The Lamb may not have been as successful as its preceding two releases, but it still managed to go gold in the US, Canada and UK, reaching #41 on the Billboard pop charts and #10 on the UK charts. And while there are plenty of instrumentals on this oblique tale of the fictitious Rael and his journeys, The Lamb was, in fact, the most pop-friendly disc of Genesis' career to date. The propulsive title track, "In the Cage," harder-edged "Back in N.Y.C." and soft "The Carpet Crawlers" were all songs that could have achieved significant radio play. While there are recurring themes and motifs, The Lamb is more a collection of songs linked by a lyrical narrative—controversial in itself, as Gabriel was largely absent from the writing process for personal reasons, though he did insist on writing the lyrics in their entirety, which was met with no small resistance from the rest of the group. That said, it's that very fact that makes The Lamb, despite its length and musical diversity—undeniably the most stylistically broad-scoped album the group ever released—such a cohesive work, and one that has gained more critical and popular acclaim over the years.
It's also the most urban album the group had released to date. Gone were the pastoral British-isms, replaced by a harder edge that makes songs like the synth-laden, 7/4-driven "Back in N.Y.C." a foreshadowing of the kind of music Gabriel would make early in his career as a solo artist, starting with Peter Gabriel (Atlantic, 1977). "Lillywhite Lilith" is the closest thing to a flat-out rocker that the group had in its repertoire, and the album's closer, "It," is another vigorous tune that pointed towards the group's later radio-friendly mix of progressive sounds and accessible pop melodies.
It was the last album Gabriel would record with Genesis, and his voice was never better. While he possesses one of the most instantly recognizable voices in rock, at the time he lacked the stamina to maintain power and range in performance. Still, by this time, he was beginning to correct the problem, and his delivery on the poignant "Chamber of 32 Doors," visceral screams on "Back in N.Y.C." and strength and range on the largely instrumental "Riding the Scree" represent some of his best singing on any Genesis album.
With ex-Roxy Music keyboardist Brian Eno providing "Enossification"—his term for sound effects and processing—the textures of The Lamb are rich indeed. With the benefit of the remix, what was once nothing more than an instrumental interlude—"Silent Sorrow in Empty Boats"—becomes a sonically rich transition point that harkens to Eno's later ambient music works like Music for Airports (EG, 1978), while his treatments of Gabriel's voice throughout the disc sound more alive than ever. With The Lamb Genesis' best produced album of that era, the remix/remaster only broadens the aural landscape, making the two-minute instrumental intro to "The Colony of Slippermen" a miniature that commands attention rather than being something to simply get through in order to reach the core of the song.
There are plenty of strong solos throughout—Banks' synth on "Riding the Scree" and "In the Cage," and Hackett's brief but letter-perfect solo on "Anyway" and his humorous, effects-laden turn on the Beatles-esque "Counting Out Time."
