"...And Then There Were Three" was originally released in March of 1978, and it's the first Genesis album following Steve Hackett's departure from the band in 1977.

Now, don't get me wrong here--I'm not denying Hackett's compositional talent or his distinctive fluid guitar style. However, many fans have grossly overstated the importance of Steve Hackett's departure from Genesis. The sound of "And Then There Were Three" is very, very similar to that of the previous album "Wind & Wuthering". Okay, so there aren't any classical guitar spotlights a la "Blood On The Rooftops" on here, but overall, the albums are very sonically similar, and Hackett just wasn't spotlighted enough on the two previous albums, either compositionally or performance-wise, for his loss to be felt all that much.

Tony Banks, Phil Collins, and Mike Rutherford had such an incredible working relationship and chemistry together, as Genesis' 1978-1991 output monumentally demonstrates, that Hackett's leaving the group was undoubtedly for the best. That's not to say things wouldn't have been interesting had Hackett stayed. What seems to be overlooked by most of the fans who accuse Genesis of 'going pop' following Hackett's departure, is that Hackett himself basically 'went pop' in his own right on his 1981 solo album "Cured". All that said, it seems obviously clear that Hackett didn't leave Genesis due to them becoming 'too poppy', he left because he felt suffocated by the other guys and wasn't getting enough of his own compositions in.

In any case, "...And Then There Were Three" finds Genesis brilliantly carrying on without Hackett. Mike Rutherford was a fine guitarist in his own right, and even Banks played guitar (although not on this album if I understand correctly), so filling in the guitar parts was no big deal. And either way, you've still got the dense layers of keyboards from Banks and the tremendous drumming from Collins.

The album starts off with the dynamite "Down And Out". An icy intro gives way to a frenetic rocker with manical Collins drumming on the verses which are in a 10-4 time signature, giving the song an incredibly powerful, hyperactive feel. This is heavy duty progressive rock, folks. The rumor is that the lyrics pertain to Hackett's depature from the band, but it seems to deal more with the band feeling at odds with the 'pop music scene' of the late '70s.

"Undertow" is one of those wistful, lyrically vivid Banks ballads, with his beloved Yamaha CP-70 electric grand piano sound, and a soaring chorus--an absolutely beautiful song. Also beautiful is Rutherford's spiritually-oriented ballad "Snowbound", with Collins singing the verses in that incredibly tender, feathery 'little guy' voice that's characteristic of him for this era (although it would forever vanish by the time of 1981's "Abacab"). The melancholy "Many Too Many" is marred a tad by overly prominent synth-strings, but it's still undeniably moving, with stirringly emotional choruses; it's surprising that it's a Banks solo composition--it sounds very Rutherford-esque. And even if you're burnt out on the feel-good radio hit "Follow You Follow Me", there's no denying it's superbly melodic, and it's neatly enhanced by Rutherford's heavily chorused/ flangered electric guitar.

There's a surprising turn toward Wild West thematics on "Ballad Of Big" and Rutherford's "Deep In The Motherlode", great songs, each in the 4 or 5 minute range, with the usual huge hooks and dynamics that we expect from these guys. The fade on "...Motherlode" makes effective use of backwards reverb on the drums. Banks' longer, 7+ minute "Burning Rope" perhaps drags a tad, but that's splitting hairs--it's darn great, with a terrific intro featuring masterful Collins drum fills. The sprightly "Scenes From A Night's Dream" is a wonderfully catchy pop-rock flavored tune, with terrific ringing guitars and ethereal background vocals.

Banks offers another 6+ minute epic with "The Lady Lies". It's a story-song somewhat along the lines of the previous album's "All In A Mouse's Night". The lyrics, about a femme fatale, are fairly lame and highly obvious, but the music is a different story... The verses are naturally sly and insinuating, and this is contrasted with an absolutely gorgeous chorus, plus there's a spine-tingling mid-section with a great Banks solo spot.

All in all, despite some minor gripes here and there, I can hardly say enough positive things about "...And Then There Were Three". This is the start of an unparalled streak of musical brilliance from the Banks-Collins-Rutherford lineup of Genesis.

What happens when you take two virtuosos out of a band? In general, that band has no air left to go. But if the name of that band is Genesis, then the answer is: there are three virtuosos left.

Once Peter Gabriel left the band in 1975, people feared that the singing part could not be substituted by anyone. Phil Collings proved everyone wrong.

Next in line to leave the band would be guitarrist Steve Hackett, in 1976. This time, the guitar would suffer, as Mike Rutherford, though good is never as good as Hackett. But album-wise, the album that the remaining trio recorded is one of incredible beauty where the solo capacities of the members become very obvious.

Probably not the best 'new era' Genesis album (my vote for that one goes to 1980's 'Duke') but a very good album though.

This is their first album as a trio, hence the title. Their guitarist, Steve Hackett, had left because he felt not enough of his music was getting on the albums. He had already had some success with his first album, 'The Voyage of the Acolyte', and left Genesis to continue his solo career.

Unfortunately, with his departure a lot of the magic sound that had made Genesis a great band had also departed. Many point to the departure of Gabriel as being the major turning point. And it is true to an extent, because with the departure of Gabriel, the lyrics were never quite as good, and the emotional power of Gabriel's voice was also lost forever. But Steve Hackett's epic mysticism was still with Genesis, and I believe he comes from the same place musically as Peter Gabriel does. Lose one, and the magic is still there in some form, but lose two, and you wind up with trio Genesis.

So what is trio Genesis? Keyboardist Tony Banks, who had been the principle composer, was always the brains of the group. Guitarist Mike Rutherford's strength lied more in the melodic aspect. And drummer/singer Phil Collins brought a technical proficiency to the band that was unmatched by most other drummers out there, and he also had a very good singing voice. But without Steve Hackett and Peter Gabriel, the band lost a lot of its heart and mystical sound. As a result, this album has a very stripped down sound.

There is very little acoustic playing on this album. No more classical guitar pieces, and very little piano. Tony also stopped using the mellotron, which had a very medieval and eary sound that really made the previous music sound truly epic. The band were obviously moving away from the long epics in favor of shorter, more to the point songs. As a result the stuff that made the music interesting is gone, and replaced by just the bare bones.

Songs like Down and Out, The Ballad of Big, and The Lady Lies are great examples of this stripped down sound done very well. The playing and technical ability of these three is, as always, top notch, and it shows on this album, in particular on Down and Out and The Lady Lies. Snowbound is also a nice soft song, reminiscent Ripples..., but without the beautiful piano interlude. And Follow You Follow Me is also nice song that proved to be their first #1 hit.

The problem with the album is that it is too much of the same. By stripping down the songs, they stripped away a lot of what made the old stuff so interesting to listen to. By the time you get to side two of the album, the album's synth dominated sound is already starting to get wearisome. Without a break from the electronics into more traditional sounds, it simply becomes too synthetic sounding, and not as organic and emotional as their older stuff.

Nevertheless, it's hard to say this is a bad album. In fact, it works very well in small doses. Some tracks, namely Many to Many, Undertow and even the minor hit, Say it's Alright Joe, are somewhat weak and although not bad, feel more like filler. The rest, while ranging from fair to really good, suffer by being on the same album. It's too much of the same synth textures, and it grows tiring.

I've been a Genesis fan for years but never did get around to picking up this cd until recently. I've got pretty much everything else from the Collins era (Duke, Trick, Wind, Abacab, etc) and love them all. Of course I had already heard "Follow You, Follow Me" so I was curious to see if the rest of the album was any good. Quite frankly, this is a solid album. The arrangements and melodies are great. "Snowbound" is an awesome song that I never tire of, as is "Deep In The Motherlode" and "Undertow." I enjoy listening to this cd from beginning to end and am happy that I finally got it.

So long, Steve Hackett. Hello, pop music. And Then There Were Three marks the emergence of Genesis as a pop rock band. But the album suffers with the absence of Steve Hackett--an absence Genesis recovered from fully over the next two albums (Duke and Abacab). As a result the arrangements sound a bit hollow. I also don't particularly care for the engineering on this album--it sounds overly compressed (Duke was the same way). Good for radio, not necessarily good for headphones or speakers. Perhaps the remastered version addresses this--I still have just the older CD.

And Then There Were Three remains a transitional album. Its hit, Follow You Follow Me, is an indication of how the group would soon master the art of writing catchy yet individualistic pop songs.

Speaking of Follow You Follow Me, the one thing that I find intriguing about the arrangement is Tony Banks overtly doubling the lead vocal in the chorus with his synthesizer. Now THAT is unusual. One wonders if Banks composed the melody for the chorus and laid the synthesizer part down as a guide for Collins, intending to delete it later but leaving it in after realizing it sounded cool.