Imperial Aerosol POLL: The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway by Genesis

Hmm, I dunno, that is a tough one!

Prescriptivist traditionalist vs hyper-eclectic postmodern = no contest who would take more offence afaict but idk has Zorn ever expressed disgust about other musical movements?

No, he's too into his own shit, prolly. Outsider gonna outside.

There's this one chordal move they do several times throughout the album that just kills me every time. Prime examples would be the end of both Broadway Melody and Cuckoo Cocoon. I don't have the firmest grasp on music theory, but it seems like they're resolving to the I chord with the iii in the bass, which aurally conveys a sense of "to be continued"

Grand Parade has the most outrageous crescendo I can think of. I hope someone throws a vote at it. Might have to be me. Also seriously considering voting for Supernatural Anaesthetist. Beautiful chord progression plus my favorite Hackett solo. He's such a fine dancer...

Or Cuckoo Cocoon, which sounds like being wrapped in the coziest warm blanket or, uh, cocoon, which I guess is the point.

Anyway this is the hardest decision I've ever had to make.

"The Lamia" was one that stood out last time I listened. "Back in NYC" probably still getting the vote, though.

Back in NYC -> Hairless Heart is one of my favorite sequences, the way they go from the over-the-top machismo of the former to the forlorn introspection of the latter

Re: Lamia, "It is the scent of garlic that lingers on my chocolate fingers" is such a weirdly, grotesquely evocative line. Tony Banks probably hated it being grafted to his composition lol

It's fair to say that all that revolting/creepy imagery went out the window when Gabriel left

"Home by the Sea:" creepy!
"Illegal Alien:" revolting!

YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

tomorrow

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Not bad! The last Genesis tour, it was pretty jarring to hear them do "Carpet Crawlers" immediately followed by "Invisible Touch."

If Windshield and Broadway Melody were sequenced as one song--as they should have been--it would absolutely have been a contender here. Typically, the second LP is underrepresented in the poll, which is as it should be. I don't necessarily get the crazy "Carpet Crawlers" love but I'm cool with these results

There was no wrong answer, really.

otm

I’m satisfied with the results

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4Ml1QDdNZ0

^^^ dope

TS: Gilbert/Giraffe vs The Musical Box

Watched a bit of that. Musical Box seems more "authentic" but maybe these guys are slicker?

I saw MB do Selling England (and more) and thought they did a good job. Still have't watched their Lamb show on youtube.

I've seen them do both and they were both great, though (I'm sure I posted about this before) when I saw them do "Lamb" I want to say they had the Phil Collins impersonator on drums, who could sing like Phil, looked like Phil, and even played left-handed like Phil.

Noted Genesis freak Ryley Walker did a nice acoustic cover of Counting Out Time
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-XvYI6jjlr/

Finally getting into the Lamb Lies Down on Broadway after a period of longing to connect but being repelled by it.

Been really drawn to the way it sounds, the strong sense of setting and landscape, and how it somehow defies the album format, or record or whatever. Part of it is that it seems to exist in a stage of space- and the perspective of a stage is reinforced by specific lyrical cues ("the stage is set for you") as well as the kind of theater ensemble nature of the music. Like, there are very few overdubs as far as I can tell, but it's hardly a 'band playing together in a room' kind of vibe, it's a rehearsed performance.

The thing is, there are all these shifts in perspective, along (am i crazy???) a vertical (???!!!) axis... it zooms way out at times, and sort of plants you at the center of the stage at others. I mean, wtf? Did they record it in a really tall building or something? Idgi? Part of it is probably illusory, as a result of inconsistencies in the lyrical perspective (shifting from 1st person to 3rd etc) that feel arbitrary or even faulty, but now that i that i think about it, must surely be deliberate and may be kind of masterful.

The "backdrop" is very convincing, as a Manhattanite of many years, as well as that vertical element there's a high contrast of bright and dark against clean black negative space, that conjures the city lights at night... Or am i importing the sense of contrast from the artwork? Or my own surroundings?

Seriously, wtf is going on here?

Anyway it's a pretty amazing piece of work, I think THE DRAMA kept me away for a time but I am getting really absorbed in THE DRAMA, at this point.

A good example is in the opening track where the band mostly cuts out and Peter Gabriel sings about the scene finding focus in the lamb's face and his vocal is framed by the arpeggiating keys... That has a very grounding, centering effect.
And then the band comes back in with a soaring height like a skyscraper, then the mix opens out horizontally when he sings "on broadway"

"Hovering like a fly" as the music hovers is another. The lyrics are def a big part of it.

This album shouldn’t work but it totally does and I love it to death.

Love this album, but the first half is more compelling than the second, where (thematically or no) things start getting a little too abstract and unmoored, which is to say, decidedly *not* grounded. Still love the mood of all the later album weirdness, though!

Got to bat for the second half in a big way, although the first half is pretty much perfect and could stand up as an album alone

A lot of Genesis stuff stemmed from improvisation, but a lot of the second half sounds improvised, which is a big distinction. Again, not bad, just not as good as the first half, which is better than most stuff. High bar!

Re: second half: “It” is such a great song, maybe the best on the album!

I've always had a problem with "It" because it reminded me of my local Action News or whatever TV theme from growing up.

The sound on this record is unusually tactile, especially for Genesis, and that effect is increased by lyrics that describe a wide array of physical sensations and locations. The guitars and synths are run through a lot of effects, and the overdubbing is often so thick that the songs have a mix of confusing textures.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1eux1slrpE

I think this might have been posted in another Genesis thread, but it's interesting to hear Gabriel talk about The Lamb being a conscious effort to move from the pastoral to something more gritty and urban, and there being (pre-)punk vibes in the air.

And Banks continuing to hate on it, of course

Of course on the musical side, the album is dominated by Banks

His antipathy is understandable; he didn't think half of the music was that strong in the first place, and then had to do dozens of shows playing it all in order to audiences that were not necessarily loving it.

Kinda curious how The Lamb was the focus of the 2005 5-piece reunion discussions, considering everything

That video feels like a family therapy session.

As much as I love this album, the second half feels a lot weaker than the first - I usually wind up skipping through it after hearing the first disc in its entirety.

I never knew what people found so great about "The Waiting Room", Genesis should leave that kind of improvisation to Henry Cow or King Crimson. On the other hand, "The Lamia" would be in my Genesis top 10.
The remixed version of the record brings out a lot of detail in instrumentals like "Silent Sorrow in Empty Boats" and "Ravine" that got lost in the original, rushed mix.

Any details on what happened with the original mix? Deadline pressure?

They discuss it in the video; they were mixing 24 hours a day, with different band members supervising in shifts, each in charge of mixing one of the LP sides. Banks describes coming in at the start of his shift and finding that the previous team had mixed "IT" without including the guitar track.

I don't think anyone really likes Waiting Room, besides Brad when he's stoned

the 2nd album is for sure weaker, though tbf if it wasn't this would probably be the greatest album ever made

revisited this for the first time since....uh this poll started I guess. starting to come around to the idea that the first record kind of needs the second. even though the first record is insane on its own. I know the band has talked about how they were kind of rushed at the end, does anyone know why it's so long then? it's over an hour and a half, which even for a double is really long. I actually kinda like the stuff that I suspect was written on the fly though. "Riding the Scree" for instance I think really bottles up the way Banks writes his stuff. anyway the thing I think really stands out now that I'm really listening is the drumming. Collins is such a beast on this, even when his drums are buried he's going nuts - the way he plays the hi-hats on "Carpet Crawlers" almost sounds like a glitched out drum machine.

The drumming at the end of "The Lamia" finally being audible was what stood out for me about the remix.

The Lamb being a conscious effort to move from the pastoral to something more gritty and urban, and there being (pre-)punk vibes in the air.

lol. urban, definitely. theater district, to be more precise. album title otm, it's like 'street punk: the musical'