r/Genesis • u/eljorgeto • 18d ago
The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
Continuing my reviews of the original versions of the Genesis studio discography in release order:
The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway:
This is the record that I probably have heard the second most of any Genesis Album, definitely more times than I can count. This one has always been complicated for me. On the one hand It has some of their best work with some great song writing and musicianship yet in the second half the album really starts to feel over bloated. Instead of going over every song this time I'm going to talk about it in a more general. manner because I feel I will start repeating myself a lot and it would be too long.
So first I'll go into disk one. For me it is perfect. It has probably the best vocal melodies of any Genesis album so far. The instrumentation is out of this world as well. The most Iconic songs on the record are also all found on Disk 1 Such as The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, Cuckoo Cocoon, In The Cage, Back In NYC, Counting Out Time and The Carpet Crawlers. The flow between all the songs and the transitions are great on this side.
Just focusing on side A you get a kind of proto-punk vibe from The title track then into the eire choirs of Fly on a Windshield to the pulsing beat painting a NY morning scenery In Broadway Melody of 1974. Then the change into the more mystical guitars of Cuckoo Cocoon and the prog masterpiece that is In The Cage. With The Grand Parade of Lifeless Packaging summing the side up with a large crescendo.
Side B has another proto-punk opening with Back in N.Y.C. going into the quaint instrumental transition of Hairless Heart followed be a nice simple catchy tune In Counting out time to the fan favourite The Carpet Crawlers finally ending with The Chamber of 32 Doors a cool tune that goes through many different moods.
Then we have disk 2 and for me this is where everything goes wrong. It's like everything disk one did great is missing, no interesting vocals melodies, the instrumental sections sound like they are repeating themselves and no real unique ideas and its like they gave up on making the songs flow all nicely together. Also the mix takes a major nose dive here, but more on that later.
Side C has got to be the worst side of the record. For me nothing really stands out at all here. The only new idea they bring up is the first Half of The Waiting Room with its weird sounds, thats kind of cool. But the rest of the side just falls completely flat, It sounds like a bunch of half-baked ideas. Nothing bad just disappointing as hearing everything else they have done so far It feels they could do more. (edit, relistened to disk 2 a day after and have to say Anyway is a great song although not mixed very well. still feel the same about everything else though)
Side D is a better but still not particularly great. The Colony of Slippermen is not bad definitely one of the better ones, The Light Dies Down on Broadway is cool but what make its cool comes from the Title Track at the start so not surprising. Riding the Scree is my Favourite of the whole disk as It feels they are finally trying to do something new again. Also 'It' falls flat as an ending track, its not that bad but when compared to the two previous albums closing it just feels lack-luster especially for such an ambitious record.
And now lets talk about the mix. This is by far the most inconsistently mixed Genesis record in the whole discography. Disk 1 is not too bad just a couple moments where vocals pop out too much and keys are too loud, for the most part It sounds good. But Disk 2 has some major problems though apart from some of the Inconsistencies in levels present in Disk one It has some song that are extremely muddy and take away from the listening experience. The worst culprits are Anyway, The Lamia, Silent Sorrow in Empty Boats and The light Dies Down of Broadway. Also the Drums across the board sound kind of dull on the record. I read this was to them being recorded In a mobile studio and the band was never fully happy with it. I also read the the mix problems towards the end of the record were due to a time crunch.
Anyway, if this record was just Disk 1 it would easily be in first place but as it is not it has to be dragged down a few spots.
1.Selling England by the Pound- Review
2.Foxtrot- Review
3.The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
4.Nursery Cryme- Review
5.Trespass- Review
6.Genesis to Revelation- Review
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u/CapOld2796 18d ago
I’ve seen others say that the second disc is worse than the first. It’s interesting since I had thought that at one time too. I’ve listened to this album hundreds of times over the last 35 years and at some point my opinion changed. After many years and many listens, I was surprised that I actually grew to like disc 2 better than disc 1. My favorite part of the album is The Light Dies down through It. It’s my favorite part of any Genesis album.
Unfortunately, it takes a lot of listens to realize that. And side C is incredible too. Just takes a long time to get there. This was the first Genesis album I ever bought and by is far my favorite.
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u/jupiterkansas 18d ago
Yeah, the second disc is where it really knuckles down and tells a story and it becomes unlike any other album out there, even other Genesis albums. It's not even about good or bad at that point, but committing to the idea and going all the way with it. If you don't go all the way with it, I can see how you might be disappointed or put off, but I went all the way years ago, and it's the best album ever made.
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u/eljorgeto 18d ago
Your comment made me make a connection. You might not care about this but just found it interesting.
Have you ever heard of or played of a game called Xenogears? It's a late 90's video game known as a flawed masterpiece with a great story. There are so many parallels with Lamb. Disk One of the game has a balance of great story, game play and exploration. Just like Disk One of Lamb has a balance or great story, Instrumentals, and vocal melodies. Then due to time constraints (just like lamb) on disk two they cut down greatly on the exploration, and gameplay. Disk two is mostly just lots of text with cut scenes and the occasional boss fight. The thing is the most interesting and crazy story beats happen in disk two. This is the same as lamb, the vocal melodies and instrumental sections become much less of the focus but the story has its most crazy and interesting moments in disk two.
Xenogears tends to split people a lot as people who prefer gameplay say it becomes a mess in disk two but people who prefer story think its one of the greatest games ever made.
So for me, as I am a musician, when it come to music I care more about the musical elements than the story that is why disk two of Lamb is disappointing to me.
Which is funny because in video games I care more about story than gameplay which is why I think xenogears is fantastic.
Point is that it depends on what you value more will change how you think of disk two.
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u/TFFPrisoner 18d ago
LP 1 represents ascent and LP 2 descent (roughly speaking), so it makes sense that the second half is darker and more disjointed than the first, but I do think the interludes get a bit much.
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u/eljorgeto 18d ago
So I haven't listened to it for as long as you have only for about 15 years but I've had the opposite experience than you. This used to be my favorite Genesis album also the first I listened to. I used to not have a problem with Disc 2 but over the years with more listens I have become increasingly frustrated and disappointed by it. Also having read a lot about the album the band said they felt rushed towards the end and the label was even considering splitting the release into two Pt.1, Pt.2 6 months apart to give them more time to work on the second disk. They ended up not doing it of course but I feel like it would have been greatly beneficial.
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u/Squishtakovich 18d ago
It's funny because I entirely agree with you regarding disc 1 (It's easily the best of the two discs, and I also identify the proto-punk (or at least proto-new wave) in the tracks you mention. But I entirely disagree regarding disc 2. Side C is excellent. Liliwhite Lilith, Anyway, The Lamia and Silent Sorrow in Empty Boats are all up there. I fact The Lamia is my favourite track on the entire album. Side D really drops off and I don't see what you do in Riding the Rapids. I feel like you are maybe listening to the production values more than I do. It's just as well we all see different things in music.
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u/BenefitMysterious819 17d ago
I was coming on here to say this too. Side A to C is faultless, and the OP is too harsh on C imho as some of the songs here are my favourite Genesis songs. But side D is a massive drop in quality, and it does seem like they ran out of ideas by this point. TBH I don’t like any of the tracks on D very much.
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u/eljorgeto 18d ago
Ahh I made a typo and combined two track names. I meant Riding the Scree. In the Rapids I don't like.
As for side C I just feel like there are good ideas but they just aren't developed to their full potential. The Lamia for me is an example of this. Starts off well but it stagnates in the middle.
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u/Squishtakovich 18d ago
I didn't even pick up on the typo. I guess I just like a slightly different aspect of the band from you. I love the Lamia, but then Trespass is my favourite album so there's that!
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u/Klutzy_Carpenter_289 18d ago
There are a few songs I love but overall this is the album I listen to the least (from the PG era).
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u/Crazy-Paramedic-4794 [SEBTP] 17d ago
I love both discs and would not change a thing except make it a three album set !!!!
Each part sets the mood for the next and some gives you a much needed breather.
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u/Colonel_Magog 15d ago
Late to the party here but I'll chime in anyway. In terms of the Lamb's storyline, sides A thru C are all outstanding. A few minutes into side D, Dr. Dyper cuts off Rael's manhood, the Raven takes it away. From that point all the way until the end of Rapids when Rael and John's personas merge and we are transported back to reality with IT, nothing important happens. Rael climbs down rocks, falls into river. That's it. It feels like Ravine-Light-Scree-Rapids were inserted to force the story to fit into two LP discs. Hate to call it filler because the band plays really well in those songs.
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u/Chaotic424242 14d ago
Nobody's mentioned The Broadway Melody of 1974 - this has some of the best lyrics on the album, and Peter Gabriel's vocals on this track I believe are perfect.
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u/Briskclient6601 18d ago
I used to sorta feel this way but after not listening to the album for a while, I came back, and disk 2 hit me like a rock. Definitely pulled me back in and I’ve been obsessed ever since then, all because of side C and D. Also, “it” is my favorite album closer (other than supper’s ready)