The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway

***The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway*** is the sixth studio album by Genesis.

## History

Work on *The Lamb* began during May 1974 following the completion of the *Selling England by the Pound* tour. The band decided to write a concept album with songs linking to form an overall story, which would advance the approach formerly explored in "Supper's Ready". Various ideas were share before they chose Gabriel's surreal story of self-discovery set in New York City based around a Puerto Rican man named Rael. Peter was keen to set the story around a contemporary figure rather than a character from fables - something more typical to their earlier works. Influenced by a variety of sources including Carl Jung, the musical *West Side Story* and the 1970 western *El Topo*, he first had the idea "when he was in New York and it was just a dream. It sounds interesting when you go back over the day and you start dreaming through some of the events, but your mind starts pulling in other things that you didn't see the first time around. And there were other sort of bits of dream images and sounds."

Due to the story's density, no one, including Gabriel himself, could convey its meaning. Being a collection of dreamlike images rather than a cohesive narrative, it has been a subject of many in-depth books and essays. Despite its obscure nature, Mike Rutherford has always loved the general concept, however, Tony Banks still feels it is the weakest thing about the album in has often stated that it doesn't engage him personally. Collins said "I don't know what it's about. I'm just the drummer. Ask Peter."

Besides building the story, Gabriel insisted on writing all the lyrics himself. Previously the band used to split this duty between each of them, so Peter's demand led to some initial reluctance before finally being agreed. They ended up writing the music in a separate room, while Gabriel sat and developed his ideas in his own one, with a piano. Most likely this was the moment they've physically split, which would also be Gabriel's eventual departure.

Most of the songs have been completed at Headley Grange, situated in East Hampshire. It had previously been used by Led Zeppelin, to record their *Physical Graffiti* album. Genesis have moved in with their families in mid–May 1974. The band discovered the house was full of rats and with these in the rafters the noises at nighttime would have been disconcerting.

As Rutherford remembered: "We started writing and it just came out very easily. After the previous album, it was a big relief. We realized quite quickly that we had three good sides—not just two good sides and another side, but three good sides. So, we had to go for a double."

During these sessions Gabriel was approached by film director William Friedkin, known for his recent film *The Exorcist*. He wanted to develop some ideas for the future film. Impressed by the *Genesis Live* album surreal cover, he got in touch with Peter and Gabriel decided he could not pass on Friedkin's offer, leaving the band to spend some time developing the project. But in a couple of weeks Friedkin seemingly lost interest in the project, also becoming wary of the effect it would have on the band. With Tony Stratton-Smith and Rutherford intervening, Peter came back, to commit to finishing the album before embarking on any other projects.

Collins, Banks, Rutherford and Hackett had written most of the music through these jam sessions. These were often based around a theme or lyrical idea, while Gabriel was further developing Rael's story. He also requested some linking pieces of music to be written to bridge elements of the story and initially refused the band's offer of help with finishing the lyrics, rejecting suggestions from Banks and Hackett for "The Lamia" and "Here Comes the Supernatural Anaesthetist". However, later he allowed Banks and Rutherford to work on "The Light Dies Down on Broadway", a reprise of the title track.

After Headley Grange Genesis have moved to Glaspant Manor (South Wales). The converted barn they have used for the further recording was later known as Swift Cottage. With the help of the Island Mobile Studio, with John Burns as producer and David Hutchins as engineer the sessions have continued to explore the sounds and with the natural acoustics of the outbuildings and rooms around the property the quality has slightly improved, while Collins also felt the location improved the sound of his drums, giving them some kind of a live feel.

## Track listing

All songs written by Tony Banks, Phil Collins, Peter Gabriel, Steve Hackett and Mike Rutherford.

Note: Atco label altered two song titles for the US release: "The Carpet Crawl" to "The Carpet Crawlers" and "Here Comes The Supernatural Anaesthetist" to "The Supernatural Anaesthetist"

### Disc 1

LP/MC side 1
1. "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" – 4:55
2. "Fly on a Windshield" – 2:47
3. "Broadway Melody of 1974" – 2:11
4. "Cuckoo Cocoon" – 2:14
5. "In the Cage" – 8:15
6. "The Grand Parade of Lifeless Packaging" – 2:45

LP/MC side 2
1. "Back in N.Y.C." – 5:49
2. "Hairless Heart" – 2:13
3. "Counting Out Time" – 3:45
4. "The Carpet Crawlers" – 5:16
5. "The Chamber of 32 Doors" – 5:44

### Disc 2

LP/MC side 3
1. "Lilywhite Lilith" – 2:40
2. "The Waiting Room" – 5:28
3. "Anyway" – 3:18
4. "Here Comes the Supernatural Anaesthetist" – 2:50
5. "The Lamia" – 6:57
6. "Silent Sorrow in Empty Boats" – 3:06

LP/MC side 4
1. "The Colony of Slippermen" – 8:14
	* a. The Arrival
	* b. A Visit to the Doktor
	* c. Raven
2. "Ravine" – 2:05
3. "The Light Dies Down on Broadway" – 3:32
4. "Riding the Scree" – 3:56
5. "In the Rapids" – 2:24
6. "*It*" – 4:58

## Sources

* Aldous, S. (2020). *The songs of Genesis: A complete guide to the studio recordings*. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company,.

## References

1. ↑ The 1994 CD remaster of this album indexed "Fly on a Windshield" at 4:23 and "Broadway Melody of 1974" at 0:33. The songs merge together seamlessly. The "Broadway Melody of 1974" track actually starts at 2:45 of "Fly on a Windshield", which was an error by the manufacturer.