Well it’s taken a long time to finally be released, including an additional 15-week delay, but at long last it’s here, the 50th Anniversary edition of Genesis’ legendary concept double album, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. Bizarrely, it’s not exactly 50 years either, as the original release date was the 22nd of November 1974. But I suppose you could say that is still enjoying its 50th year in existence, which is still an occasion worth celebrating, and the band are marking that by bringing out a definitive boxed set of the album.
What you get with this collection is a 2 CD re-issue of the full TLLDOB album, recently re-mastered. A 2 CD re-release of The Lamb performed live (this was originally issued on the Genesis Archives 1967 – 1975 boxed set) with a re-mastered version of The Shrine Auditorium show from the 24th of January 1975. A Blu-ray disc that includes a Dolby Atmos surround mix of the studio album, as well as a high resolution stereo mix. A coffee table style 64 page book, and various memorabilia including a reproduction of the tour program, and a reproduction ticket stub & poster for the show at The Shrine. And lastly you get an access code which allows you to download some rehearsal demos from The Lamb recording sessions.
This marvellous package is obviously aimed mainly at the hardcore Genesis fans, or music fans that particularly love the TLLDOB album. The CD/Blu-ray version retails at around £90, but for the 5 LP vinyl version you are looking at double that price, retailing at around £180. It has been beautifully put together, and really aimed to be the complete & final say on that particular album, and that period of the band’s career. The accompanying book tells of the recording of the album, and all the hurdles (both practical & personal) that they had to overcome. It also tells the story of the tour, Peter Gabriel’s decision to quit Genesis, and then the band having to perform for several more months knowing that he was leaving. All of this is being retold by the band members in their own words, and documented with some fabulous photos of the group during that era.
The first 2 CDs in this boxed set are of the re-mastered version of The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway studio album. This not a remix where the individual stem recordings of the instruments and vocals have be played around with, nor does it feature any extended material on it. It’s purely a remaster where precise adjustments have been made to the EQ and compression to alter the recordings’ tonality and its dynamic range respectfully. With the goal in mind being to improve the sound quality, so that it sounds superior on modern listening devices. As I’ve heard all these songs before, so many times again & again over the last 50 years, as have all long-term Genesis fans, then it seems pointless to do a full album review on the material.
What I will review is how these new mixes compare to the ones that have been around for half a century already, that people are so familiar with. Now I’ve listened to these side by side, doing an A/B comparison with various identical sections of the same songs, deliberately listening very carefully for the differences. And indeed there is a general overall difference with the actual sound. As with a lot of modern re-mastering, you find the new versions have more ‘air’ about them, with better clarity in the upper frequencies, and likewise the lower bass-end is often tightened up to feel less boomy or muddy. That’s exactly what you will find with the this remaster too. Some fans will undoubtedly prefer the version that they are used too, or simply like to hear the sound with a much thicker warmth and less hi-fidelity.
I actually prefer this new mix. I love the fact that it has an enhanced air about it all now, even to the point where I can hear the attack on Phil Collins’ kick drum cut through better. I’m listening to the digital files though decent quality reference speakers, and I genuinely feel that the work that has been done on this has improved the mix for modern listening. So if you were to purchase this collection, it should at least mean that those first 2 discs are worthy of being listened to, and hopefully not just the once either.
There was no Dolby Atmos mix in this digital file, and to be frankly honest, I don’t have the facilities to listen to Atmos or 5.1 surround sound anyway. But I have watched & read various reviews from people who have listened to the album in this format, and everyone seems to be very impressed with it. The Atmos mix was done at Peter Gabriel’s Real World studios, under the supervision of both Peter & Tony Banks. I absolutely love this quote from Peter when talking about him & Tony working together again after so many decades apart. “We were still wearing our ‘more me’ T-shirts, but have both matured enough to very occasionally ask for less me”. It shows that their old competitive sprit dating back to their Charterhouse school days was still there, but had decidedly diminished over time with a more mature team approach to their past music. Apparently the delays to this release was a dissatisfaction with the original Atmos mix, with Gabriel & Banks insisting on wanting a newer mix to be the best that they could possibly achieve. It seems that they have accomplished that goal.
And lastly we move onto the other 2 CD set, which is a remaster of The Shrine Auditorium concert, and this time it’s been expanded to incorporate the 2 encores as well. The Shrine concert was a highly bootlegged show, with numerous versions of varying quality being passed around Genesis fans. It was recorded & broadcast in its entirety for the King Biscuit Hour radio show, and that is where most of these versions arose from, with them decreasing in quality through generation after generation of tape recordings being lifted off them. However, Genesis had a good alternative ‘official’ recording made on the same night. In the mid 1990’s the Genesis Archives project was being put into action, with the Shrine recordings making up half of the first boxed set to be issued.
Unfortunately when being scrutinised, Peter Gabriel was dissatisfied with his vocal performances on the night, due to costumes affecting the ability of his vocal microphone, or him being a little out of breath due to him being in character and rushing about the stage, etc. So it was decided that he should overdub the sections where he felt his voice was noticeably under par. Steve Hackett also listened to the source recordings, and he too felt his performance was definitely lacking at times, due to a serious tendon injury he had suffered around 3 months prior. Steve was doing daily physiotherapy for the slashed tendon on his left hand, as he had been touring already in America for the previous 2 months. And although he had managed to somehow get through the touring schedule, he felt in hindsight that his performance at times just wasn’t good enough. So Steve became involved with overdubbing some of his parts, as well as Peter.
With that in mind, the Shrine concert that was publicly released in the Archives boxed set, wasn’t a genuine 100% live warts’n’all performance. It is a very fine recording that has been lovingly produced to high standard sound quality, and overall with regards to Collins, Rutherford & Banks, it showcased them being a very focused & tight live act. As for which sections have been overdubbed, I suppose it’s a case of listen & guess. I can tell you that Peter’s voice had changed from 20 plus years prior, and had developed that huskier edge to his voice as well as deepening with age. If you think of the vocals on Foxtrot being compared to his solo album US, 20 years later, then you’ll have an idea on how much his voice had changed by then. Therefore, with careful listening, you should be able to spot at least some of these vocal overdubs. Steve Hackett said at the time that his own guitar playing technique had advanced so much over the years, that he had to be very mindful and respectful to what he had played back in 1975, when doing any of his overdubs.
Another interesting fact is that the tape machine ran out of tape towards the end of the Shrine show, meaning that they were missing the final song It, plus the encores from that evening as well. For the 1998 issue of this concert, they took the studio version of It, Peter & Steve totally re-recorded all the lead vocal and guitar solo parts, and it was cleverly blended on to the end of the recording, even though the track disappointingly closes with a fade-out, no dramatic ending, and no fervorous audience applause at all.
For this new remaster of the Shrine concert, they have finally added the encore songs of Watcher Of The Skies and The Musical Box, both taken from that very same evening. This way you get the full experience of the show in its entirety. Unfortunately as mentioned previously, there was no official recording of those encores due to the tape running out. The ones that have been used here have been sourced from The King Biscuit Hour show, and likely from a bootleg taken from the radio show, not from any master tapes. You can hear a drop in quality when the audio moves on to these final 2 numbers. I’m sure those involved with the restoration did their very best to keep the tonality & volume as consistent as possible, in an attempt to make the listener feel that this is all part of the one same show (which in essence, it is). Yet undoubtedly, you can instantly hear that there is a noticeable drop in quality. To use an old worn-out expression … it is what it is.
With this package comes a code, which when used on the listed website, will allow you to download 3 bonus tracks. These are selected work-in-progress versions of a handful of songs that would end up on the album. Track 1 is the title track The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, which quickly launches into a highly shortened rendition of Fly On The Windshield. Track 2 is The Chamber Of 32 Doors, and added to the end of it is an incredibly brief 20 seconds of the band playing through closing section of The Lamia. Track 3 is basically a minute’s worth of the beginning of In The Cage. When it comes to the history of writing The Lamb, it’s been well-noted that the music often came first. On these rehearsal recordings you can feel that the music hasn’t been fully fleshed out yet, and at this point remains in a fairly embryonic form. Peter’s involvement is mouthing made-up lines, to feel his way through the music, and to figure out vocal melody lines that would work well. No proper lyrics written at this stage. Just him free-forming some gobbledy-gook nonsense, while he experimented with vocal melodies. These are fun to listen to once, but likely you’d struggle to want to hear them again. Hence why I think they are download only, as opposed to having a hard copy on CD.
This was an incredibly important era of Genesis developing, as it marked the band growing as musicians & composers, yet also displaying the increasing alienation between Peter Gabriel and his fellow band-mates. For further background information on the writing of TLLDOB, and Peter’s subsequent split from Genesis, I’d highly recommend you watching the band interviews, taken from the series of expanded remixes that Genesis released back in 2007. These are all available to watch on Youtube, and the TLLDOB one provides excellent insight as to what was happening during the recording and following tour of the album. Superb viewing, as are all the interviews made especially for those releases.
Another interesting fact is that the band started off their promotional tour for TLLDOB on the 20th of November 1974 in Chicago, 2 days before the album was actually released. They performed the full album, meaning that for those first few shows, the audience were having to listen to over 100 minutes worth of music that they had never heard before. Which was all linked together with a concept that they’d struggle to get their heads around, without having the album sleeve narrative & lyrics mapped out in front of them. In hindsight it was an incredibly brave & bold move to undertake, especially in light of the theatrical stage production they would tour to accompany the music, and all the various glitches & problems which that alone brought to the table.
Half a century later … I’m glad that they did it. And now there’s a combined audio document of both studio & live, to represent a band on the cusp of possible disaster, which eventually turned out well for all band members, as they would all go on to achieve far greater success in the near future.
TRACK LISTING
Disc 1: The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway [Studio Remaster]
01. The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (4:48)
02. Fly on a Windshield (2:45)
03. Broadway Melody of 1974 (2:11)
04. Cuckoo Cocoon (2:11)
05. In the Cage (8:14)
06. The Grand Parade of Lifeless Packaging (2:47)
07. Back in N.Y.C. (5:44)
08. Hairless Heart (2:10)
09. Counting Out Time (3:42)
10. The Carpet Crawler (5:15)
11. The Chamber of 32 Doors (5:40)
Time – 45:27
Disc 2: The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway [Studio Remaster]
01. Lilywhite Lilith (2:45)
02. The Waiting Room (5:22)
03. Anyway (3:08)
04. Here Comes The Supernatural Anaesthetist (3:00)
05. The Lamia (6:57)
06. Silent Sorrow in Empty Boats (3:07)
07. The Colony of Slippermen (8:13)
08. Ravine (2:04)
09. The Light Dies Down on Broadway (3:33)
10. Riding The Skree (3:57)
11. In the Rapids (2:30)
12. It (4:14)
Time – 48:47
Disc 3: The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway – Live At The Shrine [Remaster]
01. The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (6:29)
02. Fly on a Windshield (2:54)
03. Broadway Melody of 1974 (2:19)
04. Cuckoo Cocoon (2:17)
05. In the Cage (7:56)
06. The Grand Parade of Lifeless Packaging (4:25)
07. Back in N.Y.C. (6:19)
08. Hairless Heart (2:22)
09. Counting Out Time (4:00)
10. The Carpet Crawler (5:45)
11. The Chamber of 32 Doors (5:52)
Time – 50:36
Disc 4: The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway – Live At The Shrine [Remaster]
01. Lilywhite Lilith (3:04)
02. The Waiting Room (6:15)
03. Anyway (3:28)
04. Here Comes The Supernatural Anaesthetist (3:57)
05. The Lamia (7:12)
06. Silent Sorrow in Empty Boats (3:15)
07. The Colony of Slippermen (8:47)
08. Ravine (1:39)
09. The Light Dies Down on Broadway (3:37)
10. Riding The Skree (4:40)
11. In the Rapids (2:25)
12. It (4:20)
13. Watcher of the Skies (8:09)
14. The Musical Box (12:12)
Time – 73:00
Digital Download Material
01. The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway / Fly on a Windshield (6:23)
02. The Chamber of 32 Doors / The Lamia (6:30)
03. In the Cage [Strange Vocals] (Take 1)(1:04)
* Available in various formats: 5LP/Blu-ray Boxset | 4CD/Blu-ray Boxset | Digital
MUSICIANS
Peter Gabriel – Lead Vocals, Flute
Steve Hackett – Guitars
Mike Rutherford – Bass Guitar, 12-String Guitar
Tony Banks – Keyboards
Phil Collins – Drums, Percussion, Vibraphone, Backing Vocals
~ With:
Brian Eno – Electronic Effects (Enossification) – (CD 1 & 2: tracks 5 & 6)
ADDITIONAL INFO
Record Label: Rhino
Country of Origin: UK
Date of Release: 26th September 2025
LINKS
Genesis – Website | Facebook | YouTube | X | Instagram
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