Unbelievable, but true!
40 years ago today, the single "Abacab" was released. The album followed shortly.
What are your memories? Did you buy the single?
I was too young at the time, but I wrote a review about the album some years ago, available here
https://www.genesis-news.com/c…bacab-CD-review-s294.html
I think it's one of their most important albums and their bravest of all.
Also, check out our album poll thread here
Display MoreUnbelievable, but true!
40 years ago today, the single "Abacab" was released. The album followed shortly.
What are your memories? Did you buy the single?
I was too young at the time, but I wrote a review about the album some years ago, available here
https://www.genesis-news.com/c…bacab-CD-review-s294.html
I think it's one of their most important albums and their bravest of all.
Also, check out our album poll thread here
I didn’t buy the single. I did of course buy the album. I attended the concert at the Capital Centre in Landover, MD and then ran out and bought the album the next day. Abacab the album was like nothing I’d ever heard before. To me it sounded artsy and unique: the outro to the album version of the song Abacab; Me and Sarah Jane; Keep it Dark; Dodo/Lurker; Man on the Corner. From there I quickly worked backwards, buying the previous albums. Just eight months later I saw the Encore Tour and new and loved all the classics they played—Supper’s Ready; The Lamb; Watcher; I Know What I Like. It all started for me with Abacab.
Remember buying album on day of release, taking home and listening through twice . Still think is a good album, which was a good follow up to Duke. Some variation with the closing tracks and some stand out live numbers
I first heard the single on the car radio on the way to a holiday week in Devon with my brother and some friends. Teenage boys in a westcountry cottage for a week, great idea.
I bought the single and was later intrigued when I heard the album version had a long instrumental. I was mildly amused seeing print ads for the single saying 'Abacab/Another Record", thinking the band had lazily/humorously opted out of thinking up a song title. At the time I didn't quite know what to make of AR (I since grew to like it).
I was at school, where a number of my friends liked Genesis and were generally dismayed by the album, their focus being mainly on No Reply and Whodunnit. I was pretty much the only fan who liked the album and got what they were doing. I saw the sense of their moving on and liked the space they opened up in their sound, especially the drumming which sounded more taut. It impressed on me that a really skilled, talented drummer doesn't have to do a lot of tricksy stuff, they can play straight 4/4 and make it sound really good. But some of my schoolmate fans bordered on being horrified by the album and reacted to my liking it with derision and disbelief.
The ones I immediately liked best were M&SJ and KID. It's still an album where I like everything on it plus the non-album ones, though with a wobble over M&V. It remains my 2nd favourite of theirs after The Lamb.
I didn't buy the album at the time but I do remember hearing the title track & some discussion of how the title came to be. I was intrigued but I suppose I thought they were a New Wave band & I was wary. I didn't know their history at all back then. 
Now I have an Abacab mug.
I was four months old. I argued vehemently with my parents about purchasing this 7 inch, but they were having none of it.
It's one of my favorite Genesis albums, although I think it's one of the last I acquired for some reason. It always seemed like a bit of an oddity in their canon, and that perhaps contributes to its appeal. I feel like they stretched themselves quite a bit artistically, and it was a big shift stylistically. Absolutely love it.
When I was a kid I "borrowed" my parents' Abacab cassette and never gave it back. Keep It Dark and Dodo/Lurker are still favorites. I'm looking forward to hearing at least the title track on this tour.
The cover always makes me smile. They tended to have themes for their albums prior to Abacab . So here is/was the new Genesis. New sounds , short songs , absolutely no concept or theme. They could have just had a picture of the band which would have been novel, but no. They opted for an abstract cover to emphasise the point of lack of theme. The theme of this album is no theme! They couldn't help themselves. I liked though , bought it four times.
As a young record buyer at the time, I don't recall thinking about the album being a change of style for the band. I just remember thinking "Who Dunnit?" was hilarious and that Phil's low vocal at the end of "Another Record" sounded odd. The one song from the album that I heard on the radio a lot was "Like It Or Not," which wasn't even a single. (Oh, and I always completely misunderstood "Keep It Dark." I still like my own interpretation better than the intended one.)
In retrospect, I like the Genesis albums from ABACAB on, but not quite as much as the albums that came before.
Phil's low vocal at the end of "Another Record" sounded odd.
This really stood out to me on my recent listening too. Initially I thought "who is that?!" but it becomes obvious it's Phil. I get the impression they were enjoying some experimentation on this album, more than most of their others.
This really stood out to me on my recent listening too. Initially I thought "who is that?!" but it becomes obvious it's Phil. I get the impression they were enjoying some experimentation on this album, more than most of their others.
Phil sang in a very similar "low voice" style during the verses of Dodo and the intro to Lurker
