THE LAMB LIES DOWN ON BROADWAY

A Fitting Swansong For The Gabriel Era. The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway Is A Stunning Package. Genesis Never Seemed To Be Running Out Of Ideas, The Two Albums Beforehand "Foxtrot" And "Selling England By The Pound" Are Magnificent, And The Contrast Between These Three Records Is Astounding! Here They Seem To Have Almost Re-invented Themselves. I For One Would Have Absolutely Loved To See What The Next Record Could Have Been If Gabriel Had Not Left, (Though I Do Really Like A Trick Of The Tail) But As I Have Said, It Is A Fitting Swansong. Like The Wall, To Go Through Every Song On The Record Would Be Too Long And Tedious, There Are Many Highlights. The Title Track Which Opens The Record Is Fantastic, Barrelhouse Piano Building To An Excellent Guitar Riff And One Lively Rock Song. The Odd, Yet Gentle "Cuckoo Cocoon" In Which Gabriel Introduces A Strange Effect To His Vocals, Which Makes It Sound Slightly Eighties, Is Effective None The Less. "In The Cage" Is The Longest Track On The Record, Its Edgey Rhythm Added To Gabriels Lyrics Make It Seem Slightly Claustrophobic, With Hackett Sounding Almost Like Fripp In The Background. "Back In NYC" Is Another Enjoyable Song, Telling The Tale Of A Tough Kid On The Streets Of New York, Who Doesn't Care Who He Hits! Gabriel Lets Himself Go On This Track, Shouting Some Of The Lines As The Song Seems To Build And Build. The Most Radio Friendly Song On The Record "Counting Out Time" Shows That The Band Were Well Capable Of Writing Short Effective Pop Songs As Well As They Could 20 Minute Epics. The Most Melodic And Maybe The Best Song On The Record Follows, "Carpet Crawlers" In Which Gabriels Voice Carries Beautifully Alongside Banks Keyboard Runs And Hacketts Gentle Guitar Lines, Stunning. It Is True That Disc Two Does Not Hold As Many Stand Out Tracks As The First But It Can Be Just As Enjoyable "Silent Sorrow In Empty Boats" And "Ravine" Are Small Instrumentals That Have Simple Melancholy, Droning Melodies. However, Some Tracks Are Simply Classics "Lilywhite Lilith" And "It." Are The More Livelier And Enjoyable Songs On Side Two, The Latter Finishing The Record On A High Note. Some Songs On The Record Do Sound Dark, Similar To The Wall In A Way. "The Lamia" Is A Perfect Example, And I Do Find It Hard To Listen To. Overall There Is Great Ideas, A Wonderful Story And Great Playing. Gabriels Lyrics Do Not Seem As Whimsical As They Do On Previous Records But He Is Just As Adventerous. One Of The Most Important, Double Concept Albums Of The Decade.