...and then there were three...

 

...and then there were three... was released in 1978

Track Listing:
1. Down and Out
2. Undertow
3. Ballad of Big
4. Snowbound
5. Burning Rope
6. Deep in the Motherlode
7. Many Too Many
8. Scenes from a Night's Dream
9. Say It's Alright Joe
10. The Lady Lies
11. Follow You Follow Me

Genre: Progressive Rock

Now with Hackett out there are only three members left.  This is what the title is alluding to if you didnt know.

Interestingly, the album starts out strong, Down and Out is genuinely interesting.  The interplay between drums, guitar, and keys is fun.  The keyboard solo is pretty meh, but overall a great starting track.

Unfortunately, that turns out to be just a tease of what could have been.  Instead they slip into more Wind and Wuthering style, go nowhere songs like Undertow, Snowbound,  and Deep in the Motherlode.  They meander for a while all while having absolutely no depth.

Occasionally they hit a more upbeat note, like Ballad of Big, but even here there's no substance.  Rutherford isn't Hackett, most of his guitars are inoffensive at best.  He's just apparently not capable of more.  Even given a chance to show off with a solo on Burning Rope, he still manages to do nothing interesting.

And of course Banks still is doing his best to overwhelm all other sounds on the album with his uninteresting keyboard work.  Every chance he gets he just drowns out everything else.  Like Snowbound, which starts off with pleasant (if simplistic) 12 string guitars but slowly becomes more and more keyboard centric.

Then we hit the final song, Follow You Follow Me.  This is a clear indication of where the band is going.  A pleasant sounding pop song with some relatively interesting instrumentation.   Not quite as well defined as they'll get in the future, but a decent precursor to their pop phase.

So with 4 red and 2 green, we're firmly in Wind and Wuthering territory here.  The good songs are pretty good (one of my green selections from W&W may have been a pity green).  But again this album goes for long stretches being just painfully boring.

2.5/5

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