Love TWR, especially what they did with it live. The live Waiting Room on the '69-'74 box set is really great.
Anyway We open with a beautiful piece of piano and Gabriel's vocal comes in and seems to have an unusual modulation effect on it .... The song appears to be Rael singing that he thinks he is going to die and his interpretation of what that means. After the first section of vocals (approx. 1:25) the piano double times and the band thump in with some emphasised power chords to boost the feel up, and it is very effective and manages to create an emotional impact. Hackett puts a very nice lead break in here, again we have a modulation effect here, and it is possibly a doubled guitar (unless that is part of the effect). On the last note of the lead break we change back to the half time keyboards. As the lyrics close out we are left with the impression that he isn't dying, but in fact just feeling that way due to still waiting "Good morning Rael, So sorry you had to wait. It won't be long, yeah! She's very rarely late." .... I am assuming the she in question is from the earlier reference to "Anyway, they say she comes on a pale horse" .... There is a nice little change in the tail as the last phrase has a change of melodic emphasis and we are left with a synth chord that will lead us into the next track. A very good track that leads us into the more strange part of the narrative.
Another highlight. A rare, easy - to - understand piece of the puzzle. Beautiful music and excellent lyrics. Both Gabriel and Banks excel in this bit. The origins of this track go back far, as "The Jackson Tapes" demonstrates.
Anyway This is a track that typifies a perfect class on how to convey an epic flair by a three minute song. This is the track where I'd say there is indeed some "Beethovenesque" vibe to it particularly stamped in the middle section by the bombast piano element, which sets forth the tone for the climax, leading to yet another one of Steve's titanic guitar resolutions as usual. A short but deep, brilliant instrumental section, this time enhanced by another outstanding Mike's bass playing. "Anyway" is indeed one more truly great song in the Genesis catalogue.
Good analysis. After all these years of listening to The Carpet Crawlers, I am only just understanding what I now think is the real meaning behind some of the lyrics. In particular the line "We've got to get in to get out", which apparently means... ummm... this is rather hard to discuss on a family board... *coughs* that you have got to "get in", i.e. perform the actual act of nookie, to encourage the "crawlers" (i.e. the sperm) to get out. This would sound tacky done by most other bands, yet Genesis manage to make it sound ethereally beautiful.
A little too highbrow though. All in all, I think cachophony is better suiting a portorican punk's state of mind.
Anyway. The original idea is predating Genesis, written by Banks at university around the time he wrote Salmacis too (he says). It became Frustration for the Jackson documentary and later this final track. A little curiosity. Death is male or female, depending on language/culture. We say death's a woman, even though in italian art she's frequently pictured as a sexless skeleton (btw, if you're into this kind of things, check out the triumph of death or the dance of death in medieval Italian and French art, they're amazing). In Bergman's Seventh Seal death is a man, accordingly to the director's native culture. Now, here death is alluded to in female terms in Anyway (SHE comes on a pale horse, SHE won't be late) but is a MAN in Anesthetist (HE's such a fine dancer). Confusing. Any thoughts? Oh, the guitar break is a three part harmony thing, apparently. (Same source as usual).
Listening to it again I realised it would have had a bit more powerful effect had they included some sounding prominence to the piano on that break line .... But perhaps it's just me, I think I'm biased...
Lillywhite Lilith is a great way to kick off the second disc, throwing us right back into the action. It's practically a dual lead vocal performance from Pete and Phil with some sweet, almost Beach Boys-like arrangements on the chorus. I do like the the little nod back to "Broadway Melody" at the end. Genesis were masterful when it came to weaving the reprised themes in there. Like many, I disliked The Waiting Room a lot when a first heard it (I had a similar reaction to tracks like King Crimson's Providence back then too), particularly the initial noodly bits, but I've come to appreciate it over the years as another rare Genesis foray into improv territory. As Fly on a Windshield was originally trying to convey the sense of a journey through ancient Egypt, The Waiting Room was an abstract progression from darkness into light (That story of the original rehearsal for this one is fascinating, hinting at the uniquely haunted magic at work with The Lamb sessions.). Rather like Providence, when the jam gradually comes into focus at the end after the preceding chaos, it's that much more forceful. Anyway is another dramatic high point on the album, another good argument on behalf of recycling, as it was drawn from some old ideas that Banks had been playing with for years. Once again, the relative concision of the material works to its favor, moving things along at a steady clip and packing a powerful emotional punch, proving that you don't always have to be long-winded to be progressive. Banks dazzles on the piano, of course, while Hackett delivers one of his most effective solos. I went back and revisited the Archives disc 1 of the Shrine performance recently. I have to say that it was rather a frustrating listen, given all of the overdubs. Originally, I had gotten the impression that PG just did a few nips and tucks where needed, but now it seems to me like quite a bit of it was doctored. Though he does a decent job, somehow he's not quite able to recapture Rael the angry young street punk on tracks like "Back In N.Y.C." Can someone recommend a better vintage performance of The Lamb?
I posted my favorites in the thread, Providence, Rhode Island and The Empire Pool, London. Both are fantastic.
This point is going to Michael Rutherford : His Bass and Guitar - work on this album _is_ superb. He was always a great musician (and song-writer) within Genesis, but he really shines on this album (albeit in an often obscured fashion).
Man … talk about a tragedy. Jason Becker overcame that f**king mountain, though. (to a large degree).
What's amazing to me is how often crap falls on the people who don't deserve it. Evil is all around us and yet most evil f**cks never get their come-uppance. At least not while they are living. [shakes fist and then climbs down from soapbox] ----------------------------- Okay, back to ……. what is it? [scrolls up then down] oh, yeah The Lamb.
I'm cool, man. This thread is a blast! [btw - the scrolls up / down quip was to remind me of where I was (Saturday drink session). Not that I was impatient - although I can see how you might have thought that.] Everything's cool!
