100 Greatest Prog Albums: #8 The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway (Genesis)



The band's third record to be voted into the Top 10 is Peter Gabriel's final record with Genesis, The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway. The only double album to make the list of ten, The Lamb is a surreal tale of a Puerto Rican boy in New York and his adventures after he gets swept underground, visiting some bizarre places and meeting bizarre creatures.

Track 1 is the title track and in it we meet graffiti artist Rael, the "imperial aerosol kid":

 

Rael finds himself mysteriously swept underground (tracks 2 and 3, Fly On A Windshield and Broadway Melody Of 1974) and wakes up in a cocoon (CD1/Track 4):
 

 

As Rael's adventure continues, he relives his first sexual encounter(CD1/Track 9):

 

 

Later on Rael meets The Lamia (CD2/Track 5), strange creatures with the head and breasts of a woman and the body of a snake:

 

 

 

Though he sees a light that could lead to his escape back to the real world, Rael sees his brother John drowning in the river below and must make a decision (CD2/Track 9):

 

And the final track:
 

 

I don't think there is any question that The Lamb is a very unusual story. The thing is, it still works - the musicianship is simply phenomenal. There is a very wordy website, The Annotated Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, that helps to understand it. Hell, there's even been a book written about it, Genesis and the Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (which I probably need to get) by Kevin Holm-Hudson, a professor of music at the University of Kentucky.

 

Yes, there are times when you want to snap your fingers, clap your hands, maybe dance, or tap your foot. But, for me, there are just as many times when I just need to listen - and that's what makes Prog Rock, and albums like The Lamb, so great. So go, listen.