...AND THEN THERE WERE THREE...

These three were survivors and though they'd lost one of the greatest front men in music and an irreplaceable guitarist, they wanted to keep making music. Good music. So in 1978 they made the best of a challenging situation, pulled together and wound up with a collection of fine songs. In hindsight, it is probably their most significant transition album, showing a marked move toward the airwaves but still with a few toes in the prog rock camp, not quite willing to let go of their symphonic past just yet. Consequently, And Then There Were Three was one of the best crossover records of the late prog era.

There are some unremarkable moments and the original mix is a bit muddled, but mostly the material is a logical continuation of A Trick of the Tail and Wind & Wuthering. At times the tone of the album has similarities with early concept Genesis though still missed after four years is Peter Gabriel's abstract wit, replaced by Collins' everyman veneer. Solid post-symphonic rock is 'Down and Out', Rutherford doing an admirable job doubling on guitar, Collins' mean drumtrack and Banks's backbone. 'Undertow' slows things down, capturing the record's quieter lullaby sound and a strong vocal from Collins, as with the catchy 'Ballad of Big', pretty 'Snowbound' and more visions of sugarplums, and lushly symphonic and very prog 'Burning Rope' featuring more surprisingly good guitar parts from bassist Rutherford. Cool L.A. sheen for 'Deep in the Motherlode' which faintly echoes this band's glory days, more childhood memories from Collins and one of the better cuts in 'Scenes From a Night's Dream', weird cautionary tale-telling of 'The Lady Lies', and very appealing ballad 'Follow You Follow Me'.

This was their first major immersion in the pop market and their future was written on the wall, but a very nice offering nonetheless and hits the spot on a late night when you don't need endless changes and screaming synths.