...AND THEN THERE WERE THREE...

And then there was melody, and this album has it in spades. If you're looking for instrumentals, go elsewhere, it's all about the tune. Clocking in at 7:03, "Burning Rope" is the longest and most proggish song on this album, and it sports the only guitar solo. Banks keyboards are the main thrust for most of the songs, and that's not a bad thing. Everything is rounded out nicely, filling your speakers with massive keyboards, Collins excellent drumming, and the occasional guitar flourishes. Songs subjects are set in the American west, "Ballad Of Big" & "Deep In The Motherlode" and fantasy-based, "Scene's From A Night's Dream" & "The Lady Lies", with others very well written. You won't find the poppish, pap stuff until a few years later, (okay, "Follow You, Follow Me" is here, but I have a soft spot for the song since it was played at my wedding in church by friends :-p) This album is a blueprint for Neo-prog, so if you are a fan of such, 4-stars for you. Otherwise, for the forward thinking prog fan who likes the more complex, time change style of old Genesis, 3 stars. Good, but non-essential.