And Then There Were Three
When the departures of original frontman Peter Gabriel and guitarist Steve Hackett left Genesis a studio trio of Phil Collins, Tony Banks, and Mike Rutherford, few could have expected the band to climb to greater levels of commercial success. But that's exactly what happened, and Genesis' left-field rebirth as a unlikely pop act began with this album, which introduced the newly slimmed-down lineup. But that's not the whole story. While the haunting love song "Follow You, Follow Me" introduced the band to the singles charts, elsewhere the group's penchant for accessibly complex composition and evocative lyrical dramas is in force on tracks like "Deep in the Motherlode," "Burning Rope," "Down and Out," and "Ballad of Big."--Scott Schinder