GENESIS : THE LAMB LIES DOWN ON BROADWAY

 

Disc One (45:40)

  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. The Carpet Crawlers
  11. The Chamber of 32 Doors

Disc Two (48:55)

  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.

Label : Virgin / Charisma

Release Date : November 18, 1974

Review (Wikipedia) : The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway is the sixth studio album by the English progressive rock band Genesis, released as a double album on 22 November 1974 by Charisma Records. It is the group's final studio recording to feature founding lead vocalist Peter Gabriel, who departed following the conclusion of the album's promotional tour. Conceived as a rock opera, the album follows Rael, a rebellious youth living in New York City, who is drawn into a subterranean underworld. His journey serves as a psychological allegory of self-discovery, wherein he encounters bizarre, symbolic characters and challenges before achieving a spiritual awakening. The album's creation was marked by internal tensions. Gabriel insisted on devising the overarching concept and writing all the lyrics, breaking the band's established collaborative approach. Writing and recording sessions at Headley Grange and Glaspant Manor in Wales were further strained by Gabriel's brief departure to work with filmmaker William Friedkin, and by his frequent travel to be with his wife during a difficult first pregnancy. Consequently, the instrumental backing tracks were largely composed through jam sessions by the remaining members. Musically, the album marked a departure from the pastoral, British-centric mythology of the band's previous work, opting instead for contemporary American imagery, experimental instrumentation, and shorter song structures. This shift was reflected in the stark, black-and-white photographic cover art designed by Hipgnosis. Upon release, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway received mixed reviews from contemporary critics and initially failed to match the commercial sales of its predecessors, peaking at No. 10 in the UK and No. 41 in the US. Its three singles–"Counting Out Time", "The Carpet Crawlers", and the title track–failed to achieve significant chart success. Genesis supported the album with a 102-date tour across North America and Europe between 1974 and 1975, performing the double album in its entirety alongside an elaborate multimedia stage production that featured multi-screen slide projections and Gabriel portraying various characters in different costumes. The album was remastered in 1994, 2008, and most recently in 2025 for its 50th anniversary. In retrospect, the album has received widespread critical acclaim, with commentators frequently ranking it as a definitive work of the progressive rock genre.

Review (AllMusic) : Given all the overt literary references of Selling England by the Pound, along with their taste for epic suites such as "Supper's Ready," it was only a matter of time before Genesis attempted a full-fledged concept album, and 1974's The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway was a massive rock opera: the winding, wielding story of a Puerto Rican hustler name Rael making his way in New York City. Peter Gabriel made some tentative moves toward developing this story into a movie with William Friedkin but it never took off, perhaps it's just as well; even with the lengthy libretto included with the album, the story never makes sense. But just because the story is rather impenetrable doesn't mean that the album is as well, because it is a forceful, imaginative piece of work that showcases the original Genesis lineup at a peak. Even if the story is rather hard to piece together, the album is set up in a remarkable fashion, with the first LP being devoted to pop-oriented rock songs and the second being largely devoted to instrumentals. This means that The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway contains both Genesis' most immediate music to date and its most elliptical. Depending on a listener's taste, they may gravitate toward the first LP with its tight collection of ten rock songs, or the nightmarish landscapes of the second, where Rael descends into darkness and ultimately redemption (or so it would seem), but there's little question that the first album is far more direct than the second and it contains a number of masterpieces, from the opening fanfare of the title song to the surging "In the Cage," from the frightening "Back in NYC" to the soothing conclusion "The Carpet Crawlers." In retrospect, this first LP plays a bit more like the first Gabriel solo album than the final Genesis album, but there's also little question that the band helps form and shape this music (with Brian Eno adding extra coloring on occasion), while Genesis shines as a group shines on the impressionistic second half. In every way, it's a considerable, lasting achievement and it's little wonder that Peter Gabriel had to leave the band after this record: they had gone as far as they could go together, and could never top this extraordinary album.