...AND THEN THERE WERE THREE...

If one is in a nostalgic mood, sipping chamomile tea and wants to pretend like they are in a Yes or Procol Harum concert of yesteryear this album is contraindicated. But if you want change pace and enjoy something moving - sometimes real peppy, and not at all boring, and just happens to have been recorded by Genesis then by all means crank this one up.

The electrifying, fast-tempo "Down and Out" opens the Lp and actually is my favorite. No it isn't Peter Gabriel rehash but it is quite a distinctive rocker. Phil's drums are really, really swift on this and frankly I sometimes wonder whether Neal Peart of Rush had emulated his best style from this one song. Not saying it's true, I just don't know which came first.

So a couple of the songs are a little insipid, but ALL fine rock albums have these parasites in them. Some hard-core Gabriel heads make fun of the short melody "Many too Many", but the louder you play this one the more it really knocks you on your *ss - whether you want to be on the ground or not. Short, pseudo-romantic but quite powerful.

Play it loud...and do yourself a favor and just forget that it's 'supposed to be' long, drawn out and artsy-rehash. 'Cos it's not.