Genesis
The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway - Famous Charisma 1974
Tracks: 1. Lamb Lies Down on Broadway / 2. Fly on a Windshield / 3. Broadway Melody of 1974 / 4. Cuckoo Cocoon / 5. In the Cage / 6. The Grand Parade of Lifeless Packaging / 7. Back in N.Y.C. - Genesis, Banks, Ant / 8. Hairless Heart / 9. Counting out Time / 10. The Carpet Crawlers / 11. The Chamber of 32 Doors / 12. Lilywhite Lilith / 13. The Waiting Room / 14. Anyway / 15. The Supernatural Anaesthetist / 16. The Lamia / 17. Silent Sorrow in Empty Boats / 18. The Colony of Slippermen: The Arrival/A Visit to the Doktor/The Raven / 19. Ravine / 20. The Light Dies Down on Broadway / 21. Riding the Scree / 22. In the Rapids / 23. It
Comments:
"The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" is probably Genesis's most exciting release. The long list of numbers of varying length and style makes it an album that you do not easily get an overview of. The story itself (yes, it is a concept album) is not very easy to catch, and personally I was never really caught by it. It's the music, which for me makes thi a special album. Some of the group's most beautiful compositions can be found on this album. As goes for the previous three albums (Nursery Cryme, Foxtrot and Selling England) a lot of experimenting goes one; especially concerning rock song structures. These breaks from predictability make Genesis (with P. Gabriel) one of their era's most interesting bands.
Of course there are also many songs where the melodic and more traditional songwriting is predominant and it is among these the key tracks of the album are to be found. The songs "The Carpet Crawlers," "Cuckoo Cocoon", "The Light Dies Down on Broadway" and "The Lamia" are all well written and performed that they still give a chill down my spine.
The short instrumental "Hair Restless Heart" is a number that contradicts that instrumental tracks are always a little boring. "Lily White Lillith" is arguably some of the best rock the band ever recorded.
Among the more complex numbers "Anyway" and "In the Rapids" are among the favorites. And we must not forget the title-track and the single "Counting Out Time"
Part of music is strongly linked to the context of the album and may hardly work very well outside that context - this applies in particular for some instrumental passages.
Unfortunately, Peter Gabriel left the group after this album, and although ithe commercial success continued, much of the magic disappeared with him.
Here, several decades after, the Genesis' albums with Gabriel still appear relevant and exciting, while most subsequent albums seem time-typical and less interesting than they seemed in their time.
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