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the title track

The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway is the sixth studio album by the English progressive rock band Genesis. It was released as a double album on 22 November 1974 Upon their arrival the building had been left in a very poor state by the previous band to use it, with excrement on the floor and rat infestations. By this time the personal lives of some members had begun to affect the mood in the band, causing complications for their work. Hackett explained: "Everybody had their own agenda. Some of us were married, some of us had children, some of us were getting divorced, and we were still trying to get it together in the country". Banks later deemed this period of time as his least favourite of all his time in Genesis.

The band decided to produce a double album before they had agreed on its contents or direction, for the extended format presented the opportunity for them to put down more of their musical ideas. A single album of songs telling segments of a story did not appeal to them, and Banks thought they had gained a strong enough following by this point to put out two albums' worth of material that their fans would be willing to listen to. They had wanted to produce a concept album that told a story for some time, and Rutherford pitched an idea based on the fantasy novel The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupéry, but Gabriel considered it "too twee" and believed "prancing around in fairyland was rapidly becoming obsolete". Gabriel presented a surreal story about a Puerto Rican youth named Rael who is suddenly taken on a spiritual journey of self discovery and identity as he encounters a series of bizarre incidents and characters. He first thought of the story while touring North America in the previous year, and pitched a synopsis to the group until they agreed to go ahead with it. The band also found that "Ra" was common in male names in various nationalities. Gabriel was inspired by a variety of sources for the story including West Side Story, "a kind of punk" twist to the Christian allegory The Pilgrim's Progress, the works of Swiss psychologist Carl Jung, and the surreal Western film El Topo (1971) by Alejandro Jodorowsky. In contrast to Selling England by the Pound, which contained strong English themes, Gabriel made a conscious effort to avoid repetition and instead portray American imagery in his lyrics. Gabriel expressed some concern over the album's title shortly after its release, but clarified that the lamb itself is purely symbolic and a catalyst for the peculiar events that occur. During the writing sessions at Headley Grange, Gabriel found himself separated from the rest of the band, which caused some friction. He insisted that having devised the concept he should write the lyrics, leaving the majority of the music in the charge of his bandmates. This was a departure from the band's usual method of songwriting, as lyrical contributions on previous albums had always involved the other members. This situation left Gabriel often secluded in one room writing the lyrics, and the remaining four rehearsing in another. In one instance Gabriel was unable to meet a scheduled deadline to have the lyrics finished, leaving Rutherford and Banks to write words for "The Light Dies Down on Broadway". At other times, Banks and Hackett suggested lyrics they thought would fit "The Lamia" and "Here Comes the Supernatural Anaesthetist" respectively, which Gabriel rebuffed. Further disagreements arose during the writing period when Gabriel left the group for a short period having accepted an invitation from film producer William Friedkin to collaborate on a screenplay, after he took a liking to Gabriel's surreal story printed on the sleeve of Genesis Live (1973). Friedkin, however, was not prepared to split the band over a mere idea and Gabriel resumed work on the album.

After their allocated time at Headley Grange came to an end, Genesis relocated to Glaspant Manor in Capel Iwan, Carmarthenshire, Wales to record the album. The remote location required them to use a mobile studio, and used one owned by Island Studios that was parked outside. Burns and Gabriel experimented with different vocal effects by recording takes in a bathroom and in a cowshed two miles away. Rutherford thought the album's sound was an improvement to past Genesis albums for it was not recorded in a professional studio, which benefited the sound of Collins' drums. Collins compared the sound of the album to that of Neil Young's recordings made in his barn, "not studio, not soundproof, but a woody quality". Gabriel said one track was recorded directly onto a cassette which was used on the album. Collins remarked that the entire concept was about split personality. The individual songs also make satirical allusions to mythology, the sexual revolution, advertising, and consumerism.

Much of the music developed through band improvisations and jams, often after setting a single idea, which Banks found particularly enjoyable. Examples of this are what he described as a "Chinese jam" which ended up as part of "The Colony of Slippermen", one named "Victory at Sea" which was worked into "Silent Sorrow in Empty Boats", and another known as "Evil Jam" which became "The Waiting Room". Though the album is written to a story concept, Gabriel described its format as being split into "self contained song units". "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" was the last song that Banks and Gabriel wrote together before the latter's departure from the group, which Banks said was "a pretty good song to end on". At its conclusion, the song borrows music and lyrics from the 1963 single "On Broadway" by The Drifters. "Fly on a Windshield" originally came about through a band improvisation sparked by an idea from Rutherford, who suggested the idea of pharaohs going down the Nile and proceeded to play two chords. The rest of the group caught onto the idea, and Banks was particularly fond of the part when the drums and guitar come in, calling it one of the band's best ever moments. Hackett described his guitar parts as "Egyptian phrases", and noted that the group used a similar modulation to that of the end of Boléro by Maurice Ravel. "Back in N. Y. C." sees Genesis adopting a more aggressive sound than in past compositions, and includes Gabriel singing an expletive in the line: "I'm not full of shit". A personal highlight for Collins is "Silent Sorrow in Empty Boats" and "The Waiting Room", the latter of which developed as a "basic good to bad soundscaping" jam while it was raining outside. When the band stopped, a rainbow had formed. Collins remembered Hackett playing "these dark chords, then Peter blows into his oboe reeds, then there was a loud clap of thunder and we really thought we were entering another world or something. It was moments like that when we were still very much a unified five piece". "The Carpet Crawlers" developed at a time when Gabriel had written some lyrics, but no music had been written for them. The band put together a chord sequence "in D, E minor and F sharp minor with a roll from the drums flowing through it". Gabriel spent "hours and hours" on an out of tune piano in the house of his then wife Jill's parents in Kensington to develop the song, and Jill spoke of Gabriel's particular fondness of the track. "Anyway" and "Lilywhite Lilith" developed from two previously unreleased songs named "Frustration" and "The Light", respectively. and became the band's highest charting album yet in the US, peaking at No. 41 on the Billboard 200 in February 1975. Two singles were released; "Counting Out Time" with "Riding the Scree" as its B side, was released on 1 November 1974. The second, "The Carpet Crawlers" backed with a live performance of "The Waiting Room (Evil Jam)" at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, followed in April 1975. The album continued to sell, and reached Gold certification by the British Phonographic Industry on 1 February 1975, and Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales in excess of 500,000 copies on 20 April 1990.

Members of the group expressed some concern about the album's critical reception, and expected to receive some negative responses over its concept and extended format. Banks hoped the album would end people's comparisons of Genesis to Yes and Emerson, Lake & Palmer, two other popular progressive rock bands of the time. Gabriel knew the album's concept was ideal for critics "to get their teeth into". In giving an interview to Melody Maker in October 1974, shortly before the album's release, Gabriel played several tracks from The Lamb to reporter Chris Welch, including "In the Cage", "Hairless Heart", "Carpet Crawlers", and "Counting Out Time". Welch wrote, "It sounded superb. Beautiful songs, fascinating lyrics, and sensitive, subtle playing, mixed with humour and harmonies. What more could a Genesis fan desire?" He singled out Collins' playing as "outstanding". Colin Irwin wrote a negative review of the "Counting Out Time" single, with its "weary, tepid approach" and a "woeful, dreary three and a half minutes". Since its release, the album has been met with critical acclaim. In 1978, Nick Kent wrote for New Musical Express that it "had a compelling appeal that often transcended the hoary weightiness of the mammoth concept that held the equally mammoth four sides of vinyl together". In a special edition of Q and Mojo magazines titled Pink Floyd & The Story of Prog Rock, The Lamb ranked at No. 14 in its 40 Cosmic Rock Albums list. The album came third in a list of the ten best concept albums by Uncut magazine, where it was described as an "impressionistic, intense album" and "pure theatre (in a good way) and still Gabriel's best work". AllMusic reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave a retrospective rating of five stars out of five. He says that despite Gabriel's "lengthy libretto" on the sleeve "the story never makes sense", though its music is "forceful, imaginative piece of work that showcases the original Genesis lineup at a peak it's a considerable, lasting achievement and it's little wonder that Peter Gabriel had to leave they had gone as far as they could go together". In 2014, readers of Rhythm voted it the album with the fourth greatest drumming in the history of progressive rock. In 2015, NME included the album in its "23 Maddest and Most Memorable Concept Albums" list for "taking in themes of split personalities, heaven and hell and truth and fantasy". It was one of two albums by Genesis included in the top ten of the Rolling Stone list of the 50 Greatest Prog Rock Albums of All Time. The magazine described it as "one of rock's more elaborate, beguiling and strangely rewarding concept albums". The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. Banks later thought the album's concept the weakest thing about it, though the lyrics to some of the individual songs are "wonderful". Rutherford said that, while The Lamb is a fan favorite, it was a gruelling album to work on and had a lot of highs, but also a lot of lows. Hackett remarked how his guitar was underutilized in comparison to past albums, but thought the album had a lot of beautiful moments and has grown on him over time. In Genesis: Together and Apart, Gabriel stated the album was one of his two high points with the band, along with "Supper's Ready". Also in that documentary, Collins said the band created their best music on the album. He also cites it as his favourite Genesis album.

The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway was first remastered for CD in 1994, and released on Virgin Records in Europe and Atlantic Records in North America. The included booklet features the lyrics and story printed on the original LP, though some of the inner sleeve artwork was not reproduced. A remastered edition for Super Audio CD and DVD with new stereo and 5.1 surround sound mixes by Nick Davis was released in 2008 as part of the Genesis 1970–1975 box set.

Genesis supported the album with a 102 date concert tour across North America and Europe, playing the album in its entirety with one or two older songs (usually "Watcher of the Skies" and "The Musical Box") as encores. Such a format was not supported by the entire band, considering most of the audience were not yet familiar with the large amount of new material. It was to begin on 29 October 1974 with an 11 date tour of the UK that sold out within four hours of going on sale, but after Hackett crushed a wine glass in his left hand which severed a tendon, and needed time to recover, these dates were rescheduled for 1975. The group lost money, for they were unable to recoup deposits they had paid to the venues. Music critics often focused their reviews on Gabriel's theatrics and took the band's musical performance as secondary, which irritated the rest of the band. Collins later said, "People would steam straight past Tony, Mike, Steve and I, go straight up to Peter and say, "You're fantastic, we really enjoyed the show." It was becoming a one man show to the audience." The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame called the tour "a spectacle on par with anything attempted in the world of rock to that point".

During their stop in Cleveland in November 1974, Gabriel told the band he would leave at the conclusion of the tour. The decision was kept a secret from outsiders and media all through the tour, and Gabriel promised the band to stay silent about it for a while after its end in June 1975, to give them some time to prepare for a future without him. By August, the news had leaked to the media anyway, and Gabriel wrote a personal statement to the English music press to explain his reasons and his view of his career up to this point; the piece, titled "Out, Angels Out", was printed in several of the major rock music magazines. In his open letter, he explained his disillusion with the music industry and his wish to spend extended time with his family. Banks later stated, "Pete was also getting too big for the group. He was being portrayed as if he was 'the man' and it really wasn't like that. It was a very difficult thing to accommodate. So it was actually a bit of a relief."

No complete performance of the album has been officially released, except for the majority of the band's performance from 24 January 1975 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, which was released as part of the Genesis Archive 1967–75 box set. Some tracks feature re recorded vocals from Gabriel and guitar parts from Hackett; the box set contains a remixed studio version of "it. ", also with re recorded vocals. Canadian tribute band The Musical Box has performed the album in its entirety on several tours using the slides from the original performances.

All tracks credited to Tony Banks, Phil Collins, Peter Gabriel, Steve Hackett and Mike Rutherford. Actual songwriters listed below. All lyrics written by Peter Gabriel except where noted.