THE LAMB LIES DOWN ON BROADWAY

I listened recently this album after about 15 years. I remembered it as being not the best one. It's a decent album, but many things I do not like; here's why: Enossification: the influence and contribution of the keyboardist-composer Brian ENO on this record. Look, after the best all-time record "Selling England By The Pound" and before the outstanding, the unique, the marvelous, the unbelievable "A Trick Of The Tail", GENESIS produced an album entitled TLLDOB; well, it is expected to be rated 5 stars and belong to my top 20 all time records. NO!! Even not 4.5 stars for that!! Because of what? Because a keyboardist named Brian ENO f**ked up all the things for maybe one of the best GENESIS albums!! On this album, almost everything sounds easy prog pop or randomly experimental. We are very far from "Foxtrot" or "Selling England...". Sometimes I find some bits BEATLE-esque! There was an important loss of essence here, some kind of prog dilution. BANKS is not in his element. We notice he is not familiar with those experimental keyboard sounds. I dont know... it sounds a bit amateur! The moog is played with a slight randomness, abandonning a bit all the structure that was the strength of the group in the past. On "The Battle Of Epping Forest", the moog was well supported by the bass, the drums and guitars, but here, it seems all alone. We can see it in waiting room (what a bad song!!), "The Colony Of Slipper Man", "The Light Lies Down On Broadway". Fortunately, the moog is well accompanied on "In The Cage".

"The Grand Parade Of Lifeless Packaging"!!?? What the hell is that garbage!! On "Counting In Time", what is that modified mood at the end? Totally unwanted!! Plus, the song is really in the "I know what I like style", but much worse. "The Chamber Of 32 Doors" has really a beatle-esque bits! Sounds so pop and so unsignificant in some bits! Good, but I expect more. "Fly On A Windshield? Well, it has a bad dissonance. It's a dull song. "Broadway Melody Of 1974"? Well, it is so dull, but fortunately, I is not very long! "In The Rapids"? How can they do such ordinary song??!!??

Well, TLLDOB is very unequal! And more: there are no songs on it that I consider outstanding as it is the case for other albums: one for the vine, "Supper's Ready", "Get Em Out By Friday", "Ripples", "Mad Man Moon", "Los Endos", "Entangled", "Cinema Show", "Moonlit Knight", "Epping Forest", "Fountain of Salmacis" and so on... Fortunately, there are very good bits and songs, like anyway, "The Lamia", "Silent Sorrow in Empty Boats", "Hairless Heart", "Cuckoo", "In the Cage", "Carpet Crawler", "Ravine" (but how bizarre!)

I wonder, if "Lamb..." was a single album, how fans would have reacted? good question!! Maybe I would have dropped it to 3.5 stars!! There is another popular prog band who made, that time, a flop album during their top career: YES with their "Topographic Oceans": quite worse!! To be honest, I think I like "And Then There Were Three" more than "The Lamb..."!!