#376: Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (1974)

Zack: For about 60% of the albums we listen to, I have no idea what to write about. The albums I have listened to before we started or those that make a strong initial impression (either good or bad) usually aren’t too hard. But most albums fall somewhere in the range between “that was a totally fine album” to “I really enjoyed this album” and it’s hard to come up with anything insightful when an album (after one listen) is in that range. Basically, if my immediate reaction doesn’t involve at least two exclamation points, either good or bad, I have no clue what to do. In those cases, I usually go to Wikipedia and find something to inspire me. Sometimes there’s something interesting there. Sometimes there isn’t, and then I usually just end up closing my eyes and mashing my laptop keys until some string of bad puns emerges. It’s important to understand that process to understand why I now know that The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway involves a juvenile Puerto Rican youth living in New York City coming to terms with his multiple personalities via having sex with some snake monsters and volunteering to be castrated before walking around NYC with his severed penis around his neck. Had this album made a really strong impression, I probably would have just written straight from the gut and never picked up on that. Seriously, I don’t know if any amount of relistens would have made that plot clear. But all I got from the album was that it was musically pretty impressive and I continue to like the way Peter Gabriel sings. Without much else, I turned to Wikipedia where I learned…things. I’ve listened to plenty of concept albums before, but I don’t remember any like this. That’s a fucked up plot, members of Genesis. That’s about all I have to say about that.

Favorite Tracks: The Lamia; The Light Dies Down on Broadway; The Chamber of 32 Doors

Emily: I truly think that there should be a time limit on album length. Generally, if you think you have more than an hour of material to contribute, you probably don't. You're just hiding the good stuff behind filler and weird experimentation. Prog-rock albums are especially guilty of this. I understand that the bands are trying to tell a story through their experimental, electric, "progressive" sound, but these long albums are just overkill. I think I'd appreciate them much more if everything was culled back to an hour or less. That really was my main problem with The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. Since it clocks in at 90 minutes, I listened to it in two separate phases a few days apart. Some of it is very interesting - Peter Gabriel is a great singer, and the band does some interesting things with the rock sound that understandably makes them pioneers of the prog-rock genre. But the concept makes no sense, and an hour and a half of it is just hard to follow and focus on. I'm not exactly sure what Genesis did after this, but I hope that they kept refining their sound and technique down to shorter albums by focusing less on the crazy concepts and more on their music, which is where I think they shine.

Favorite Tracks: The Chamber of 32 Doors; Fly on a Windshield; In the Cage