There are many reasons why Genesis are my favorite overall band... this album could be the number one or two reason. Many of the band members were going thru interesting points in their personal lives, especially Peter Gabriel, when they were writing and recording this double album. PG announced he would be leaving the band, and Phil jokingly said "Well, we will just become an instrumental band (laughs)." It is a concept album about a juvenile Puerto Rican youth named "Rael", and his insane adventure in (then) 1970s NYC underworld. Some people describe this album as the monumental "Acid Rock" album
Spoiler
And I can confirm this after tripping on it
and it is surprisingly looked oddly at by the band years later. When the tour for The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway began, the band played the entire album every night (they were exhausted when it concluded) and did not know what to expect from the fans coming in expecting to hear classics from Foxtrot, Selling England By The Pound, etc. The band was shocked to learn everyone really enjoyed it and did not mind missing the classics. After playing the album, the band would end the concert with inter-tying tracks of The Musical Box and Watcher Of The Skies. While no full concert footage exists, many hardcore fans created what they could with bits and pieces of footage that was recorded.
Much like the synchronization of Pink Floyd's Darkside of the Moon with The Wizard of Oz, someone mixed TLLDOB with Disney's animated classic Alice In Wonderland and it works too. My friend burned me a copy on DVD and I am very glad he did, as it was taken down a few months later and has never returned since.
So, I certainly could go over every track (23 overall), but I will not. All I can say is this album changed my life forever and holds a special place in my musical heart. If the band could have ended Peter's time in the band perfectly, it is this album. Simply mind blowing music by the band and hauntingly real lyric (and flute solos) by PG. Classic tracks like The Carpet Crawlers, The Lamia, The Colony of the Slippermen, Counting Out Time,
it. and so many more. When I saw Steve Hackett (the guitarist) live in 2010, he shockingly played my favorite song (posted below) and I was in bliss to hear it live. I was literally feet away from him too in the first row. While I highly doubt the band will ever tour again, to hear what I could live with SH and the Canadian cover band The Musical Box (the only authorized band by Genesis to recreate their 70s era concerts) I will always treasure.
Infinity/10
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=k9X2QtzCvBQ