This album’s ranking at #106 is a perfect example of why I intuitively ranked the Top 500 without knowing exact numbers. As a huge fan of classic Genesis, I always wanted to like The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway more than I did. Objectively, this seemed like at least at Top 75 album. But while #106 is extremely high, let me get a little nitpicky. First, I bought The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway in late 1996 as I first began to explore classic rock bands. It intrigued me that a band like Genesis who I knew primarily through the 1980s and 1990s Phil Collins era had this early, mysterious past with Peter Gabriel. I still remember getting the CD at a record show at the Radisson in Utica (on October 20, 1996) and listening to it for the first time. I had definitely found something amazing. It sounded like Genesis, but with insane amounts of depth, complexity, and youthfulness that later albums lost. Many of the songs definitely appealed to me right away. I loved the pure mid-1970s flavor with flutes, the keyboard sound, and the production. Because I enjoy epics, I loved the sprawling two album set where it seemed that Genesis had no rules and the complete freedom to be as uncommercial as possible. Truly, I had discovered one of progressive rock’s best works. And experiencing this album at age 19 was perfect. Yet...it always felt somewhat like a chore to get through. Don’t get me wrong - I enjoy most of the album, warts and all. After all, it’s one of the best progressive rock bands at a magical peak. But there were occasional songs on the first album that ruined the momentum and my attention inevitably wandered on the second album - no matter how hard I tried. No matter how much I can praise a band, album, or genre, I can’t fake these rankings. Genesis actually agrees with me probably more than fans and critics do. The reality is that The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway is a wonderful but flawed album. Gabriel may have anally fought for the lyrics and story he wanted, but he was absent twice from the recording sessions (once for a side project and once because his baby daughter almost died). In interviews, the rest of the band talks about creative frustration, remorse about how they treated Gabriel, and the fact that there was a bit of filler on the album - hinting that a double album may have been too much to chew off. Regardless of flaws, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway was the first Gabriel era Genesis album I really got to explore and digest. It opened up a whole new world of music for me and I still get chills throughout many of the best songs.
The opening title track is still one of the best progressive rock songs of all time. It’s more direct than any Genesis song that came before and sets a different tone for The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. Unlike the earlier pastoral folk feel of Selling England by the Pound, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway is more hard-hitting and nebulous in a science fiction rather than Victorian way. “The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway” actually sounds like a precursor of Gabriel’s late 1970s solo work as art rock evolved into a more stripped down path a la David Bowie. On “Fly on a Windshield,” we get the first taste of some real prog. Atmospheric, wispy, and then...the “windshield” hits the fly, so to speak. When the band comes in, it’s simply awesome. I always loved the interaction between Tony Banks and Phil Collins, and here they play along to this plodding tempo with menacing excitement and creativity. Gabriel then begins to riff on a lot of cultural references from Groucho Marx to Lenny Bruce. There’s a lot of allusory depth here that I’ve never quite explored. “Cuckoo Cocoon” is short but beautiful, completely dated to the mid-1970s with its acoustic instruments and flute. It’s got that magic progressive rock sound that I love. “In the Cage” allows Genesis to stretch out fully. Again, it’s more aggressive than anything they’ve done in quite some time and another “battle” takes place between Banks and Collins that is awe-inspiring. Gabriel keeps throwing in more cultural allusions that make the dream-like story more intriguing. I consider “In the Cage” one of the peak moments of progressive rock. I like the sentiment of “The Grand Parade of Lifeless Packaging” with its anti-consumerism mentality, and the song's tone provides some whimsical relief from a heavy album. “Back in N.Y.C.” is unusually forward-looking, sounding more like Gabriel’s late 1970s solo work or even Genesis’s early 1980s work. It’s got a rigid propulsive keyboard riff that predates the feel of a lot of electronic music up to Depeche Mode in the early 1980s. Throughout the song, Gabriel almost shreds his vocals in agony as the band maintains an Abacab-like rigidity. “Hairless Heart” is a beautiful transition piece with some rare featured guitar from Steve Hackett (who sadly doesn’t have much of a presence on this album). I never much cared for “Counting Out Time” with its fixation on erogenous zones, but I suppose it’s a lighter moment to break up the heaviness. Then the first album closes with two of Genesis’s best songs. “The Carpet Crawlers” is a rare Gabriel-era song that seemed to live on into the Collins era (performed on nearly every Genesis tour). It’s got a warmth that reminds me of Collins’s softer material in the 1980s, and it’s no wonder the original lineup chose to do a new version of it in 1999 (which actually sounded really good). “The Chamber of 32 Doors” is a great Part One closer with its storytelling, suspense, mystery, and dynamic instrumentation. Gabriel shines on this song, his voice occasionally crying out into the wilderness after the band drops out. Brilliant music.
The first album is so solid that it’s nearly impossible for the second album to sustain continued interest and live up to the benchmark. It does start out with one of my favorite Genesis songs, “Lilywhite Lilith.” I always found something magical about this song that reminded me of my science fiction stories where some kind of princess helper allows my main character to escape from a dangerous situation. After this strong album two opener, even the most dedicated prog rock fan might have trouble navigating through the next few sections. This is always when I lost interest, no matter how much I wanted to like all of the album. “The Waiting Room” is crazy and atmospheric, and some kickass instrumentation occurs when the band gets its focus back toward the end. But moments like this are no more interesting than the agonizing Ummagumma by Pink Floyd - experimental at best, indulgent at worst. “Anyway” brings the focus back. It’s a clean, straightforward song with music written by Banks. Hackett’s "Here Comes the Supernatural Anaesthetist" is interesting but seems to tread water in places as if we’re not sure where to go next. While “The Lamia” features some disgusting lyrics, it’s a quite beautiful definitive prog rock song. When I think of Gabriel-era Genesis at its best, this is one of the songs I think about. At this point, we are thoroughly in a fantasy world deep within Gabriel’s imagination, and there are no breadcrumbs to get back. “Silent Sorrow in Empty Boats” gives me chills. It’s just a transitional instrumental piece but it evokes the feeling of dreaming or as if I’m deep, deep into hypnosis. “The Colony of Slippermen” features Genesis at their most indulgent. A three-part song, it involves Rael getting castrated and wearing his castrated member around his neck in a sort of hellish Alice in Wonderland world. We go off the deep end here as the song plods through a long eight minutes. By the time we arrive at “Ravine,” I’m exhausted but I finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. I love this little instrumental interlude. I think of Gandalf standing alone on top of some mountain, the cold wind blowing his robe, as he bears the weight of the world on his shoulders. “The Light Dies Down on Broadway” is the only song where Gabriel didn’t have a hand in it, and it serves simply to link “Ravine” to “Riding the Scree.” However, I’ve been heavily influenced over the years by the metaphor of the closing gateway back to the real world that Rael sees. In life, I sometimes encounter moments when I would lose a spiritual opportunity if I didn’t jump through the closing gate, so to speak. I always felt the end of The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway ended in a disappointing fashion. I’ve put up with so much that I had high hopes for a fantastic conclusion. “Riding the Scree” is the last great song on the album mostly because we hear one last moment of Banks and Collins battling it out. Here, we get that goosebump-inducing classic Genesis sound. “In the Rapids” presents the interesting idea of Rael finding out his brother is actually himself. We conclude with “it.” This song crushingly disappointed me and seemed rather stupid. Again, Gabriel’s allusions are intriguing and fit in with earlier songs, but I always thought of the song as a bit of a cop out. “It’s” everything. Okay. Despite my grumblings, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway’s ranking at #106 signifies we’re really getting to the cream of the crop of my favorite albums. I was lucky a few years ago to watch the Genesis tribute band The Musical Box perform The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway in its entirety. The final Genesis album with Peter Gabriel is a progressive rock masterpiece and one of the finest albums of its kind, full of limitless youthful magic, potential, and wonder that never dies.
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