Genesis
And Then There Were Three...

"The curtains are drawn
 Now the fire warms the room
 While outside
 The north-east wind chills the air
 It will start snowing soon"

The twilight, the final acts of a day, the calm before the storm, the last work of the '70s by a great band.
The verses that open "Undertown" are something splendid, born from that small great man that is Tony Banks. In this record, right from the cover, the three try to continue the conversation started with the previous album, a work of meditation and seeking other stylistic solutions without straying too far from what good they have produced, and so in this production joyful atmospheres, reflective songs, dreamy scenarios, and brazen Pop songs coexist.

The songs that delve into western mythology immediately surprise the listener, as the group takes a step away from the English fairy tale and historical current to dive into a completely different thematic line that eventually renders in some tracks, "Say It's Alright Joe", a sublime story of a failed drunk impeccably supported by the three survivors who build a suspended atmosphere at the beginning which then evolves into entirely different rhythms to recall the good old days "There were kings who laughed in the rain / And told me I'd be at the head of the parade ..".

Those looking for the most genuine Genesis can find them in the beautiful "Burning Rope", a track that seems to have come directly out of "Wind And Wuthering" for the use they make of percussion and keyboards, but once again the West is the protagonist of the story "You're climbing a burning rope to escape the crowd below / But you've put out the flames so they can't follow you / To be far from those who wish you harm", a memorable track among the finest in their discography.

The tendency is to eliminate the more typical prog form to create pieces more faithful to typical songs, this works partly, certainly in "Many Too Many" but fails in many other tracks that are decidedly weighed down by still baroque and chaotic arrangements, "Ballad Of Big", "Snowbound" and "Deep In The Motherlode".
It must be said that the work is still enjoyable, offering original and suggestive melodic insights, but it is definitely an incomplete work, remaining on the brink between two different genres does not pay off and the following "Duke", even though it doesn’t have truly memorable tracks, is more linear in its bold pop-rock style.

A curiosity, Genesis became known to the mass female audience thanks to this album, "Follow You Follow Me" immediately becomes a deadly refrain and easily pierces the young hearts of many maidens, marking the unstoppable journey of the Genesis machine.