal. I'd recommend coming to it last out of the Gabriel-era albums, for all of them from Trespass to Selling England are more immediately gripping, but tackle it sooner or later.

Warthur | 5/5 |

MEMBERS LOGIN ZONE

As a registered member (register here if not), you can post rating/reviews (& edit later), comments reviews and submit new albums.

You are not logged, please complete authentication before continuing (use forum credentials).

Forum user
Forum password

Share this GENESIS review

Social review comments () BETA







Review related links

Copyright Prog Archives, All rights reserved. | Legal Notice | Privacy Policy | Advertise | RSS + syndications

Other sites in the MAC network: JazzMusicArchives.com — jazz music reviews and archives | MetalMusicArchives.com — metal music reviews and archives

Donate monthly and keep PA fast-loading and ad-free forever.