THE LAMB LIES DOWN ON BROADWAY

The prog-rock era sort of toppled under its own weight when every band had to do their double album. Genesis were no exception, and it was predictably overblown and overstuffed. But they managed to keep their dignity and produce an album that was at least good, if not quite on the level of their best works.

The concept, 100% Gabriel's baby, is totally incomprehensible, and it wouldn't at all surprise me if lots of drugs were involved. At least it strives for a quirky surrealism, as opposed to the cheesy sci-fi and heroic fantasy concepts most prog-rock acts go for. And Side One is some of the best Genesis music ever, the pieces flowing together masterfully, reaching a fever pitch with the intense "In The Cage".

It's round about Side Three that things begin to unravel, with some rather less than inspired throwaway numbers ("Lilywhite Lilith", "Anyway") and obvious filler (the jam piece "The Waiting Room"), but they never find themselves as deep as TALES FROM TOPOGRAPHIC OCEANS. Even at its weakest, the album remains listenable, but at 90+ minutes it sometimes feels more like a marathon than an album.

Still, it's good that they managed to retain their integrity on a project that was probably a mite overambitious. Definitely one of the more successful and enjoyable of these types of albums, but still not a patch on FOXTROT in the end.