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Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway CD (album) cover

THE LAMB LIES DOWN ON BROADWAY

Genesis

 

Symphonic Prog

4.31 | 3353 ratings

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Flucktrot
Prog Reviewer
4 stars Deciding how good this album is probably depends heavily on what you are expecting to get from it. If you are interested in taking a long, strange journey (and I must emphasize "long") that ends up leaving you cold and lifeless (except with a brief positive closing), the Lamb would be a good choice.

If you're primarily seeking interesting, powerful, and integrated music--as I typically am--then the Lamb, at least in its entirety, will leave you unsatisfied every time.

This may be the album I have struggled to rate the most of any I have yet encountered. Here's my basic take: the Lamb starts out (through the end of In the Cage) intense, powerful, and with each of the members of Genesis complimenting each other as only they could. Collins does a wonderful job with keeping the mood intense yet varied, with Banks essentially joining him on the rhythm section. Gabriel's lyrics and delivery also are quite strong here. I usually find his contributions to be uneven, but certainly has a creative turn of mind and an innovative syncopated delivery that can really be powerful when added on top of great music. To me, this is truly a group effort.

After this point, there's much more relatively boring ambiance (i.e., Silent Sorrow), flat-out weirdness (Slippermen) or straightforward pop (Back in NYC). Of course there are moments of musical bliss, such as the majestic closing to the Lamia, but Genesis sure use up most of my patience to get there. I find most of the story fairly ridiculous, though I admit it's largely a personal, subjective opinion. Unfortunately, the music increasingly exists to support the story, and largely does not remain interesting if one is not buying into the storyline.

Of course, there are numerous highlights, such as the dramatic Anyway, the catchy Supernatural Anesthetist, the thankfully energetic closer It, and Lilywhite Lilith, which nicely revisits the catchy Fly on a Windshield closing rhythm/melody. Pair these with In the Cage and the title track, and I've got half an hour of great music, which is more than enough for me.

No offense meant to those who adore this album in its entirety--we're just speaking a different language and will have to leave things at that. In my opinion, this is just another in a long line of double albums that should have been one (i.e., the Wall, Topographic Oceans, etc.). Some truly unique and memorable music, lyrics, performances, and melodies, but no masterpiece here.

Flucktrot | 4/5 |

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