This should easily be the shortest review in the bunch. Basically, because 1) I don’t want to go song-for-song on a double album (and as opposed to PiL, we’re talking the standard two-dozen songs here), and 2) It’s been done exhaustively — and I mean exHAUSTively — elsewhere.

Seriously: How many “annotated” albums are YOU aware of? 

But let me first ask the musical question to whet yr appetite — what band, really, dominated the musical charts in the 1980s? Especially when you take into consideration albums by the actual band, the solo albums by the original lead singer, the solo albums by his replacement, not to mention various and sundry side projects from other and/or former band members? Seriously, if at least one of these permutations didn’t represent them on the charts for at least three-quarters of the 1980s, I’d be surprised. 

No, dummies, not Van Halen. 

(P.S. As a fun exercise in futility, I actually tried to figure it out said percentage. I can't get anything entirely conclusive, but from the evidence I'd have to say that my estimate was, in fact, pretty conservative. The band, alone, accounted for nearly five years' worth of chartage. And then there's that other guy, who got five years out of one album alone...  )

Would it help if I mentioned that the band’s musical peak was in the early ‘70s? 

I SAID…. not Van Halen. 

Besides, that was the LATE ‘70s. Now put down that joint and THINK before responding this time…. C’mon, overblown-to-bizarre stage productions, instrumental chops that ranged from bloody brilliant to pure wankery….

No,no, NO. How many times do I have to SAY — NOT VAN HALEN….??? 

And no, not Yes, either. But you’re getting way warmer now…. 

I direct you to a couple of the aforementioned links, including the
annotated one: http://www.rawbw.com/~marka/music/lamb.html, or http://www.tranglos.com/marek/yes/tr_77.html. 

For the lazy among you… well, you probably don’t want to get involved with an album like this to begin with, then, DO you? But here it is, anyway: 

#6. Genesis — The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. 

A conundrum, wrapped in an enigma, wrapped in a band at each other’s throats (which apparently was the only thing keeping them from flying apart at the seams), wrapped in some of the most inventive musical and lyrical creation you’re ever going to hear on this planet. 

Is it about death? rebirth? reincarnation? salvation? nirvanaesque obliteration of self? pure self-indulgence? all and/or none of the above? Apparently, even the creators (particularly one Peter Gabriel, who pretty much forced the concept on the band for one last album together) aren’t entirely sure, although the phrase “Pilgrim’s Progress” has come up in interviews.  No-one’s gonna mistake this for John Bunyan, though (go find Neal Morse’s Testimony if that’s what you hanker after, prog-boys ).

One thing is for sure: Take one step into this odd and thoroughly self-contained world for two healthy-sized albums (even by 21^st-Century standards), and you’ll come out different on the other side. 

Again, rather than break down this album into bite-sized pieces, here’s some random thoughts to chew on instead: 

1) I wonder how Genesis fans of 1974 — up to this point, accustomed to more pastoral (if fanciful, if not downright weird) images in their tuneage — first responded to the punk-bravado mal mots of “Back in N.Y.C.”: “I'm not full of shit… No time for romantic escape / When your fluffy heart is ready for rape… Who needs illusions / of love and affection / When you're out walking the streets / with your mainline connection?” I mean, yeesh, you’d think I was still writing about the Velvets here.

2) I suppose similar thoughts could be directed toward “Counting Out Time,” the-almost-sex-by-numbers ditty, although that sounds somewhat more like pre-Lamb Genesis pushing the envelope. “Erogenous zones, I love you… / Without you, mankind handkinds through the blues.” Classic, if a tad eeky.

3) Continuing even further along those lines, note your visceral reactions to “The Lamia” and Doktor Dyper’s subsequent “solution” in “The Colony of Slippermen.” I suspect those reactions, and “what would I do” answers, will vary wildly. 

4) Anybody else getting the impression that Mr. Gabriel was in a rather, um, sexually overdriven frame of mind as he composed this?

5) To more serious matters…. Huge props to whoever was most responsible for the musical composition here (I’m thinking Tony Banks gets the lion’s share here, although I’m gathering Gabriel had more than a hand in this side of things as well, as did rock’s ubiquitous guest (in the early-mid ‘70s, anyway) Brian Eno). The way the musical themes effortlessly wind in and out of this album speaks of something other than simple rock and roll (which tends more to whack you over the head with said themes, as if y’r incapable of getting it any other way — see the afore-bashed Tommy from last week; heck, even other “classical-rock” bands of the era [cough, ELP, cough, cough]). In contrast/complement to the rough and strange odyssey of The Lamb’s “hero” Rael, there’s a gracefulness and a coherency to the music here that’s seldom found anywhere else. 

(All other positives aside, have I mentioned that WYSIWYG is an utter fallacy with this here editing program?)

6) Ergo, this album really is a speed freak’s dream. (Not that I’m recommending this route to anyone—just been there, done that, is all. A good cup of coffee, which is something Colorado does quite well, may be readily substituted.) There’s enough in these grooves (vinyl, laser, or otherwise) to have you thinking/feeling/reeling for days on end, and years down the line. Heck, the thing’s already old enough to have grandchildren if it started early enough (and again, given Gabriel’s state of mind here, don’t rule that one out). 

7) So, is this album really the way out from the endless scene, or just an entrance to another dream? Is it hope for the dope? Or is it only knock and know-all (but I like it)? Go find out for yourselves. And look across the mirror, sonny, before you choose (de cide).