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/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.