10/10
The Colony of Slippermen
Having been seduced by the Lamia, Rael finds that both he and John, whom he meets on the other side of the lake, have been changed, metamorphosed, warped into what Gabriel calls slippermen, ugly, weird things “with lips that slide across each chin” and whose “skin is covered in slimy lumps.” Rael is told he will have to live here for the rest of his days, as everyone else he meets in the colony has undergone the same transformation.
The track is broken into three sections: "Arrival", where, obviously, Rael arrives and is introduced to the slippermen, and reunited with his brother. This is a bouncy, breezy piece which lopes along nicely on Bank's jumping keyboard lines and features more phased vocals from Gabriel, perhaps to emulate the weird, slippery nature of the creatures Rael finds himself among, finds himself one of. The second part, “A Visit to the Doktor”, has Rael and John visting “Doktor Dyper, reformed sniper, he'll whip off your windscreen wiper”, to remove his penis, which is now apparently diseased after the touch of the Lamia. This is a faster, more urgent piece, driven by Hackett and Rutherford and leads into the third and final section, “The Raven”, where an annoying black bird swoops down and robs Rael's “pouch”, in which his removed “love apparatus” has been placed, and flies off with it. John again legs it, refusing to help him. Great bouncy keyboards from Banks here.
8/10
Ravine
Another short instrumental. More a bridge between the last track and the next than anything else really.
4/10
The Light Dies Down on Broadway
Pretty much a reprise of the opener and title track, where Rael is given a chance to get home if he leaves John, who has fallen into the river and needs his help. Even though John let him down every time Rael needed him, the idea of leaving his brother behind is anathema to Rael and he turns back, away from the closing window on the upper world, abandoning his only chance to get home, and in making that sacrifice for the sake of his brother, wins salvation.
10/10
Riding the Scree
As Rael dives in to help his brother, the music is expectedly fast and frenetic, mostly again driven by Banks' squealing keyboards. Pretty much half of it is instrumental, and the first time I heard it I thought there would be no vocals at all. I was wrong.
7/10
In the Rapids
A slow one as things begin to come to some sort of resolution. Rael reaches John, drags him to the shore, tries to revive him, but looking at his face sees it change into ... his own! Music is mostly on twelve-string, reminds me of mid-seventies Rush. Not quite a ballad but very powerful, very emotional, very stirring.
8/10
It
The album comes to a close with a rocker which re-interprets the Stones' “It's Only Rock and Roll (But I Like It)” with some pretty damn weird lyrical fare. Probably does little if anything to offer any kind of explanation, in fact it sounds like Gabriel winking slyly: “If you think it's pretentious, you've been taken for a ride.” And what a ride.
10/10
Album Rating: 10/10