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CD 1 Rimmed Label	CD 2 Rimmed Label

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Liner Notes: A True Classic (The Lamb Lives???)

As we approach the middle of 2010, it seems hard to believe that we have reached the 36^th anniversary of the release of 'The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway' by Genesis. This seminal album has inspired countless essays and sparked many heated discussions among fans and critics alike since it first appeared in 1974, all the more surprising considering the relatively lukewarm response it received from the music press at the time.

An ambitious undertaking to begin with, the creation of this masterpiece would turn out to be fraught with problems for the band. The story of Rael was very much the brainchild of Peter Gabriel who firmly believed that he should be the album's sole lyricist. In his view, there were too many personal elements involved for anyone else to share the same understanding, and it took all his powers of persuasion to convince the rest of the band that the lyrics should be his responsibility alone. In 1974 Genesis were at a musical peak and writing sessions for the new album proved to be very productive indeed. Phil Collins summed it up best in the 'Genesis Chapter & Verse' book: "Every time we sat down and played, something good came out." Gabriel's insistence on writing all the lyrics led to something of a creative split, though, with Tony, Mike, Steve and Phil working closely together on the composition of the music while he worked more independently, concentrating his efforts on the development of the storyline and the words.

The enormous task of writing all the lyrics for a double album would become quite a nightmare for Gabriel, especially with the difficult birth of his first daughter forcing him to drive many miles back and forth to the London hospital where she was born. In the end, with time pressures mounting, he was forced to concede that a helping hand was needed, and Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks wrote the lyrics to 'The Light Dies Down On Broadway'. At one point, the album had been threatened with derailment when Gabriel was contacted by American film director William Friedkin who was keen to work with him. Tempted by the prospect of contributing to a film project, Gabriel withdrew temporarily from the band writing sessions, only to return a short time later when the collaboration with Friedkin failed to materialize.

For all the difficulties surrounding its creation, 'The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway' remains an astounding creative achievement and a significant stylistic departure from Genesis's previous tall tales and twisted nursery rhymes. The music and the bizarre, surrealistic storyline are driven by a raw, aggressive energy which Gabriel in particular felt was lacking somewhat on their earlier albums. Acoustic guitar moments, a trademark of the band's earlier works, are rare indeed on 'The Lamb'. Having first used a synthesizer on 'Selling England By The Pound', Tony Banks explored the possibilities of this instrument in much greater detail on 'The Lamb', conjuring up some incredible sounds and atmospheres. Steve Hackett stated recently that, in his opinion, 'The Lamb' was Tony's finest album and most fans would agree.

The amazing tale of this musical tour de force doesn't stop with the album. Since 'The Lamb' was conceived as a single conceptual story, the band were keen to perform the whole piece on the road and, remaining true to his usual creativity, Peter Gabriel had a few tricks up his sleeve. As he would portray Rael, the album's central character, clad in jeans, T-shirt and leather jacket, there would be fewer costume changes on this tour, but the amazing linen cylinder that revolved around him during 'The Lamia' and the grotesque Slipperman outfit remain, to this day, two of the most striking images ever to grace the rock stage.

The visual aspect of the 'Lamb' show didn't rest solely on Gabriel's shoulders, however. Complementing his vivid portrayal of Rael, hundreds of imaginative and evocative images were projected onto three screens behind the band, serving to expand and illustrate the dark and complex story. All of these slides were synchronized with the musical performance, making the 'Lamb' show a very demanding one technically for band and crew alike. The technology available at the time did not allow for lighting or projection equipment to be controlled by computers, and everything was operated manually. Human errors and technical slips were common but, under the circumstances and with the limitations of a tight budget, the 'Lamb Lies Down On Broadway' show was an artistic triumph.

The 'Lamb' tour did not get off to a good start, though. After an unavoidable postponement for several weeks due to a bad hand injury suffered by Steve Hackett, the band were faced with the unenviable task of eventually kicking off the tour in North America, where the album was still yet to be released. Only a few days into the tour, Peter Gabriel announced privately that he would be leaving Genesis at the end of the tour, a devastating blow for everyone involved. The band immersed themselves in their work, determined to make the best of a bad situation. As a result, their performance improved in quality and confidence with each show and the seven-month tour saw Genesis performing their magnum opus in its entirety more than a hundred times around America, Britain and Eastern Europe.

By the time Genesis reached Cambrai on 26^th February 1975, four months into the grueling world tour, the 'Lamb' show had become a very polished and consummate affair, all five band members working as one, despite inevitable internal tensions and frustrations, to create a truly memorable experience each night. Having mastered the instrumental intricacies of the work, they honed their performances to perfection and, while it would be impossible to single out individual band members for praise, on this recording Peter Gabriel is in fine voice, delivering a particularly impassioned 'Chamber Of 32 Doors', while Steve Hackett's emotive and haunting guitar shines throughout.

It has taken a number of years but, fortunately for all Genesis fans, many live audio recordings of the 'Lamb' show have now surfaced, including this complete concert from Cambrai, which includes both encores of 'The Musical Box' and 'Watcher Of The Skies'. The only regret that remains is that there is so little film footage from this incredible tour but thanks to the efforts of tribute bands such as Montreal-based The Musical Box, who accurately re-create the work of Genesis in startling detail, we are allowed a glimpse of this unique and revolutionary show. 'The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway' is a true classic, part of a legacy that will surely survive far beyond the lives of its creators.

The Raven

Notes From the Re-Master

The project began using the well circulated OAM recording of this show from the Farm called Counting Out Time. Sadly, like many of the OAM recordings of The Lamb, the crew was not very careful about starting the recording at the beginning of the show. They also tended to start and stop the recording so that the encores were not always completely captured. Such is the case with this recording as well. Fortunately, a second generation audience recording is available for restoring the complete show. A second generation source is available as a BURP release but that source was not used to complete this show. Rather, an alternative, and in our view, superior sounding second generation recording was made available. With this audience recording, the missing sections, including the whole opening song of the show, were completely restored.

Tape noise was quite obvious and intrusive on the original recording so it was reduced gently to allow better appreciation of the softer moments within the recording. Clicks, Pops and other tape imperfections were also repaired. A tape speed error was detected and corrected after comparing the recording to known commercial studio and live references. A channel imbalance was also present and was corrected. Both static and dynamic filters were used to adjust the tonality and correct excesses where they occurred. The missing sections including all of the opening song as well as encore segments were patched using the source described above. Finally, the show was re-tracked and split before the second Rael story as is usual for PRRP remasters of The Lamb.

PRRP Staff

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