Back in N.Y.C. - Genesis
Song of the Day
Apple Music link: https://music.apple.com/us/album/back-in-n-y-c-2007-stereo-mix/358933158?i=358933179
As much as I absolutely love and worship the British fantasy prog nirvanas of Foxtrot and Selling England By The Pound, The Lamb Lies Down Broadway is slowly becoming my favorite Genesis album. Of course, the reason this one took its time to really make its impact on me is the approach itself was bound to be enigmatic: the fairy tale sound and lyrical themes in their 1970-1973 albums were prisms for Gabriel to use to express his deeper feelings and fears about himself and the world around him, but the music and lyrics of Lamb were clearly aimed directly at exploring the crevices of Peter's subconscious in this highly complex and encoded rock opera that fans still struggle to decipher fully. That's why this album pushed me and so many away at first because you have to fully put yourself in his shoes to even understand what is going on, but the album transcends that problem by the sheer raw but subtle vocal power of Gabriel, the way he can make lyrics that sound so pretentious and obtuse on paper sound so personal and tear-inducingly beautiful. This is easily the most confessional album he ever made, and it is the sheer power of sincerity that pushes this album to such intense emotional heights.
Most of all, the rest of the band clearly understood this fact, and they worked hard to keep the melody and arrangement standards as high as they were on Foxtrot and Pound. This song, in particular, is the perfect demonstration of the magical synergy between Gabriel's thematic vision and the band's ability to build the musical world around it. Just hearing Banks's synth riff that opens "Back In N.Y.C." is enough to move me to tears. It is a cold and spacious sound that persists throughout this album, yes, but the riff's majestic shimmer is utterly cosmic and mystical, amplifying the spiritual effect of each and every verse Gabriel wrings out from the depth of his heart. It expresses such a transcendent but deeply humane feeling that I have no ability to put words to the power it has over me: it manages to be a very personal confession and a universalistic anthem of freedom that never fails to blow me away. And even if the rest of the song is not quite the same out-of-body experience, both the chillingly sinister overtones of the "cuddled the porcupine" and the bouncier "off we go" themes add even more emotional depth to the composition rather than take away from it.
It is just such an incredible piece of work, yet just one among the many treasures that this album has to offer. Compared to other rock opera classics like The Wall, Lamb is much less accessible, but like Pete Townshend's rock opera masterpieces Tommy and Quadrophenia, it is better to listen more closely to the depth of emotion they attempt to express rather than try to make sense of something that was so personal to their authors. It really is one of the pinnacles of progressive rock in general, so I think everybody with even a passing interest in art-rock should give this album a try or two. It is rare that something so bombastic and ambitious can sound so intimate, and that is more than enough of a reason it should endure as the masterpiece that it is.
No comments:
Post a Comment