THE LAMB LIES DOWN ON BROADWAY

"The Lamb Lies Down" was the first Genesis LP I purchased when it was available in the record stores (November 1974). It is also my unique live experience with the band (12 April 75 - Forest National, Brussels).

This concert was quite unique since Genesis played two encores (The Musical Box AND The Knife - Le Couteau as Peter will mention in his annoucement). The usual encore was either "The Musical Box" OR "Watcher if The Skies". We were very fortunate (maybe they wanted to apologize from their previous concert from a year before - you can read my review for "Selling" for more details).

It is the last album of what is generally considered as the ideal "Genesis" line-up. It might also be considered as Peter 's first solo effort, maybe.

At the time of release, since information was not as widespread as it is now (no Internet, man : can you imagine ?), I had no clue about what their new album was going to be. My first impression when I saw the number of tracks on the sleeve was a kind of disappointment : not a single long track (10 + minutes I mean). But, after all, most concept albums are in the same vein (the reference for me being "Tommy"). Short tracks, with even very short transition moments.

Logically I spun side one then side two etc. following the story with the printed lyrics (thank god !) . What intruigued me at once was the incredible story that is outlined in the inside of the album. Grandiose.

Even after more than 30 years of listening to it, it is not easy to take out songs out of their context and listen them separately (although I did compile "my" version of "The Lamb" taking out the weak moments - especially on side 3 & 4).

For this review I have used some excerpts of the lyrics (I mention it or put them into brackets). I also have used the story printed on the internal sleeve as a base to describe side one.

Here we go !

"The Lamb" tells us the weird story of Rael, the hero and his brother John. Side one is really strong and consistent.

Rael has a "brother" John. A sort of image of himself. But Rael does not like John. (maybe he is his conscience ) ? After spending a whole night in a theater, he is hanging around in the streets of Manhattan. Incidently, out of the steam, a lamb lies down. It just lies down on Broadway. "And The Lamb ..." tells us this intro.

"Fly On A Windshield" describes a strange phenomenon that is taking place : a black cloud descends on Time Square and is transformed in a solid wall. It will soon starting to move slowly. Rael wants to escape the cloud and runs. There is so much dust in the air that Rael is completely covered by it. The dust slowly creates a kind of coat which confines and surrounds Rael to such an extent that he can not move any longer. "The Melodies of Broadway" revive Rael's memories but he seems to be in a kind of "trip" (needles and pins...).

He feels like he is wrapped in a coccon (Cockoo !). Rael thinks, I quote the lyrics : "I wonder if I'm a prisoner locked in some Brooklyn jail, or some sort of Jonah shut up inside the whale".

He realized suddenly that he is in a kind of cave and, resigned, he falls asleep. When he wakes up, the cocoon has gone and stalactites and stalacmites are formed so quickly around him that he will soon be prisoner in some sort of cage. He has the impression that the bars of the cage are moving towards him and begins to press against his chest.

All of a sudden, he sees his brother John and cries for help. But John seems to ignore and turns away, leaving Rael alone with his fears and pains. At the same time, the cage dissolves...

The last track "The Grand Parade..." works very well live but the studio version is not really good (but funny still).

Side two opens with "Back in N.Y.C." it is not really one of my favourite : too noisy, too hard (although I enjoy a lot the Purple & Led Zep), but I do not expect "Genesis" to produce such a number.

The instrumental "Hairless Heart" is short, melodious & nice. "Counting of Time" is a funny song, and will be released as a single. This song has strong sexual content. Rael will discover his erogenous zones.

I quote the lyrics : "Touch and go with 1 to 6. Bit of trouble in zone No. 7". Later on "Getting crucial responses with dilation of the pupils. Honey get hip! It' s time to unzip, to unzip zip, zip-a-zip, zip-a-zip. Whippee". This side ends up with two of the best tracks where our hero Rael is really into big s h i t.

"The Carpet Crawlers" is a marvel of a melody and "The Chamber of 32 Doors" sounds quite desperate (our hero coming always back to square one while he wants to escape and always return to this damned chamber). Peter's voice is really dramatic during this number.

Side three is quite contrasted : three of the poorest tracks (The Waiting Room, The Supernatural Anaestetist and Silent Sorrow...) and three of the best ones (Liliwhite Lilith, Anyway and The Lamia). It is also the darkest side of the story.

Our hero meets the blind Lillywhite Lilith who will lead him out of the Chamber. I quote : "Lilywhite Lilith, She gonna take you thru' the tunnel of night Lilywhite Lilith, She gonna lead you right."

"Anyway" and "The Lamia" are the most melodious and emotional tracks from "The Lamb". "Anyway" starts with a beautiful keyboard intro, and on an acoustic mode. The crescendo will lead to a marvelous guitar break (in the style of "Firth" but shorter, alas).

"The Lamia" is my preferred song : almost lyric and very few solo moments (only some gutar at the end). Our hero Rael, will make love with three half women / half snakes. The song enters into a true erotic novel. I quote : "Putting fear beside him, he trusts in beauty blind He slips into the nectar, leaving his shredded clothes behind. "With their tongues, they test, taste and judge all that is mine. They move in a series of caresses That glide up and down my spine".

Just wonderful. Very emotional while played life.

The last number of side three "Silent Sorrow" is a very weak instrumental. It is said that it was necessary to allow Peter to transform into the Slipperman. Maybe it is true. This would mean that, at the time of writing, Peter already had a pretty good idea on how the show would look like.

Side four is somewhat emotional.

Our hero will learn that his act with the lamias has a price : he will be turned into an awful Slipperman. But he can't believe what he sees although another Slipperman tells him : "We, like you, have tasted love. Don't be alarmed at what you see, You yourself are just the same as what you see in me."

The solution is to go and see the doctor : "Understand Rael, that's the end of your tail". Rael: "Don't delay, dock the dick!"

This is the track where Peter will be dressed up into an awful creature before the metamorphosis took place and he returns then back to Rael. "Ravine" is a weak instrumental and leads us to "The Light Dies Down" which is a nice variation of the opening and title song of this work.

Rael will need to ride the scree and survive the rapids in which he jumped in to save his brother John (I like this one also very much although it is a very quiet tune). In this track he meets his brother John again "Hang on John! We're out of this at last". At this time he just figures out that who he sees is not john, but his own face: "Something's changed, that's not your face. It's mine! Its mine!"

The closing number is a resume of the whole album and quite rocky, hence the final sentence :"Yes it's only knock and knowall, but I like it like it..." And yes, I damn like it !

The lyrics are incredible. The story ambiguous.

I wonder why they never made a movie out of this (Spielberg would have done a good job, I'm sure). Or a musical in ... Broadway ?

The Lamb" is best experienced live. There is unfortunately no live footage of this tour (which will be the last one of this legendary line-up). Since I have seen it, I cannot complain.

On top of it, I have seen the show four times performed by the excellent cover band "The Musical Box" (including a memorable one at the Royal Albert Hall). Altough one can argue about the use of such bands, I really invite you to go and see them to get an idea of a "Genesis" show : they are reproducing every single details of them.

Peter went to see TMB with his children, so that they could figure out how "Genesis" was performing on stage !

The lyric parts of "The Lamb" deserve five stars, but musically it is not my preferred "Genesis" album (there are six weak numbers). So, four stars.

Although it is now regarded as one of the best concept album of all time, it only reached Nr. 10 in the UK (41 in the US).