The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway - Definition and Overview

The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
LP by Genesis
Released	November 18, 1974
Recorded	???
Genre	Progressive rock
Length	95 min 17 s
Record label	Charisma (UK); Atlantic (US)
Producer	John Burns
Professional reviews
Allmusic.com	5 stars out of 5	link (http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=UIDSUB040311132111402283&sql=A08q8g4sttv8z)
Genesis Chronology
Selling England by the Pound (1973)	The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (1974)	A Trick of the Tail (1976)

The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway is an ambitious two-record concept album released in 1974 by British progressive rock band Genesis. It was the last album by the group on which original lead singer Peter Gabriel performed.

The album tells the surreal and dreamlike story of a Puerto Rican juvenile delinquent named Rael living in New York City, who ventures into an underground realm filled with bizarre creatures and nightmarish dangers in order to rescue his brother John. The individual songs make satirical allusions to everything from mythology to the sexual revolution to advertising and consumerism. The title track, as well as "Carpet Crawlers" and "In the Cage", became live favorites for the band even into the 1990s.

Most of the music on the album was written by band members Tony Banks, Phil Collins, Steve Hackett, and Mike Rutherford, without Gabriel's participation. Gabriel insisted on writing the story and all the lyrics himself, which caused friction. Gabriel's absenteeism from the album's writing and rehearsal sessions due to personal problems — his wife was having difficulties with her first pregnancy — added to the strain.

The Lamb was released to mixed reviews, and the band went on a world tour, performing the album in its entirety at more than 140 dates. As the tour wound to a close, Gabriel announced he was leaving Genesis.

In 1975 Gabriel was contacted by filmmaker William Friedkin — who was enjoying great success with The Exorcist — about a possible film based on the album. Gabriel worked on some early script drafts, but nothing came of the project.

In 2003 work began on a 5.1 surround sound remix of the album for either DVD-Audio or SACD release sometime in 2004.

Track listing

Disc one

1. "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway"
2. "Fly on a Windshield"
3. "Broadway Melody of 1974"
4. "Cuckoo Cocoon"
5. "In the Cage"
6. "The Grand Parade of Lifeless Packaging"
7. "Back in N.Y.C."
8. "Hairless Heart"
9. "Counting Out Time"
10. "Carpet Crawlers"
11. "The Chamber of 32 Doors"

Disc two

1. "Lilywhite Lilith"
2. "The Waiting Room"
3. "Anyway"
4. "Here Comes the Supernatural Anaesthetist"
5. "The Lamia"
6. "Silent Sorrow in Empty Boats"
7. "The Colony of Slippermen" (The Arrival/A Visit to the Doktor/Raven)
8. "Ravine"
9. "The Light Dies Down on Broadway"
10. "Riding the Scree"
11. "In the Rapids"
12. "it."

Song covered by Paul Gilbert of Racer X and Mr. Big fame on his Gilbert Hotel solo album.