THE LAMB LIES DOWN ON BROADWAY

I've always considered this album to be the one in their catalog to sort of be an island unto itself. I find it hard to 'link' it to any other part of their output like you could compare, say, "Foxtrot" and "Nursery Cryme". I have always unabashedly loved this album from just about any angle. It's the most complex songwriting I have ever heard. The emotion with which Gabriel sings these lyrics gives you a sense that he treated his words with very high reverence. He knew he had something epic on his hands and every inflection in his voice seems to say "I'm doing everything I can to give these ideas the respect they deserve". Collins' drumming is just magnificent. I couldn't imagine another drummer's style meshing with this material. The only criticisms I have are 1) The Waiting Room. Interesting the first few times I heard it, but has been relegated to filler now. I've never seen a track ever get the odd glances that this one gets from my friends & family. 2) The Light Dies Down on Broadway. The lyrics seem to be a bland array of words thrown together to fill space (This was the one written by Banks, wasn't it? Thought I heard that somewhere....). 3) The Lamia fadeout. Interestingly, there was a time that this was one of my least favourite songs on the album. It is now my favourite. Go figure. It seems to me that the final minute of the song where Hackett fires up the solo sends the song soaring. The band seems exceptionally tight during this section, and then, when it can't sound more beautiful, the absolutely gorgeous staccato-styling flute comes in. Heaven. But then four seconds later....FADEOUT! AARRRGGGHHH!!!! I often wonder how far they went with this tune and what it sounded like before being edited. Oh, well...maybe it was trash and they did us all a favour.... Truly,truly, one of a kind.