The Lamb Lies down on Broadway
Encyclopedia
The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway is a double concept album
recorded and released in 1974 by the British rock band Genesis
. It was their sixth studio album and the last album by the group to feature the involvement of lead singer Peter Gabriel
.
story of a half Puerto Rican
juvenile delinquent named Rael living in New York City, who is swept underground to face bizarre creatures and nightmarish dangers in order to rescue his brother John. Several of the story's occurrences and places were derived from Peter Gabriel's dreams, and the protagonist's name is a play on his surname. In the 1991 documentary "Genesis: A History", Phil Collins remarked, "It's about a 'split personality
' (referring to the live performance of "it."). In this context, Rael would believe he is looking for John but is actually looking for a missing part of himself. The individual songs also make satirical allusions to everything from mythology
to the sexual revolution
to advertising and consumerism
. The title track, as well as "The Carpet Crawlers
" and "In the Cage", are live favourites for the band. Both "In the Cage" and "The Carpet Crawlers
" were included in 2007's Turn it On Again: The Tour
, with "The Carpet Crawlers" played as the closing number.
was absent from the album's writing and rehearsal sessions due to personal problems – his first wife was having difficulties with her first pregnancy. For this reason, most of the music was written by Tony Banks
, Phil Collins
, and Mike Rutherford
, with some contribution from Steve Hackett
and, at first, virtually none from Gabriel. Gabriel, for his part, insisted on writing the story and all the lyrics himself, which caused friction, in particular because Rutherford had originally suggested another project for the band – an album based on Antoine de Saint Exupéry's The Little Prince
. Banks and Rutherford did write the words for "The Light Dies Down on Broadway", as Gabriel could not come up with a linking piece between "Ravine" and "Riding the Scree". In addition, when Gabriel put lyrics to a piece of music written by one of the other band members (such as Banks' "The Lamia" and Hackett's "Here Comes the Supernatural Anaesthetist") the composer would often insist on adjusting the lyrics to better fit the music, an action Gabriel did not take kindly to.
Gabriel's then-wife Jill noted that he wrote the main melody for "The Carpet Crawlers", of which he is especially proud. Tracks like "Anyway" and "Lilywhite Lilith" were developed from earlier unused 1969 compositions by the band ("Frustration" and "The Light" respectively) which were likely to have been group efforts.
During the album's pre-production, Gabriel was contacted by filmmaker William Friedkin
(at the time enjoying success with The Exorcist
), about a possible film project after Friedkin read Gabriel's short story on the sleeve of the Genesis Live
album. Despite his bandmates' disapproval, Gabriel left them to work on some early script drafts. However, the project came to nothing (Friedkin instead working with Tangerine Dream
to score his next film, Sorcerer
), and Gabriel returned to the band.
in Besançon
, France. (The final show of the tour had been scheduled for 27 May 1975 at the Palais des Sports
in Paris, but was cancelled due to poor ticket sales, as was the penultimate date of 24 May 1975 at the Parc des Expositions in Toulouse
.) Early into the tour, Gabriel decided he would leave Genesis, although he would finish the tour amicably with the band and not go public until August 1975.
The tour saw the summation of Peter Gabriel's interest in theatrical presentation, masks and costumes, which had initially been something to hide his shy persona behind and to give the band a distinctiveness. In addition to Gabriel's theatrics, three screens above the band showed slides to accompany the story.
For the first half of the show, Gabriel dressed as Rael in leather jacket, T-shirt and jeans, while relying on lighting and dramatic expression without the use of props or costumes. In the second half, the costumes and other visuals became much more elaborate. During "The Lamia", for instance, Gabriel was surrounded by a spinning cone-like structure decorated with images of snakes. For the last verse of the song, the cone would collapse to reveal Gabriel wearing a body suit that glowed under the stage's black lights. However, the most notorious of Gabriel's costumes was the Slipperman, a naked monster with inflatable genitalia and covered in lumps, who emerged onto the stage by crawling out of a phallus-shaped tube. At the intro to the final song "It," a huge explosion set off twin strobes, and the audience was faced with both Gabriel and a dummy dressed identically, clueless as to which was real. "It" also featured an alternate ending with Gabriel vanishing from the stage in a flash of light and a puff of smoke.
Although these visuals were, as in past concerts, meant to enhance the experience, the rest of the band became frustrated with the press focusing only on the theatrical side of the show and not the musicianship. Another problem for the band was that many fans reacted as if Gabriel was the star and the rest of the group merely his backing band. Collins stated in Hugh Fielder's 1984 book, The Book Of Genesis, that backstage after a Lamb concert, "people would steam straight past Tony, Mike, Steve and I, go straight up to Peter and say, 'You're fantastic, we really enjoyed the show.' It was becoming a one-man show to the audience."
The show would feature some of the band's most famous instruments, including Mike Rutherford's double neck that consisted of a MicroFret six string bass and a Rickenbacker 12 string guitar, and Phil Collins' largest drum kit with Genesis featuring four timbales, a red seven-piece Ludwig kit (and later a natural finish Premier kit in same configuration,) a Fibes Crystallite snare, a set of five red temple blocks, a vibraphone, a set of orchestral bells, tubular bells, and a set of tuned tambourines (which can be heard on "In the Cage.")
The tour was fraught with other difficulties. According to Tony Banks, the slides which accompanied the music never worked well and only came close to working perfectly on four or five occasions. Gabriel often had difficulty getting a microphone near enough to his mouth to be heard in some of his costumes, especially the Slipperman. And, during a performance of "It" in one concert in Oslo
, a stage manager's error resulted in an explosion so intense that it caused the band to stop playing, fearing for their safety.
At the final Lamb concert in Besançon, roadie Geoff Banks, just for a joke and without telling the band beforehand, put on the dummy's leather jacket and – wearing nothing else – replaced the Gabriel dummy on stage for the intro to "It."
Genesis never had any of their Lamb concerts filmed in their entirety, although several pieces from the show were filmed, including some bootleg footage taken by audience members. The 5.1 DVD edition of The Lamb, released in November 2008, features a visual "reconstruction" of the concert, utilising all of the band's original slides from the show, some bootleg footage, and photographs. There is also a nearly-complete audio recording of the performance from 24 January 1975 at the Shrine Auditorium
in Los Angeles that is available on the box set, Genesis Archive 1967–75, although it has some re-recorded vocals and guitar parts by Gabriel and Hackett, as both men were dissatisfied with their performances on the original concert recording (as well as technical flaws; e.g. Gabriel's vocals at one point being muffled by the Slipperman costume). In addition, for reasons never properly explained, the band used a re-mixed studio version of "it", also with re-recorded vocals by Gabriel, instead of the live version of the song. Contrary to Tony Banks' assertion in the accompanying booklet to the Genesis Archive, the tape did not run out; the live version of "it" exists on the King Biscuit Flower Hour broadcast of the Shrine concert.
In 2004, Genesis considered reuniting for a brief reunion tour of "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway." All five former band members met in November 2004 to discuss the possible tour, but ultimately Gabriel bowed out due to his solo commitments. In 2007, Banks, Collins, and Rutherford went ahead with the Genesis reunion tour
without Gabriel and Hackett, playing only a couple of "Lamb" songs during the show, the standard live numbers "In the Cage" and "Carpet Crawlers." The trio all stated that they still hoped a reunion tour of "The Lamb" with Gabriel and Hackett would still happen at some point. In March 2011, Collins announced his retirement from the music industry, closing off any possibility of a "Lamb" reunion tour.
Vinyl side two
Vinyl side four
plus
& Mojo
Classic Special Edition Pink Floyd & The Story of Prog Rock, the album came No.14 in its list of "40 Cosmic Rock Albums".
The album came 9th in Uncut
s "10 best concept albums", where it was described as an "impressionistic, intense album" and "pure theatre (in a good way) and still Gabriel's best work".
in Europe and on Atlantic
in the US and Canada. The remastered CD's booklet features the lyrics and story that came with the original vinyl, though some of the inner sleeve artwork was not reproduced.
A re-recorded version of the song "The Carpet Crawlers," titled "The Carpet Crawlers 1999", was released on the compilation album Turn It on Again: The Hits
, with both Peter Gabriel
and Phil Collins
contributing lead vocals.
A SACD
/ DVD double disc set (including new 5.1 and Stereo mixes) was released in November 2008.
Concept album
In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...
recorded and released in 1974 by the British rock band Genesis
Genesis (band)
Genesis are an English rock band that formed in 1967. The band currently comprises the longest-tenured members Tony Banks , Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins . Past members Peter Gabriel , Steve Hackett and Anthony Phillips , also played major roles in the band in its early years...
. It was their sixth studio album and the last album by the group to feature the involvement of lead singer Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
.
Premise
The album tells the surrealSurrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
story of a half Puerto Rican
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
juvenile delinquent named Rael living in New York City, who is swept underground to face bizarre creatures and nightmarish dangers in order to rescue his brother John. Several of the story's occurrences and places were derived from Peter Gabriel's dreams, and the protagonist's name is a play on his surname. In the 1991 documentary "Genesis: A History", Phil Collins remarked, "It's about a 'split personality
Dissociative identity disorder
Dissociative identity disorder is a psychiatric diagnosis and describes a condition in which a person displays multiple distinct identities , each with its own pattern of perceiving and interacting with the environment....
' (referring to the live performance of "it."). In this context, Rael would believe he is looking for John but is actually looking for a missing part of himself. The individual songs also make satirical allusions to everything from mythology
Mythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
to the sexual revolution
Sexual revolution
The sexual revolution was a social movement that challenged traditional codes of behavior related to sexuality and interpersonal relationships throughout the Western world from the 1960s into the 1980s...
to advertising and consumerism
Consumerism
Consumerism is a social and economic order that is based on the systematic creation and fostering of a desire to purchase goods and services in ever greater amounts. The term is often associated with criticisms of consumption starting with Thorstein Veblen...
. The title track, as well as "The Carpet Crawlers
The Carpet Crawlers
"The Carpet Crawlers", also sometimes listed as "Carpet Crawl", "The Carpet Crawl" or "Carpet Crawlers", is a song originally from the 1974 Genesis concept album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway...
" and "In the Cage", are live favourites for the band. Both "In the Cage" and "The Carpet Crawlers
The Carpet Crawlers
"The Carpet Crawlers", also sometimes listed as "Carpet Crawl", "The Carpet Crawl" or "Carpet Crawlers", is a song originally from the 1974 Genesis concept album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway...
" were included in 2007's Turn it On Again: The Tour
Turn It on Again: The Tour
Turn It On Again: The Tour was a 2007 concert tour of Europe and North America by progressive rock band Genesis. The tour was notable for the return of drummer and vocalist Phil Collins, who left the group in 1996.-History:...
, with "The Carpet Crawlers" played as the closing number.
Background
Peter GabrielPeter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
was absent from the album's writing and rehearsal sessions due to personal problems – his first wife was having difficulties with her first pregnancy. For this reason, most of the music was written by Tony Banks
Tony Banks (musician)
This article is about the musician. For other people named Tony Banks, see Tony BanksAnthony George "Tony" Banks is a British composer, and multi-instrumentalist, who performs as a keyboardist and a guitarist...
, Phil Collins
Phil Collins
Philip David Charles "Phil" Collins, LVO is an English singer-songwriter, drummer, pianist and actor best known as a drummer and vocalist for British progressive rock group Genesis and as a solo artist....
, and Mike Rutherford
Mike Rutherford
Michael John Cleote Crawford Rutherford is an English musician. He is a founding member of Genesis, initially as a bassist and backup vocalist. In later incarnations of Genesis, he assumed the role of lead guitarist. He is one of only two constant members in Genesis . He also fronts Mike + The...
, with some contribution from Steve Hackett
Steve Hackett
Stephen Richard Hackett is a British singer-songwriter and guitarist. He gained prominence as a member of the British progressive rock group Genesis, which he joined in 1970 and left in 1977 to pursue a solo career...
and, at first, virtually none from Gabriel. Gabriel, for his part, insisted on writing the story and all the lyrics himself, which caused friction, in particular because Rutherford had originally suggested another project for the band – an album based on Antoine de Saint Exupéry's The Little Prince
The Little Prince
The Little Prince , first published in 1943, is a novella and the most famous work of the French aristocrat writer, poet and pioneering aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry ....
. Banks and Rutherford did write the words for "The Light Dies Down on Broadway", as Gabriel could not come up with a linking piece between "Ravine" and "Riding the Scree". In addition, when Gabriel put lyrics to a piece of music written by one of the other band members (such as Banks' "The Lamia" and Hackett's "Here Comes the Supernatural Anaesthetist") the composer would often insist on adjusting the lyrics to better fit the music, an action Gabriel did not take kindly to.
Gabriel's then-wife Jill noted that he wrote the main melody for "The Carpet Crawlers", of which he is especially proud. Tracks like "Anyway" and "Lilywhite Lilith" were developed from earlier unused 1969 compositions by the band ("Frustration" and "The Light" respectively) which were likely to have been group efforts.
During the album's pre-production, Gabriel was contacted by filmmaker William Friedkin
William Friedkin
William Friedkin is an American film director, producer and screenwriter best known for directing The French Connection in 1971 and The Exorcist in 1973; for the former, he won the Academy Award for Best Director...
(at the time enjoying success with The Exorcist
The Exorcist (film)
The Exorcist is a 1973 American horror film directed by William Friedkin, adapted from the 1971 novel of the same name by William Peter Blatty and based on the exorcism case of Robbie Mannheim, dealing with the demonic possession of a young girl and her mother’s desperate attempts to win back her...
), about a possible film project after Friedkin read Gabriel's short story on the sleeve of the Genesis Live
Genesis Live
Genesis Live is the first live album released by rock group Genesis in 1973. It was the band's first top 10 hit in the UK reaching No.9 and remaining on the charts for 10 weeks.-History:...
album. Despite his bandmates' disapproval, Gabriel left them to work on some early script drafts. However, the project came to nothing (Friedkin instead working with Tangerine Dream
Tangerine Dream
Tangerine Dream is a German electronic music group founded in 1967 by Edgar Froese. The band has undergone many personnel changes over the years, with Froese being the only continuous member...
to score his next film, Sorcerer
Sorcerer (film)
Sorcerer is a 1977 thriller adventure film, produced and directed by William Friedkin, starring Roy Scheider, Bruno Cremer, Francisco Rabal and Amidou. It is the second remake of the 1953 French film Le Salaire de la Peur ....
), and Gabriel returned to the band.
Live performance
The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway met with mixed reviews, and reached number 10 in the UK, while nearly cracking the U.S. Top 40, reaching number 41 and eventually going Gold. The band went on a world tour upon its release, performing the album in its entirety 102 times. The Lamb Tour was slated to begin on 29 October 1974, but due to an injury to Steve Hackett's hand, the tour was postponed until 12 November. Opening night for the tour commenced at the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago, Illinois on 20 November 1974. The final show on The Lamb tour was 22 May 1975 at the Palais des SportsPalais des Sports (Besançon)
Palais des Sports is an indoor sports arena, located in Besançon, France. The capacity of the arena is 4,000 people. It is currently home to the Besançon Basket Comté Doubs basketball team....
in Besançon
Besançon
Besançon , is the capital and principal city of the Franche-Comté region in eastern France. It had a population of about 237,000 inhabitants in the metropolitan area in 2008...
, France. (The final show of the tour had been scheduled for 27 May 1975 at the Palais des Sports
Palais des Sports (Paris)
Palais de Sports is an indoor sports arena, located at 1, place de la Porte de Versailles in the 15th arrondissement of Paris, France. The closest métro station is Porte de Versailles....
in Paris, but was cancelled due to poor ticket sales, as was the penultimate date of 24 May 1975 at the Parc des Expositions in Toulouse
Toulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
.) Early into the tour, Gabriel decided he would leave Genesis, although he would finish the tour amicably with the band and not go public until August 1975.
The tour saw the summation of Peter Gabriel's interest in theatrical presentation, masks and costumes, which had initially been something to hide his shy persona behind and to give the band a distinctiveness. In addition to Gabriel's theatrics, three screens above the band showed slides to accompany the story.
For the first half of the show, Gabriel dressed as Rael in leather jacket, T-shirt and jeans, while relying on lighting and dramatic expression without the use of props or costumes. In the second half, the costumes and other visuals became much more elaborate. During "The Lamia", for instance, Gabriel was surrounded by a spinning cone-like structure decorated with images of snakes. For the last verse of the song, the cone would collapse to reveal Gabriel wearing a body suit that glowed under the stage's black lights. However, the most notorious of Gabriel's costumes was the Slipperman, a naked monster with inflatable genitalia and covered in lumps, who emerged onto the stage by crawling out of a phallus-shaped tube. At the intro to the final song "It," a huge explosion set off twin strobes, and the audience was faced with both Gabriel and a dummy dressed identically, clueless as to which was real. "It" also featured an alternate ending with Gabriel vanishing from the stage in a flash of light and a puff of smoke.
Although these visuals were, as in past concerts, meant to enhance the experience, the rest of the band became frustrated with the press focusing only on the theatrical side of the show and not the musicianship. Another problem for the band was that many fans reacted as if Gabriel was the star and the rest of the group merely his backing band. Collins stated in Hugh Fielder's 1984 book, The Book Of Genesis, that backstage after a Lamb concert, "people would steam straight past Tony, Mike, Steve and I, go straight up to Peter and say, 'You're fantastic, we really enjoyed the show.' It was becoming a one-man show to the audience."
The show would feature some of the band's most famous instruments, including Mike Rutherford's double neck that consisted of a MicroFret six string bass and a Rickenbacker 12 string guitar, and Phil Collins' largest drum kit with Genesis featuring four timbales, a red seven-piece Ludwig kit (and later a natural finish Premier kit in same configuration,) a Fibes Crystallite snare, a set of five red temple blocks, a vibraphone, a set of orchestral bells, tubular bells, and a set of tuned tambourines (which can be heard on "In the Cage.")
The tour was fraught with other difficulties. According to Tony Banks, the slides which accompanied the music never worked well and only came close to working perfectly on four or five occasions. Gabriel often had difficulty getting a microphone near enough to his mouth to be heard in some of his costumes, especially the Slipperman. And, during a performance of "It" in one concert in Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
, a stage manager's error resulted in an explosion so intense that it caused the band to stop playing, fearing for their safety.
At the final Lamb concert in Besançon, roadie Geoff Banks, just for a joke and without telling the band beforehand, put on the dummy's leather jacket and – wearing nothing else – replaced the Gabriel dummy on stage for the intro to "It."
Genesis never had any of their Lamb concerts filmed in their entirety, although several pieces from the show were filmed, including some bootleg footage taken by audience members. The 5.1 DVD edition of The Lamb, released in November 2008, features a visual "reconstruction" of the concert, utilising all of the band's original slides from the show, some bootleg footage, and photographs. There is also a nearly-complete audio recording of the performance from 24 January 1975 at the Shrine Auditorium
Shrine Auditorium
The Shrine Auditorium is a landmark large-event venue, in Los Angeles, California, USA. It is also the headquarters of the Al Malaikah Temple, a division of the Shriners.-History:...
in Los Angeles that is available on the box set, Genesis Archive 1967–75, although it has some re-recorded vocals and guitar parts by Gabriel and Hackett, as both men were dissatisfied with their performances on the original concert recording (as well as technical flaws; e.g. Gabriel's vocals at one point being muffled by the Slipperman costume). In addition, for reasons never properly explained, the band used a re-mixed studio version of "it", also with re-recorded vocals by Gabriel, instead of the live version of the song. Contrary to Tony Banks' assertion in the accompanying booklet to the Genesis Archive, the tape did not run out; the live version of "it" exists on the King Biscuit Flower Hour broadcast of the Shrine concert.
In 2004, Genesis considered reuniting for a brief reunion tour of "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway." All five former band members met in November 2004 to discuss the possible tour, but ultimately Gabriel bowed out due to his solo commitments. In 2007, Banks, Collins, and Rutherford went ahead with the Genesis reunion tour
Turn It on Again: The Tour
Turn It On Again: The Tour was a 2007 concert tour of Europe and North America by progressive rock band Genesis. The tour was notable for the return of drummer and vocalist Phil Collins, who left the group in 1996.-History:...
without Gabriel and Hackett, playing only a couple of "Lamb" songs during the show, the standard live numbers "In the Cage" and "Carpet Crawlers." The trio all stated that they still hoped a reunion tour of "The Lamb" with Gabriel and Hackett would still happen at some point. In March 2011, Collins announced his retirement from the music industry, closing off any possibility of a "Lamb" reunion tour.
Track listing
- All songs written by Tony BanksTony BanksAnthony or Tony Banks may refer to:*Tony Banks , musician from the band Genesis*Tony Banks, Baron Stratford , British Labour Party politician, Member of Parliament for West Ham...
, Phil CollinsPhil CollinsPhilip David Charles "Phil" Collins, LVO is an English singer-songwriter, drummer, pianist and actor best known as a drummer and vocalist for British progressive rock group Genesis and as a solo artist....
, Peter GabrielPeter GabrielPeter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
, Steve HackettSteve HackettStephen Richard Hackett is a British singer-songwriter and guitarist. He gained prominence as a member of the British progressive rock group Genesis, which he joined in 1970 and left in 1977 to pursue a solo career...
and Mike RutherfordMike RutherfordMichael John Cleote Crawford Rutherford is an English musician. He is a founding member of Genesis, initially as a bassist and backup vocalist. In later incarnations of Genesis, he assumed the role of lead guitarist. He is one of only two constant members in Genesis . He also fronts Mike + The...
except where noted.
CD disc one
Vinyl side one- "The Lamb Lies Down on BroadwayThe Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (song)The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway is the first song from Genesis's 1974 album of the same name. The song was released as a single in the US but failed to chart. However, FM rock stations in the US would play this frequently....
" – 4:55 - "Fly on a WindshieldFly on a Windshield"Fly on a Windshield" is a song by Genesis. It is the second track from their 1974 concept album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway.The song describes the album's protagonist, Rael, making his way through the streets of New York City, when he suddenly sees a mysterious dark cloud descend upon Times...
" – 2:47 - "Broadway Melody of 1974" – 2:11
- "Cuckoo Cocoon" – 2:14
- "In the CageIn the Cage (song)"In the Cage" is a song by progressive rock band Genesis on their 1974 double-album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. Along with the title track and "The Carpet Crawlers," it is one of the few songs from the album to remain in Genesis's live repertoire after the Lamb tour.The lyrics describe the...
" – 8:15 - "The Grand Parade of Lifeless Packaging" (Banks, Collins, Gabriel, Hackett, Rutherford, Brian EnoBrian EnoBrian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
) – 2:45
Vinyl side two
- "Back in N.Y.C.Back in N.Y.C."Back in N.Y.C." is a song written by Peter Gabriel , Mike Rutherford , and Tony Banks , but credited, as was the rule, to the whole band. It was first recorded and performed by Genesis on their 1974 concept album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway and subsequent live tour.It was the concert opener for...
(Banks, Gabriel, Rutherford)" – 5:49 - "Hairless HeartHairless HeartHairless Heart is an instrumental originally from the 1974 Genesis concept album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. The song was collectively written by Genesis...
(Hackett)" – 2:13 - "Counting Out TimeCounting Out Time"Counting Out Time" is a song by British progressive rock band Genesis from the 1974 album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. Although most of the album consisted of group-written compositions, this song was written solely by Peter Gabriel...
(Gabriel)" – 3:45 - "The Carpet CrawlersThe Carpet Crawlers"The Carpet Crawlers", also sometimes listed as "Carpet Crawl", "The Carpet Crawl" or "Carpet Crawlers", is a song originally from the 1974 Genesis concept album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway...
" – 5:16 - "The Chamber of 32 Doors" – 5:44
CD disc two
Vinyl side three- "Lilywhite Lilith (Banks, Collins, Gabriel, Hackett, Rutherford, Anthony PhillipsAnthony PhillipsAnthony Edwin "Ant" Phillips is an English multi instrumentalist, best known as a founding member of the band Genesis. He played guitar and sang backing vocals until leaving in 1970, following the recording of their second album, Trespass...
)" – 2:40 - "The Waiting RoomThe Waiting Room (song)"The Waiting Room" is an instrumental piece by Genesis. It is the second track on the second half of their concept double-album, The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway....
(Banks, Collins, Hackett, Rutherford, Eno)" – 5:28 - "Anyway (Banks, Collins, Gabriel, Hackett, Rutherford, Phillips)" – 3:18
- "Here Comes the Supernatural Anaesthetist (Gabriel, Hackett)" – 2:50
- "The Lamia (Banks, Gabriel)" – 6:57
- "Silent Sorrow in Empty Boats (Banks, Collins, Hackett, Rutherford)" – 3:06
Vinyl side four
- "The Colony of SlippermenThe Colony of Slippermen (Arrival - A Visit to the Doktor - Raven)The Colony of Slippermen is a song by the progressive rock band Genesis. The lyrics were written by Peter Gabriel. It appears on the album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, and is composed of three parts:* a. "The Arrival"* b. "A Visit to the Doktor"* c...
" – 8:14
a. The Arrival
b. A Visit to the Doktor
c. Raven - "Ravine (Banks, Collins, Hackett, Rutherford)" – 2:05
- "The Light Dies Down on Broadway (Banks, Collins, Hackett, Rutherford)" – 3:32
- "Riding the Scree" – 3:56
- "In the Rapids" – 2:24
- "it." – 4:58
Personnel
- Tony BanksTony Banks (musician)This article is about the musician. For other people named Tony Banks, see Tony BanksAnthony George "Tony" Banks is a British composer, and multi-instrumentalist, who performs as a keyboardist and a guitarist...
– keyboards, piano - Phil CollinsPhil CollinsPhilip David Charles "Phil" Collins, LVO is an English singer-songwriter, drummer, pianist and actor best known as a drummer and vocalist for British progressive rock group Genesis and as a solo artist....
– drums, percussion, vibraphoneVibraphoneThe vibraphone, sometimes called the vibraharp or simply the vibes, is a musical instrument in the struck idiophone subfamily of the percussion family....
, backing vocals - Peter GabrielPeter GabrielPeter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
– vocals, fluteFluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
, oboeOboeThe oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca... - Steve HackettSteve HackettStephen Richard Hackett is a British singer-songwriter and guitarist. He gained prominence as a member of the British progressive rock group Genesis, which he joined in 1970 and left in 1977 to pursue a solo career...
– guitars - Mike RutherfordMike RutherfordMichael John Cleote Crawford Rutherford is an English musician. He is a founding member of Genesis, initially as a bassist and backup vocalist. In later incarnations of Genesis, he assumed the role of lead guitarist. He is one of only two constant members in Genesis . He also fronts Mike + The...
– bass, twelve-string guitar, bass pedalsBass pedalsBass pedals are an electronic musical instrument with foot-operated pedal keyboard with a range of one or more octaves. The earliest bass pedals from the 1970s consisted of a pedalboard and analog synthesizer tone generation circuitry packaged together as a unit...
plus
- Brian EnoBrian EnoBrian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
– enossification (treatments)
Reception
In the QQ (magazine)
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...
& Mojo
Mojo (magazine)
MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music...
Classic Special Edition Pink Floyd & The Story of Prog Rock, the album came No.14 in its list of "40 Cosmic Rock Albums".
The album came 9th in Uncut
UNCUT (magazine)
Uncut magazine, trademarked as UNCUT, is a monthly publication based in London. It is available across the English-speaking world, and focuses on music, but also includes film and books sections...
s "10 best concept albums", where it was described as an "impressionistic, intense album" and "pure theatre (in a good way) and still Gabriel's best work".
Reissues
A digitally remastered version of "The Lamb" was released on CD in 1994 on VirginVirgin Records
Virgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...
in Europe and on Atlantic
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
in the US and Canada. The remastered CD's booklet features the lyrics and story that came with the original vinyl, though some of the inner sleeve artwork was not reproduced.
A re-recorded version of the song "The Carpet Crawlers," titled "The Carpet Crawlers 1999", was released on the compilation album Turn It on Again: The Hits
Turn It on Again: The Hits
Turn It On Again: The Hits is a greatest hits collection by British progressive rock band Genesis. The album was first released as a single album on 26 October 1999 by Virgin Records in England and by Atlantic Records in the United States.In 2007, an expanded two-disc edition, subtitled The Tour...
, with both Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
and Phil Collins
Phil Collins
Philip David Charles "Phil" Collins, LVO is an English singer-songwriter, drummer, pianist and actor best known as a drummer and vocalist for British progressive rock group Genesis and as a solo artist....
contributing lead vocals.
A SACD
Super Audio CD
Super Audio CD is a high-resolution, read-only optical disc for audio storage. Sony and Philips Electronics jointly developed the technology, and publicized it in 1999. It is designated as the Scarlet Book standard. Sony and Philips previously collaborated to define the Compact Disc standard...
/ DVD double disc set (including new 5.1 and Stereo mixes) was released in November 2008.
Charts
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1974 | UK album chart | 10 |
| Billboard Pop Albums | 41 |
Certifications
| Organisation | Level | Date |
|---|---|---|
| BPI British Phonographic Industry The British Phonographic Industry is the British record industry's trade association.-Structure:Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies including all four "major" record companies , associate members such as manufacturers and distributors, and hundreds of independent music companies... – UK |
Gold | 1 February 1975 |
| CRIA Canadian Recording Industry Association Music Canada is a Toronto-based, non-profit trade organization that was founded 9 April 1963 to represent the interests of companies that record, artists, manufacture, production, promotion and distribution of music in Canada... – Canada |
Gold | 1 May 1978 |
| RIAA Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States... – U.S. |
Gold | 20 April 1990 |
Covers
- In 1994, Kevin GilbertKevin GilbertKevin Matthew Gilbert was an American songwriter, musician, composer, producer and collaborator born in Sacramento, California, later living in San Mateo, California where he attended Junipero Serra High School...
and his band Giraffe performed an abbreviated version of the album (12 songs) at Progfest '94, celebrating its 20th anniversary. Gilbert also provided a version of "Back in N.Y.C." for the Genesis tribute album Supper's Ready (Magna Carta, 1995). - In 1998 Jeff Buckley's posthumous album Sketches for My Sweetheart the DrunkSketches for My Sweetheart the DrunkSketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk is a collection of polished studio tracks and four-track demos recorded by Jeff Buckley. Being dissatisfied with material recorded in the summer of 1996 and early in 1997, Buckley worked on many demos to reach the sound he was hoping to achieve...
was released, featuring a cover version of the song "Back in N.Y.C.". - Tony LevinTony LevinTony Levin is an American progressive rock musician, specializing in bass guitar, Chapman stick and upright bass ....
(who has been Gabriel's working bassist through his whole solo career) regularly plays "Back in NYC" with his solo band, a recording of which appears on the live album Double Espresso. - In 2000, The Flower KingsThe Flower KingsThe Flower Kings are a Swedish progressive rock group. Formed in August 1994 by veteran guitarist Roine Stolt as a touring band to support his solo album The Flower King, the band stayed together after the tour and have gone on to become one of the most prolific studio recording units in rock music...
covered the title track of the album on their first live album Alive on Planet EarthAlive on Planet EarthAlive on Planet Earth is the first live album by progressive rock artists The Flower Kings. It was released in double-CD format in 2000.-Disc One:# "There Is More To This World" – 11:31# "Church Of Your Heart" – 9:41...
. - In 2001, the entire album was performed by a Genesis tribute band called ReGenesis at G2, the second international Genesis fan convention, in Guildford, UK. This included a completely new multimedia show. The band then toured their Lamb show all over the UK and Europe.
- In 2003, Paul GilbertPaul GilbertPaul Brandon Gilbert is an American guitarist. He is well known for his technical guitar work with Racer X and Mr...
covered the title track on his album Gilbert HotelGilbert HotelGilbert Hotel is a 2003 solo album by Paul Gilbert formerly of the heavy metal band Racer X and the hard rock band Mr. Big. It was initially released as a bonus CD with his compilation album Paul the Young Dude/The Best of Paul Gilbert.-Track listing:...
, using acoustic guitar as lead instrument. - In 2004, 2005, and 2011, the entire Lamb was performed by the Quebec Genesis tribute band called The Musical BoxThe Musical Box (band)The Musical Box is a prominent Genesis tribute band.-Covering the Peter Gabriel era of Genesis:Taking their name from the 1971 track of the same name, The Musical Box formed in Montreal, Quebec in 1993 to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the 1973 album Selling England by the Pound...
during their worldwide tour, celebrating its 30th anniversary. - In 2008, the band Rewiring Genesis (Nick D'VirgilioNick D'VirgilioNick D'Virgilio is an American drummer and multi-instrumentalist musician, often referred to as NDV, best known as a former member of the progressive rock band Spock's Beard. He was also one of two drummers chosen to replace Phil Collins in Genesis on the Calling All Stations album...
and Mark Hornsby) released A Tribute to the Lamb Lies Down on Broadway featuring newly interpreted versions of the songs and performances from Nashville studio musicians. - On 1 August 2009, Nick D'Virgilio performed the album in its entirety live in Whittier, CA. It included "a 15 piece band with a giant horn section" .
- In 2009, Francis DunneryFrancis DunneryFrancis Dunnery is an English musician, singer-songwriter, record producer and record label owner. He is best known as a solo performer , and for fronting the original lineup of the band It Bites between 1982 and 1990 .Dunnery served as a sideman and...
covered "Back In N.Y.C.", re-titling it without the abbreviations as "Back In New York City", on his album There's a Whole New World Out There.