...AND THEN THERE WERE THREE...

The first of their albums without Steve Hackett didn't lose quite as much as would be expected: his unique style is noticably missed, but the band did a great job of making a thoroughly detailed, polished work of art yet again. The dreaminess of the keyboards is increased to a stratospheric degree, and much of the music is perfect for gazing at a night sky. (Just listen to those upward guitar sildes with the keyboard at the end of "Deep In the Motherlode.") I just love those moog keyboards at the end of both "Snowbound" and "Deep In the Motherlode." "Snowbound" also immediately caught my attention as being intriguing for being a sad story of a snowman's short, isolated existance set to music that sounds a little like Elton John's "Rocket Man." The first two tracks are quite possibly the best, "Down and Out" being a great jab at the record industry both lyrically and musically, with powerful virtuoso drums, an odd-time guitar riff, a super-impressive winding, modal keyboard solo, and a very convincing sense of urgency; "Undertow" being a great poetic piece of beauty showing the balance of ennui for life and spiritual awakening. The melody here is simply gorgeous, sung with all his might by Phil Collins. The hit single, "Follow You Follow Me", was my first exposure to this older sound of Genesis, and I always loved the keyboard solo, as well as the keyboard line that plays along side the melody, and the tuned drums are very ear- catching. Mike Rutherford distributes some more of his "Ripples..."-like tasteful, melodic bass in "Say It's Alright Joe", the band goes into jazz-fusion territory for bits of "The Lady Lies", and the song order could not have been done better. Some of the more untraditionally written tracks such as "Ballad of Big" and "Scenes From a Night's Dream" may sound a little odd at first, but this is one of those albums whose value blooms upon repeated listens. The most complete and convincing song is probably the anthemic "Burning Rope", containing a thoroughly entertaining band and vocal arrangement, and a guitar solo from Mike Rutherford that is almost as emotional and cathartic as Steve Hackett's solo on "Firth of Fifth."