FOLLOW YOU FOLLOW ME

The "...and then there were three..." album was the first album that I bought from Genesis, if I remember well, in April 1979, after reading a review about the album in a Mexican rock magazine, and after listening to the "Nursery Cryme" album earlier in that year. I liked "Nursery Cryme", but at that time I couldn`t find it in the record shops (but I recorded it on a cassette). It was easier to find their latest album in the record shops, because it was released in Mexico, as the magazine said. I still like "...and then there were three.." very much.

Now, about this single, it was strange for me that nobody has written a review about. Well, I know. Many reviewers in Prog Archives don`t like the trio years in Genesis` history, so I`m going to write a review about this single.

"Follow You, Follow Me" is a ballad with Pop arrangements, of course, but it is a very good song. The drums are very interesting, playing a rhythm which is not very common in Prog bands. There are some interesting percussion instruments in the background, sounding to me like a marimba. The guitar riff is played with a sound effect, maybe using a chorus or a flanger, and I thought for years that it was really a keyboard sound until I saw the video clip of this song some years ago. The guitar riff is the main part of the song, as it is played almost the same way in all the parts of the song. The keyboards are simple but good, with an organ playing the chords and a synth playing almost the same melody that the vocals sing. There is a very good synths solo. In general, the song has a very good arrangement despite being mainly a ballad, a Pop ballad. It became the first major hit single for the band in the U.S. and in the U.K. , and it marked the start of the Pop years for the band, but still having some Prog inluences. The Pop influences became the main ingredients from 1981 until their last studio album with Collins, "We Can`t Dance".

Update, 27-June-2014: The mixing of "Follow You, Follow Me" which was used (at least for the U.S version of the single) was different, not only being shorter in lenght, but it also had more presence of the percussion instruments and of the drums, and some parts of the keyboards and of the guitars sound a bit different too.

"Ballad of Big" is a song which has some Prog arrangements, with lyrics about a "Hero of the American West". There is a strong presence of synths and bass pedals in this song. Very good arrangements.

Both songs were composed by Banks, Collins and Rutherford.