This installment of the Catalog Crawl for Genesis is devoted to their final three studio albums. From progressive rock devotees, this stretch of the catalog is considered a no man's land.

As Genesis entered the '80s, they stepped confidently into mainstream rock and downplayed most of the progressive rock trappings they had been known for (though they kept a little more prog mindset than diehard genre fans would give them credit for). Duke kickstarted this trend but the three albums covered below in this Catalog Crawl are the ones that completed that changeover.

Despite the conflicting agendas and lineup shuffling, the three albums covered here are impressively consistent and artful, showing that the pressure of artistic conflict often produced diamonds in the world of prog rock.

As the Strawbs moved towards the mid-'70s, they reached their artistic peak. With founding member Dave Cousins guiding the ship, they cut of a string of progressive rock albums that combined lush, ambitious arrangements an approach that synthesized English folk, rock and progressive ambitiousness in the structuring of pieces and their ability to make a variety of styles cohere.

You could argue that the trio of albums presented in this Catalog Crawl represent the classic lineup of Genesis at its most unified and groundbreaking, delivering material that had complexity without sacrificing melody.

All three albums covered here represent a compelling and harmonious union between strong songwriting, ambitious musicianship and that vintage, earthy yet cleanly defined style of recording that defined so many great albums of the '70s.

This installment of Catalog Crawl looks at their first three albums, which cover a rapid pattern of growth and development… By the final album covered here, they completed their lineup and their development into a style of progressive rock that would sustain them well into the '70s.

The Strawbs’ early albums stayed close to their roots in English folk music but gradually unveiled the progressive leanings that would soon come to the fore in their most popular work.