I'll read your review later in more detail, but for the moment I just want to say that I think Lamb is my favourite Genesis, in the sense that it provides the most satisfying listen. I don't listen to it all that often because of its length and the fact that it just feels totally wrong to listen to bits of it.
It was not always my favourite. When I first heard the first few songs I wondered what I had struck. The previous three studio albums showed a progression, but many of the songs could have been wrapped from one album to another without sounding out of place. The Lamb has a different sound, a difference that's hard to define but is nevertheless there. It's not just that the subject of the lyrics has shifted radically from being quintessentially English, to suddenly embracing American culture. There is something subtly different about the musical sound as well.
Lots of people don't particularly like this album, and if they are the kind of people who tend to listen in snatches then I can understand why, because some of the songs don't hold up that well out of context, but they are essential to the whole.
Is the album just a collage of crazy images and situations, or is there a story, or at least some kind of statement being made? I think there is, but I'll leave that until I have more time to discuss it properly.
|