Customer Reviews

And Then There Were Three

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

this is a great genesis cd with my favourite phil collins featuring the terrific songs follow me follow you and down and out.very highly recommended.five stars.

This was very much a transitional album for Genesis, and it shows. Some of the songs -- "Undertow," "Burning Rope," the lovely "Follow You Follow Me" -- are as gorgeous as anything else in the band's enormous catalogue, but a good many others seem underwritten, overplayed or forgettable. Genesis recorded this album quickly, and did so in the wake of guitarist Steve Hackett's departure, so it's understandable that the album doesn't measure up to early masterpieces like "Foxtrot" or their later self-titled collection of pop gems. For new listeners, this wouldn't be the first -- or even the fourth or fifth -- Genesis album that I'd recommend, but it does have three or four excellent songs that make it worth coming back to.

Like Duke which follows it, ...And Then There Were Three has a wonderful overall sound and is solid from first track to last. Here, Gensis showed they were still progressive (the tile of the album refers to the sudden exit of guitarist Steve Hackett) but with a slightly more accessible sound and, at times, even a little darker. "Follow You Follow Me" was the single (one of the first "romantic" Genesis songs that attracted a female audience) but that is as "pop" as this album gets. It starts out with a powerful guitar riff in "Down and Out." There are several ballads; they include "Undertow," "Snowbound," "Many Too Many," and "Say It's Alright Joe" (although this one does rock in the middle). The latter, lyrically, is a little sentimentally overdone "I need another drink, to blow on the glass so I know I'm alive." Ironically, "Ballad of Big" is an upbeat track as is the fun, and one of my favorites, "Scenes From a Night's Dream" about a boy named Nimo who eats too much before sleeping and has wild fantasies.

The two monster tracks (each over 6 minutes) offer some of the best material here. Despite its rather mundane opening, "Burning Rope" has a beautiful, uplifting melody I can't help but hum along to despite the fatalistic, but very well-written, lyrics ("You're old and disillusioned now as you realize at last, that all you have accomplished here will have soon all turned to dust."). The Tony Banks penned "The Lady Lies" has a killer closing onslaught of piano. "Deep in the Motherlode" is also excellent. In fact, the only track I do not care for that much is "Snowbound" because it is repetitive. I definitely recommend this album to anyone familiar with Genesis' singles of the late 1970s and early 1980s who wants to dive deeper into the Genesis discography.

This 1978 album was my first Genesis album. It's still a sentimental favorite of mine a quarter-century later, though there are several better Genesis albums. Guitarist Steve Hackett had left, and the album was recorded entirely by the remaining members: drummer/singer Phil Collins, keyboardist Tony Banks, and guitarist/bassist Michael Rutherford. This album and "Duke" mark Genesis' gradual transition from progressive rock to the pop of the 80s. "...and Then There Were Three" is lyrically dark, but the music is less ponderous than on "Wind and Wuthering" and the songs are generally kept short. The band plays well but not showily; the only solo of any length is Banks' synthesizer solo in "The Lady Lies". Hackett's role in the band had gradually declined after Gabriel left, and Rutherford is able to fill it capably here (by the time of "We Can't Dance" and "Calling All Stations", his lead skills had atrophied).

The first half of the album is full of songs about mortality (and one about fighting over a contract with the record company, which may have felt like the same thing at the time). The best of these is "Burning Rope", one of those Tony Banks songs where he strung together a bunch of stray riffs he had lying around. The ballad "Undertow" is also strong. A cowboy dies in the "Ballad of Big", and a snowman in "Snowbound". The second half includes Rutherford's gold-rush story "Deep in the Motherlode" (along with "Back in NYC" and "In the Cage", one of three Genesis songs that start with the same shuffle-beat bass part), lost-love ballad "Many Too Many", Collins' sprightly "Scenes from a Night's Dream" (a tribute to Winsor McCay's "Little Nemo in Slumberland" comic strip of the early 1900s), the boozy "Say It's Alright Joe", and "The Lady Lies", in which a knight is defeated by a monster posing as a fair maiden. The album ends with the single "Follow You Follow Me", which is so much more cheerful than anything else on the album that it sticks out like a sore thumb.

(1=poor 2=mediocre 3=pretty good 4=very good 5=phenomenal)

This was the first Genesis album I ever owned. It's still a sentimental favorite a quarter-century later, though there are better Genesis albums. Guitarist Steve Hackett had left, and the album was recorded entirely by the remaining members: drummer/singer Phil Collins, keyboardist Tony Banks, and guitarist/bassist Michael Rutherford. This album and "Duke" mark Genesis' gradual transition from progressive rock to the pop of the 80s. "...and Then There Were Three" is lyrically dark, but the music is less ponderous than on "Wind and Wuthering" and the songs are generally kept short. The band plays well but not showily; the only solo of any length is Banks' synthesizer solo in "The Lady Lies". Hackett's role in the band had gradually declined after Gabriel left, and Rutherford is able to fill it capably here (by the time of "We Can't Dance" and "Calling All Stations", his lead skills had atrophied).

The first half of the album is full of songs about mortality (and one about fighting over a contract with the record company, which may have felt like the same thing at the time). The best of these is "Burning Rope", one of those Tony Banks songs where he strung together a bunch of stray riffs he had lying around. The ballad "Undertow" is also strong. A cowboy dies in the "Ballad of Big", and a snowman in "Snowbound". The second half includes Rutherford's gold-rush story "Deep in the Motherlode" (along with "Back in NYC" and "In the Cage", one of three Genesis songs that start with the same shuffle-beat bass part), lost-love ballad "Many Too Many", Collins' sprightly "Scenes from a Night's Dream" (a tribute to Winsor McCay's "Little Nemo in Slumberland" comic strip of the early 1900s), the boozy "Say It's Alright Joe", and "The Lady Lies", in which a knight is defeated by a monster posing as a fair maiden. The album ends with the single "Follow You Follow Me", which is so much more cheerful than anything else on the album that it sticks out like a sore thumb.

(1=poor 2=mediocre 3=pretty good 4=very good 5=phenomenal)

After quite sleepy and too Progressive "Wind and wuthering" a phenomenal guitarist Steve Hackett left the band to form a his own band.This step was a prelude to one of the most biggest style change in Genesis career.from art-rock to pop.
but on "and then there were three" genesis didn't went in "Mama" and "Invisible touch" hits area...
still we are listening great emotional and powerfull Progressive rock.
Mike Rutheford took a place of lead guitarist after Steve.he is definitly a great bass player but his guitar style is a bit anemic compared to early seventies records.still he shines in many moments ("Burning rope","deep in a motherlode")Phil sings much more natural than before and his drumming is superb.and of course Tony Banks - one of the best living keyboardists in the world.so now we have a Supergroup!
the beginning track "Down and out" is almost an artistic manifest - loud,heavy and fast rock track with an interesting lyrics about a life of an famous music-star.a great track that will not leave oyur head so fast."Afterglow","Say it's all right joe","Many too many" and "follow you follow me" are great,melancholic ballads.Phil sings there best as he can.
"Deep in the motherlode","Scenes from a night dream","Ballad of big" are fantastic rock songs.but the most important track from album is an epic 7 minutes composition "Burning rope" - in my opinion one of the best long tracks in band's career.it ia a charming warm ballad with moving lyrics about nature and marvelous bass line.guitar solo in the middle is simply amazing...
in general - there is too many too write about this fantastic piece of music.It is the best Genesis album recored as a trio (banks,Collins,Rutheford) and the richest in many soundscapes.it is funny that the band was trying to make a dreamworld atmosphere as a quartet and they made it best as a three person group.simply - a masterpiece.
a great album to start with Genesis!

There are some tracks on this album that really stand out, but not like other in this band has produced.