…And Then There Were Three…

Infobox Album |
Name = ...And Then There Were Three...
Type = Album
Artist = Genesis


Released = 7 April 1978
Recorded = September - October 1977 at Relight Studios/Hilvarenbeek, NL
Genre = Rock, progressive rock
Length = 53:27
Label = Charisma, Virgin, Atlantic
Producer = David Hentschel and Genesis
Reviews =
* Allmusic rating|3.5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:kifuxqu5ldhe link]
*Review-Christgau|D+|album=6906
Last album = "Seconds Out"
(1977)
This album = "...And Then There Were Three..."
(1978)
Next album = "Duke"
(1980)

"...And Then There Were Three..." is the ninth studio album by the British band Genesis and was released in 1978.

Overview

A pivotal release in the band's history, the title "...And Then There Were Three..." is a wry reference to the recent departure of guitarist Steve Hackett, reducing Genesis to a trio (which would result in their longest unchanged line-up, which lasted until 1996). As a result, the roles of the remaining members of Genesis became more sharply defined. Additionally, "...And Then There Were Three..." heralded a move towards shorter radio-friendly songs and marked the band's strategic move away from progressive rock at the height of punk rock, and included a song based on the fantastic adventures of comic strip character Little Nemo, ("Scenes From a Night's Dream"), notable for being the first Genesis song whose lyrics were written entirely by Phil Collins. The album also included a torch song ("Say It's Alright Joe") about a drunk who goes into a drunken stupor. As a more direct and accessible release, this album saw Genesis' fanbase increase considerably. The album reached #3 on the UK Albums Chart — having been bolstered by the Top 5 success of "Follow You, Follow Me", which also became Genesis' first hit US single. As a result, "...And Then There Were Three..." reached #14 on the US chart, becoming their first Gold (eventually Platinum) album there (see RIAA certification).

For many fans of the band's earlier work, this album indicated a crisis in the musical direction in the band, and rumours abounded of Genesis' potential demise. While many of the shorter songs were still clearly avant-garde in terms of instrumentation and lyrical material, few were longer than five minutes in length, and the arrangements went from the more classical, movement-style composition of previous albums to the more standard verse/chorus/bridge/chorus format of popular songwriting.

A digitally remastered version was released on CD in 1994 on Virgin in Europe and Atlantic in the US and Canada. The booklet on the remaster features the lyrics although the gatefold picture was missing.

A SACD / DVD double disc set (including new 5.1 and Stereo mixes) was released on April 2, 2007 (although it is a CD / DVD double disc set for the US and Canada).

Album cover

The LP sleeve cover was designed by Hipgnosis, the design studio founded by Storm Thorgerson (best known for his work with Pink Floyd). In an interview, Thorgerson called the design a "failure", and described the concept being conveyed:

Track listing

ide one

#"Down and Out" (Tony Banks/Phil Collins/Mike Rutherford) – 5:26
#"Undertow" (Tony Banks) – 4:46
#"Ballad of Big" (Tony Banks/Phil Collins/Mike Rutherford) – 4:50
#"Snowbound" (Mike Rutherford) – 4:31
#"Burning Rope" (Tony Banks) – 7:10

ide two

#"Deep in the Motherlode" (Mike Rutherford) – 5:15
#"Many Too Many" (Tony Banks) – 3:31
#"Scenes From a Night's Dream" (Tony Banks/Phil Collins) – 3:30
#"Say It's Alright Joe" (Mike Rutherford) – 4:21
#"The Lady Lies" (Tony Banks) – 6:08
#"Follow You, Follow Me" (Tony Banks/Phil Collins/Mike Rutherford) – 3:59

Production

*Produced By Genesis & David Hentschel
*Engineered & Mixed By David Hentschel & Steve Short

2007 SACD/CD/DVD release

A new version of "...And Then There Were Three..." was released in the U.K. and Japan on April 2, 2007. It was released in the US and Canada as part of the "Genesis 1976-1982" box set on May 15, 2007. This includes the entire album in remixed stereo, the entire album in surround sound, and related video tracks. The only exception is the track "Say It's Alright Joe", which was not remixed because the band was unable to locate the multitrack recordings. [Explained at http://www.genesis-news.com/genesis/reviews/sacds/1976-1982.htm]

* Disc 1, in the European and Japanese releases, is a hybrid SACD/CD disk. The stereo layer includes the remixed tracks, and the SACD layer is a multichannel surround sound remix. [Formats described at http://www.genesis-news.com/genesis/reviews/sacds/1976-1982.htm]

* Disc 1, in the Canadian and U.S. releases, is a standard CD, containing the stereo remixes. No SACD layer is included. [Explained in interview with producer and remixer Nick Davis, at http://www.genesis-news.com/genesis/reviews/sacds/interview-with-nick-davis.htm]

* Disc 2, in all releases, is a DVD-Video disk containing both audio and video tracks. This DVD includes three audio mixes of the album: DTS , Dolby Digital , and Dolby Digital stereo. [The DVD interface has two audio choices: Dolby 5.1 and DTS 5.1. If the Dolby 5.1 option is chosen on a system that does not support surround sound, the Dolby stereo mix is played.] The DTS surround sound is a slightly compressed version of the surround sound on the SACD, [Explained in interview with producer and remixer Nick Davis, at http://www.genesis-news.com/genesis/reviews/sacds/interview-with-nick-davis.htm] and the Dolby surround sound is of slightly inferior quality to the DTS. [Comparison from "Sound and Vision" magazine article online at http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/musicreviews/2285/genesis-in-surround.html]

* Disk 2 also includes the following video tracks:
#Band interview about this album (2006).
#Promotional videos: "Many Too Many" and "Follow You Follow Me".
#"Three Dates With Genesis" (1978 BBC documentary).
#Japanese tour program, from 1978 tour (15 page gallery).
#Knebworth program, from 1978 festival (4 page gallery).
#German festival program, from 1978 festival (10 page gallery).

Personnel

*Phil Collins - percussion, drums, Vocals
*Tony Banks - keyboards, Vocals
*Mike Rutherford - basses, guitars, bass pedals

Tour

Genesis toured in support of the ...And Then There Were Three.. album between March and November 1978. This tour marked the debut of Daryl Stuermer as their touring lead guitarist, who would also find himself playing bass guitar on the newer material (depicted with an asterisk* below).

Setlist

#Eleventh Earl of Mar
#In the Cage
#Burning Rope*
#Dancing With the Moonlit Knight/The Musical Box (closing section) (Performed for one show only, Chicago's Uptown Theatre on October 13, 1978. This show was taped and broadcast locally to promote the band, and has been released in bootleg in many different forms.)
#Ripples
#Ballad of Big* (only played on the European leg and the Northeast US leg of the tour)
#The Fountain of Salmacis (played sporadically in Europe, a live version performed at Knebworth 1978, often mistaken as the version that appears on the live album Three Sides Live)
#Deep In the Motherlode*
#One For the Vine
#Squonk
#Say It's Alright Joe
#Down and Out* (performed early on in the tour before being dropped because of Phil's voice)
#The Lady Lies
#The Cinema Show
#Afterglow
#Follow You Follow Me*
#Dance On a Volcano
#Drum Duet
#Los Endos

Encore:
#I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe) (Original Genesis member, Peter Gabriel, made a surprise guest appearance with the band at New York's Madison Square Garden on July 29, 1978. He shared the vocal duty with Phil Collins on this one song only. An Audience recording of this is well documented on several well known bootleg releases.)
#Apocalypse in 9/8 + Eggs is Eggs (Aching Man's Feet) (Only one known performance of this second encore is documented in a bootleg captured on 06/14/78 at Westfallenhalle, Dortmund, Germany. These two tracks are the closing section of a greater 26 minute piece called, "Supper's Ready.")

Personnel

*Phil Collins - Lead Vocals, Drums, Percussion
*Tony Banks - Keyboards, Vocals, 12-String Guitar
*Mike Rutherford - Electric six and Twelve String Guitars, Bass guitar, bass pedals, vocals
*Daryl Stuermer - Guitars, Bass guitar*
*Chester Thompson - Drums, percussion

Footnotes