Classic Genesis Album Review: The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway (Part 1)

Any band that lasts long enough eventually makes one: the Difficult Album. Whether it’s overly long, pretentious, too ambitious, marked with creative difficulties or all of the above, there’s always that one album in a band’s catalogue that exposes the tensions surging under the surface. For me, The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway belongs in the same realm as The Wall, Quadrophenia, The White Album, Tales From Topographic Oceans and any other grand, complex work that creaks and groans under its own weight. There’s no doubting that some of the songs here represent the apex of the Peter Gabriel era, but it’s also, in true Difficult Album fashion, a sign of the need for change. The fact that Gabriel reportedly recorded his tracks separately from the band, White Album style, should also tell you something.

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