Kill´s 50 greatest albums ever - #46

[Kill]

G e n e s i s

THE LAMB LIES DOWN ON BROADWAY
(1974)


Disc 1           Disc 2

"Progressive rock" is the term that is so often and much associated with the magnum opus of early Genesis leader Peter Gabriel. Back when the now so illustrious Phil Collins was "only" the band´s drummer and its fan community was of almost diminutive size compared to a few years later, the five men pioneered rock music with both a knack for beautiful melodies and a will to expirement boldly.

The arguably most important record of this era is the quadruple-LP epic "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway". The record is a tale from the streets of New York City, revolving around the struggles of young Puerto Rican immigrant Rael who tries to keep his head above water in this urban jungle. Gabriel´s artful narrative portrays more than just the main character of the story; the often surreal and at times slightly confusing lyrics, mostly written from a first-person perspective, contain references to typical 1970´s issues that are quite often satirical and more ambiguous than one notices at first glance.

Yet, the story of protagonist Rael, who, trying to save his brother, gets tangled up in a bizzarre underground realm, remains the focus of the album, as it keeps heading for its dramatic closure throughout an overall playing time of more than 95 minutes. The metaphorical proportions of many songs are enourmous though; while the title track and opener makes an almost pompous musical appearance and does not yet reveal much about the entire album´s soundscape, it is even the more defining for its lyrics. Gabriel´s writing - he insisted on doing it all himself - is a poetical depiction of New York city and an individual´s life, often dwelling in the surreal: The first track actually describes a lamb lying down on Broadway:

And out on the subway,
Rael Imperial Aerosol Kid
Exits into daylight, spraygun hid,
And the lamb lies down...on Broadway

The lamb seems right out of place,
Yet the Broadway street scene finds a focus in its face.
Somehow it's lying there,
Brings a stillness to the air.
Though man-made light, at night is very bright,
There's no whitewash victim,
As the neons dim, to the coat of white.

It has to be said that, despite being mainly Peter Gabriel´s project, "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway" brillantly showcases the talent of his fellow band members Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford, Phil Collins and Steve Hackett. The compositions were indeed  done with little participation from Gabriel, whose focus lay almost completely on the lyrics. This seperation didn´t do the band any good; shortly after the album, Gabriel left Genesis to pursue his own creative vision. The band lost many long-time fans, but with their - much more convential and mainstreamish - new sound, they found many more new ones than they´d ever had.

What Gabriel had left behind to this day stands as maybe the most important monument of what is referred to as "progressive rock". Its expensive live show - too expensive as it would turn out - is legendary among the band´s fans. Despite limited commercial success and receiving mixed critics at first, "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" is a gem in the treasure chest of pop history, a musical microcosm that reveals more and more about itself with every listen, complex and beautiful at the same time.

[Kill]

HOOK-UP IS UP

[Knoshen]

no one gives a fuck about your reviews, cut the bullshit and stop trying to push your shitty music on people, no one gives a fuck except stupid little teeny boppers who feel warm when they listen to daddys music


NEXT

[Javier]

no one gives a fuck about your reviews, cut the bullshit and stop trying to push your shitty music on people, no one gives a fuck except stupid little teeny boppers who feel warm when they listen to daddys music


NEXT

Wow ur such a G!   

[Twentytwofifty]

no one gives a fuck about your reviews, cut the bullshit and stop trying to push your shitty music on people, no one gives a fuck except stupid little teeny boppers who feel warm when they listen to daddys music


NEXT

hahahahahaha
you're an idiot

[7even]

no one gives a fuck about your reviews, cut the bullshit and stop trying to push your shitty music on people, no one gives a fuck except stupid little teeny boppers who feel warm when they listen to daddys music


NEXT

NEXT

[Kill]

^^ lmao, you get a prop for bringing up the Stuntaz, I love dem nigguhz

and SurreycentralCrip, you´re such a clown it´s sad...I think more people care about this "shitty music" than about Bay Area ganxtas talkin bout dey scrilla...just shut the fuck up in my non-hiphop topics and go to the west coast section where you can make topics like

- Yuk is so underrated
- Operation Stackola is clazzic
- 2356th Too $hort album comin out
etc.

peace

[Kill]

...but I thought this wasn´t a popular album on dubcc

nobody caring at all?

[Noname]

no one gives a fuck about your reviews, cut the bullshit and stop trying to push your shitty music on people, no one gives a fuck except stupid little teeny boppers who feel warm when they listen to daddys music


NEXT

Hes right man. Stop this bs list. Nobody knows your stupid music.

[Kill]

lol, "SurreycentralCrip" and "Bullet Loco"...at the risk of catchin two to the net-dome, I´ma continue

[Bramsterdam (see ya)]

Fuck those 2, props Kill

P.S.   RATM - The Battle of Los Angeles = #1

[On The Edge of Insanity]

Props for this one Kill. I got a live album of theirs thats recorded just after this was released and pretty much has the whole album on there. Never checked out the studio album though.

[Kill]

^^ thanks to you two, I appreciate the comments

and don´t worry, I won´t catch feelings because of two immature internet bangas demonstrating how ignorant they are. If I had any feeling for them, it would have to be pity...I mean, only listening to hiphop is one thing, I used to do that too...only, even at the youngest age, I would have never even considered making such dumb fucking comments...

and Rastaman, use the hook-up, it´s worth it. The album´s not hugely popular, but that´s a shame.

In MY opinion: Lamb Lies Down > about 30 of the albums that are still gonna pop up in this list

[W-Side]

props, interesting read. checkin it out now


lol @ them 2 net loc'stas

[eS El Duque]

props on the review and the hook ups..bnut i probably wont download em lol