242: THE LAMB LIES DOWN ON BROADWAY | GENESIS
The greatest Prog album of all time PERIOD! Sorry Rush, Yes and King Crimson. I have a number of major disagreements with famed reviewer Robert Christgau. This is certainly one of them. He gave this epic masterpiece a B-. WHAT. THE. FUCK!
Stephen Thomas Erlewine at 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.
wiki: The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway is the sixth studio album by the English progressive rock band Genesis, their last with frontman Peter Gabriel before his departure in 1975. It was released as a double album on 18 November 1974 by Charisma Records. It tells the story of Rael, a Puerto Rican youth from New York City who embarks on a journey of self-discovery, and encounters bizarre incidents and characters along the way. During the writing and recording sessions Gabriel, who insisted on writing all of the lyrics, temporarily left the group in order to work with filmmaker William Friedkin; this put strains on the rest of the band.
The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway was released to a mixed critical reception, though it afterward received acclaim and has gained a cult following. It peaked at No. 10 on the UK Albums Chart and No. 41 on the US Billboard 200. Two singles were released in the UK, "Counting Out Time" and "The Carpet Crawlers", while the title track was released as a single in the US. Genesis promoted the album with their 1974–1975 tour across North America and Europe, playing the album in its entirety across 102 dates. The album continued to sell, and reached Gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America in 1990 for shipment of 500,000 copies.
In May 1974, the Genesis line-up of frontman and singer Peter Gabriel, keyboardist Tony Banks, bassist Mike Rutherford, drummer Phil Collins and guitarist Steve Hackett finished their 1973–1974 tour of Europe and North America to support their fifth studio album, Selling England by the Pound (1973). That album was a critical and commercial success for the group, earning them their highest-charting release in the United Kingdom and the United States. That June they booked three months at Headley Grange, a large former poorhouse in Headley, East Hampshire, in order to write and rehearse new material for their next studio album. Upon their arrival the building had been left in a very poor state by the previous band to use it, with excrement on the floor and rat infestations. By this time the personal lives of some members had begun to affect the mood in the band, causing complications for their work. Hackett explained: "Everybody had their own agenda. Some of us were married, some of us had children, some of us were getting divorced, and we were still trying to get it together in the country". Banks later deemed this period of time as his least favourite of all his time in Genesis. Read more