...AND THEN THERE WERE THREE...

"...And Then There Were Three..." is another Genesis' album marked by another change into their line up. This time it was Steve Hackett who left Genesis, in 1977, soon after the release and the tour of the live album "Seconds Out". The three remaining band members decided, again, not replace Hackett by another permanent band member. As happened with Phil Collins, who rolled both functions, vocalist and drummer, Mike Rutherford, who also played guitar, started also with the duties of bassist and guitarist. However, Genesis decided that for their live tours they needed a guitarist and for that role was called Daryl Stuermer, an American guitarist. So, he joined to Chester Thompson that already replaced Phil Collins on drums on their live shows, after the departure of Peter Gabriel from the group. So, the line up on the album is Tony Banks (keyboards), Mike Rutherford (basses and guitars) and Phil Collins (vocals and drums).

"...And Then There Were Three..." is the ninth studio album of Genesis and was released in 1978. The album has eleven tracks. The first track "Down And Out" written by Banks, Collins and Rutherford represents one great open for the album and is clearly a great song in the same vein of "Wind And Wuthering". It's the best song signed by all band members and consequently it's one of the best and more progressive tracks on the album too. The second track "Undertow" written by Banks is also one of the greatest songs on the album and is also one of the most beautiful songs composed by him ever. It's with "Burning Rope" one of the two best contributions by Banks on the album and is also very progressive. The third track "Ballad Of Big" written by Banks, Collins and Rutherford is a good song with some interesting musical atmosphere, this time in the vein of "A Trick Of The Tail". However, it's, for me, less interesting than the two previous songs. The fourth track "Snowbound" written by Rutherford represents another great moment on the album. It's the best song signed by Rutherford on the album and is one of the highest points of it too. It's very beautiful and it has also a wonderful choral work. The fifth track "Burning Rope" written by Banks is another brilliant song and represents also one of the highest points on the album. It's the only long epic song on the album and is without any doubt one of its best tracks. This is my favourite song on the album. The sixth track "Deep In The Motherlode" written by Rutherford is a typical Rutherford's song. This is also a very good song with great musical arrangements. It contains some brilliant guitar and keyboard works and represents one of the last great songs on the album. The seventh track "Many To Many" written by Banks is one of the smallest songs of the album and this is, in my humble opinion, the weakest song made by him. It's a beautiful ballad, very well sung by Collins but is undoubtedly, inferior to all other songs on the album. Unfortunately, it's the last song to use a mellotron on any studio recordings of Genesis. The eighth track "Scenes From A Night's Dream" written by Banks and Collins has fantasy lyrics about a night's dream. It's another small song with good vocals and lyrics, but like the previous track, it's also an inferior song compared with the rest of the album. The ninth track "Say It's Alright Joe" written by Rutherford is an interesting and beautiful song that fluctuates between some quiet moments and some musical explosions. However, it's also inferior to the most part of the tracks on the album. The tenth track "The Lady Lies" written by Banks finally represents another very good moment on the album. It's a song more in the classic Genesis' vein and it marks also one of the greatest musical moments on the album. This is really another great and fantastic song. The eleventh track "Follow You Follow Me" written by Banks, Collins and Rutherford is clearly a song released for a single with the intention to be a hit and achieve the top sales. It's a good pop song, but sincerely, it should never have been part of the album. I really think that it suits better on a Collins' solo album. Unfortunately, this is the song that would make the definitive turning point on Genesis' career.

Conclusion: Sincerely, I don't consider this album as a minor work as many of you consider. Obviously, it hasn't the presence of Hackett, or even it hasn't the presence of a true guitarist. As all we know, Rutherford is an excellent bassist but he isn't really a great guitarist. However, I think Rutherford did that function quite decently. For me, this is the last studio album that can be considered as a Genesis' progressive rock album, with the exception of "Follow You, Follow Me". This is, in my humble opinion, a Banks and a Rutherford album. In reality, it's essentially a Banks album because its sound is dominated by his keyboards. It's true that almost all the tracks are short, but the main prog characteristics of the group are still presents. After this album, the most part of the compositions made by Genesis were written more in the commercial Collins' pop style. So, "...And Then There Were Three..." is, all in all, an interesting mixture of challenging rock and pop style with a progressive touch. The album is neither too shallow nor too complex, and that is probably the main reason why I like it so much. So, this is for me, the last truly progressive studio work made by Genesis.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

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