A troubled relationship

Phil Collins built an enormously successful solo career throughout the Eighties, churning out an endless string of hits, but for most rock fans his name remains inextricably tied to the saga of Genesis, the band for which he served as drummer, singer and frontman. It was within the English group that he developed as a musician, through a long process of stylistic transformations and line-up changes.

Having joined Genesis at the start of the Seventies, Collins took part in twelve studio albums - from 1971's "Nursery Cryme" to "We Can't Dance", released 20 years later - experiencing the band's evolution from the inside: from the more intricate progressive rock of the Peter Gabriel era to a move towards a more accessible pop-rock song format, without ever fully abandoning their experimental origins. The decisive turning point, as is well known, came in 1975, when Peter Gabriel left the group and Collins took up the mantle as singer, debuting in his new role with "A Trick Of The Tail" and consolidating it shortly after with "Wind & Wuthering". Two solid albums, far more in continuity with the band's history than some critics would have you believe.

A further, significant shake-up came in 1977, however, with the departure of guitarist Steve Hackett. At that point Genesis was reduced to a trio: Phil Collins, Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford - "...And Then There Were Three...", as the title of the album that would precisely capture the band's new phase put it.

The 1978 album also marked the beginning of their broader commercial rise, but Collins has never considered it a successful work. On several occasions, including an interview gathered by Mario Giammetti in the book "Genesis: 1975 to 2021 - The Phil Collins Years", the English musician has named it as his least favourite. "It's probably my least favourite record. Maybe because it wasn't a particularly happy time in my life. I only contributed in part. The songs were fairly short, a bit insubstantial", he explained.

The one exception, by his own account, remains "Follow You Follow Me", the closing track, destined to become one of the band's biggest hits, the first to launch them into the UK Chart top ten. Beyond that, Collins has always said he felt the album was distant from his own artistic identity. "I remember writing some of the lyrics, but they weren't yet the kind I'd go on to develop a few years later, for instance on 'Duke', which were far more personal", he added.

At that stage, in fact, Collins was still working within Genesis's narrative tradition, made up of images and often oblique suggestions. "There were maybe a couple of lyrics tied to personal experiences, but I kept writing fictional things, in keeping with the band's history. I've always been more direct, whereas Genesis tended to tell stories in a more roundabout way".

This gap between personal experience and written material helps explain the drummer's harsh judgment of the 1978 album. More than an issue of commercial results or individual successful tracks, "...And Then There Were Three..." represents, for Collins, a transitional moment in which he doesn't fully recognise himself.

And yet, that very album helped widen the band's audience. Collins himself has recalled how "Follow You Follow Me" made the rounds even in circles far removed from the prog world, turning up on Weather Report's tour bus during the jazz fusion outfit's tours. A sign, to him, that the band was entering a bigger league, with greater radio exposure and a different audience.

But even among Genesis fans, there are those who give full credit to "…And Then There Were Three…". "Usually presented as a transitional, pop-leaning record that dumbed things down, it's actually a treasure chest of prog gems, where the brevity of the songs doesn't get in the way of their ability to surprise and captivate," points out Marco Sgrignoli, for instance, in our "Afterglow" special feature. He singles out in particular the opener "Down And Out", which "marks a high point in Phil Collins' jazz-rock journey, and throws you off with strikingly sharp mood shifts — from the bright opening dominated by Mike Rutherford's very Hackett-like guitar, to the tension of verses built on dry, leaden Hammond blasts. In just over five minutes, one of the most chameleonic tracks of the band's career".

Giammetti himself — to whom the drummer confessed his dislike for the record — described it in glowing terms in the very interview he gave us a few months ago, even recalling it as the LP that got him hooked on the English band's universe: "I actually got into them quite late, in 1978. It was right after Steve Hackett had left, and the surviving trio released 'And Then There Were Three'. I know that for many people, at least here in Italy, this might sound blasphemous, but that record literally made me jump out of my seat. I'd loved music since I was a kid, but with that album I found myself completely on a musical level, it captivated me unconditionally". But perhaps Phil Collins would disagree…

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08/04/2026