THE LAMB LIES DOWN ON BROADWAY

Being a huge fan of all the Genesis albums up to this point, I guess that a fan tag is in order here, this time investment wasn't really a problem for me. Although I vividly remember one of my initial encounters where I felt completely exhausted somewhere around the end of side three and actually turned it off all together. What was it that fans saw in this album, I though for myself? The music was far from as good as any of the band's previous releases. Still I pushed on and once I started to explore the lyrical content, it all began to make sense!

So what was it that drew me into the underlying lyrical context of this work? After all, isn't it all just a drawn-out version of any other tunes sang Peter Gabriel? Yes, that's exactly what it is and the mere fact of it mesmerizes me completely! I remember being so influenced by this Gabriel lyrical masterpiece that I actually had somewhat of a midlife crisis, right around my 23rd birthday, when I realized that I would never be able to achieve anything as magnificent as the story of The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway before I reach 24. That thought made me feel like I was under a lot of pressure all throughout 2009 and might actually have been the biggest contributing factor to me starting this review streak of a sort. If that's not enough of a motivation behind this album's excellence, then I really have no clue how to please you!

The instrumental arrangements work almost seamlessly with the story arc, which is both a good and bad thing. You see, I can never really listen to any of these passages outside of this album's conceptual content. In The Cageand The Carpet Crawlers might have been an essential part of Genesis live performances through the years and although I do love those compositions, I really don't see them as stand-alone tracks. This is definitely a weakness of a sort, but this also says a lot about the solidity of the concept album.

So is The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway the best concept album of all time? Some people complain that the second part of the album is not as good as the first, which is true considering that the first part has all the hits. Yes, I will go out and claim it to be the best concept album of all time! It might not be one of my top 3 favorite Genesis albums, but that says more about this band, in general, than it does of the album.

***** star songs: The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway (4:51) Fly On A Windshield (4:23) Broadway Melody Of 1974 (0:33) In The Cage (8:16) Hairless Heart (2:13) Counting Out Time (3:42) The Carpet Crawlers (5:16) The Chamber Of 32 Doors (5:41) Anyway (3:08) The Lamia (6:57) The Light Dies Down On Broadway (3:33) Riding The Scree (3:56)

**** star songs: Cuckoo Cocoon (2:12) The Grand Parade Of Lifeless Packaging (2:46) Back In N.Y.C. (5:43) Lilywhite Lilith (2:42) Here Comes The Supernatural Anaesthetist (3:00) Silent Sorrow In Empty Boats (3:07) The Colony of Slippermen (8:14) Ravine (2:04) In The Rapids (2:24) It (4:17)

*** star songs: The Waiting Room (5:25)

Share this GENESIS review

Social review comments () BETA

---

---

Review related links

• Send comments to Rune2000
• Report this review (#346443)
• Buy GENESIS music online with PA partners
• Show all GENESIS MP3/Stream
• Go to GENESIS page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for GENESIS related discussions