...AND THEN THERE WERE THREE...

In a word: yuck. I don't believe this album's failure (musically speaking and from my p.o.v., of course) has anything to do with losing Hackett, or Collins taking a more active role in writing, or anything. I absolutely love "Duke" and it was done a couple of years later by the same people, but... what happened to the guys here??? Banks' synths are almost unbearable on occasions, and most of the songs are just... poor. Far west prog synth songs? I don't understand what they were trying to do. And the guys themselves seem to agree, saying that this album's songs seemed alright at the time... but never again in any other time.

That is, excluding the ones I consider the best tracks here: "Undertow" (maybe a little too emotional, that one, but what a nice chorus), "Burning Rope" (a very nice mini epic), and... yes, their career-changing "Follow You, Follow Me". Extraordinary pop song, people. I understand the prog purists hating this "sell-out", but thankfully I enjoy both ends of the spectre when done well... so while FYFM dies in a prog context, in the pop world it's almost an anthem.

Bottom line is, this album is only necessary if you're interested in following the transition from prog to pop in every chapter. If not, avoid it.