The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway is an ambitious two-record concept album released in 1974 by British progressive rock band Genesis. It was the last album by the group on which original lead singer Peter Gabriel performed.
The album tells the surreal and dreamlike story of a Puerto Rican juvenile delinquent named Rael living in New York City, who ventures into an underground realm filled with bizarre creatures and nightmarish dangers in order to rescue his brother John. The individual songs make satirical allusions to everything from mythology to the sexual revolution to advertising and consumerism. The title track, as well as "The Carpet Crawlers" and "In the Cage", became live favorites for the band even into the 1990s.
Most of the music on the album was written by band members Tony Banks, Phil Collins, Steve Hackett, and Mike Rutherford, without Gabriel's participation. Gabriel insisted on writing the story and all the lyrics himself, which caused friction. Gabriel's absenteeism from the album's writing and rehearsal sessions due to personal problems — his wife was having difficulties with her first pregnancy — added to the strain.
The Lamb was released to mixed reviews, and the band went on a world tour, performing the album in its entirety at more than 140 dates. As the tour wound to a close, Gabriel announced he was leaving Genesis.
In 1975 Gabriel was contacted by filmmaker William Friedkin — who was enjoying great success with The Exorcist — about a possible film based on the album. Gabriel worked on some early script drafts, but nothing came of the project.
