THE LAMB LIES DOWN ON BROADWAY

Such an unusual album, not a typical prog album for the early half of the 70's both musically and for its many shorter pieces. The concept is not easy to grasp or make sense of. But without taking that so seriously there is a very relaxed flow and atmosphere. The production is terrific and modern and the songs are plentiful and vary in style. For me it took quite some time to digest but there are many highlights.

Gabriel's vocals and lyrics are interesting, at their most surreal too. The opening track is very memorable, but of the first half, 'Cuckoo Cocoon' is one of the best. A beautiful mellow song with poetic word-play. Also love "In The Cage" and the gorgeous "'Carpet Crawlers' with a nice bass sound and keyboards (I love the keyboards on this album!) and soft harmonies. It isn't a complex piece of prog-rock but still grabs you with its power.

The second half contains a few more experimental pieces such as 'The Waiting Room', but overall I feel because the album remains varied, it flows reasonably well.The piano led 'The Lamia' is just lovely and the sci-fi like 'Colony Of Slippermen' great too.

This music isn't far removed from the previous Genesis albums but the material here stands on its own. Many say it was the band's finest, for me not exactly, it is certainly captivating and without a doubt unlike anything else they ever did. It is an album that many people have a lot to say about and I think everyone should give it a few listens. This and Yes' ''Tales From Topographical Oceans' are much alike, there are things that can confuse you about them but musically they have so many amazing moments and evoke many moods.