Your favorite tracks on ... "Abacab"

  • The album had it's moments, Leiden didn't like it for sure:


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  • I believe Invisible Touch was the prime example of the above. Subsequent to Phil's 'No Jacket' tour, he and Genesis entered the studio, put IT together and hit the road in what was their biggest money making tour EVER. It made them all millionaires. Sales of the album, tickets, merch, etc was staggering monetarily.

    I think by that time, 86, they had already become a lean, mean hits-machines playing gianormos arenas with very lucrative sponsorships.

    It was however, the equally surprising and enormous success of In the air Tonight, back in 81 that turned Phil into a household name and made people sit up and take notice.

    Edited once, last by Fabrizio ().

  • Just realized how cool "Another record" is. Haven't voted for this track, but it's really something else

    I love the drums on it in particular. I always thought the lyrics were a sideswipe at bands who just keep churning out the same kind of music. Status Quo leap to mind!

  • Just realized how cool "Another record" is. Haven't voted for this track, but it's really something else

    That song has grown on me too. The Abacab album in general has grown on me. I used to call it their worst album but now I believe that FGTR more deserves that bottom spot, with Abacab one rankin above it. Still, I enjoy FGTR. Even the worst album by Genesis is a nice little collection of songs.

  • Love this album, and really can't understand why it gets so much hate from some fans! :/ My picks are the following:

    1) Abacab-love the gritty, distorted synth sound on this one

    2) No Reply at All-I'm tired of hearing it everywhere, lol, but there is no denying how strong of a track this is (it was a hit single for a reason). Mike's bass work here is wonderful, as is the piano breakdown towards the end of the song.

    3) Keep it Dark-an interesting take on the new wave dominant at the time; a great churning guitar riff that carries the song, and probably the most interesting lyrics on the entire album.

  • Love this album, and really can't understand why it gets so much hate from some fans! :/ My picks are the following:

    1) Abacab-love the gritty, distorted synth sound on this one

    2) No Reply at All-I'm tired of hearing it everywhere, lol, but there is no denying how strong of a track this is (it was a hit single for a reason). Mike's bass work here is wonderful, as is the piano breakdown towards the end of the song.

    3) Keep it Dark-an interesting take on the new wave dominant at the time; a great churning guitar riff that carries the song, and probably the most interesting lyrics on the entire album.

    I agree wholeheartedly. I never understood the hate that was heaped on this album. The first Genesis album I owned was ATTWT (I was 16 when it was released). I enjoyed Duke but never bought it. I purchased Abacab just before seeing the band perform in Landover, MD on that tour. To my still rather young, impressionable ears many of the songs on Abacab sounded fresh and exciting. Songs like Abacab, Me and Sarah Jane, Keep it Dark, Dodo/Lurker and Man on the Corner were like nothing I’d ever heard. By the Encore Tour in 1982 I was neck-deep in the Genesis catalogue, having bought every album back to Nursery Cryme. I’ve loved that music for nearly 40 years now, and I got there all because of Abacab.

  • Abacab is in my top 3 as well but while I like it a lot, I do understand why many hated it then and still dislike it now. It was a significant change in their sound that many prog fans were inevitably going to be unhappy about and so it proved. Obviously I don't share those views but I totally get why some people have them.


    It's an opinion that's possibly exacerbated by knowing the band junked a load of new material because they realised it was sounding a lot like the last two or three albums. The Abacab haters might well wish they'd have stuck with that material and wouldn't have minded another album in a familiar mould. The band's decision to start afresh was bold and indicative of a self-respecting forward-looking band unwilling to get stuck in the past, and is for me one of many reasons I love Genesis.


    I completely disagree with this idea Abacab resulted from their sitting down and consciously deciding to capitalise on PC's solo success and/or "we'd better sound more modern and new-wavey". Both are silly notions. They didn't want to repeat themselves, simple as that and absolutely right too.

    Abandon all reason

  • ...

    I completely disagree with this idea Abacab resulted from their sitting down and consciously deciding to capitalise on PC's solo success and/or "we'd better sound more modern and new-wavey". Both are silly notions. They didn't want to repeat themselves, simple as that and absolutely right too.

    Genesis wasn’t alone in that respect.


    There seemed to be a widespread movement among prog bands at that point to leave the ‘70s sounds behind and produce music that was leaner and more contemporary sounding.


    Gentle Giant, Camel, Yes, Rush, Jethro Tull — even Steve Hackett — all adopted, in some circumstances, quite radical changes in their sound.


    Genesis, Rush and Yes ended up drawing bigger audiences as a result.


    The others I mentioned did more to alienate their traditional fan base IMO, than to build on it.

  • Yes, it would've been surprising if Genesis were the only band who didn't want to keep treading the same path. People age, they change, and members of these bands were now in or approaching their 30s which is a time when many experience various kinds of life changes which will inevitably lead to creative people creating differently. Changes in music technology will also have driven some changes of sound. And perhaps some bands really did make concerted efforts to sound more 'current'. It's all in the mix and to be expected.


    All the above variously apply to fans as well. Some of them will have just stopped liking those bands anyway but yeah there were some who objected to the new stuff. "Alienating their traditional fan base" is a slightly dramatic way of putting it though.


    A different kind of example as it involves a long hiatus but another that could go on your list is King Crimson, returning after 7 years with a sound bearing almost no resemblance to their 70s stuff and in my view, going on to the peak of their career.

    Abandon all reason

  • I think there are often two somewhat diverging agendas that are both understandable. Fans like a band for a certain reason and often want to keep getting the same stuff they enjoy. Artists primarily enjoy creating new things, not simply doing the same thing over and over (that's what a cover band does). So it seems inevitable that many artists will diverge from at least some of their early fan base.

  • I went through a typical youtube rabbit hole last week: Genesis albums ranked to worst to best. I saw several of those videos, Abacab did consistently poorly, the general feeling however was not hatred, that was reserved for IT, rather indifference.

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    Yes, it would've been surprising if Genesis were the only band who didn't want to keep treading the same path. People age, they change, and members of these bands were now in or approaching their 30s which is a time when many experience various kinds of life changes which will inevitably lead to creative people creating differently. Changes in music technology will also have driven some changes of sound. And perhaps some bands really did make concerted efforts to sound more 'current'. It's all in the mix and to be expected.


    All the above variously apply to fans as well. Some of them will have just stopped liking those bands anyway but yeah there were some who objected to the new stuff. "Alienating their traditional fan base" is a slightly dramatic way of putting it though.


    A different kind of example as it involves a long hiatus but another that could go on your list is King Crimson, returning after 7 years with a sound bearing almost no resemblance to their 70s stuff and in my view, going on to the peak of their career.

    I agree, I don’t think any band wants to intentionally “alienate” their fan base. I think it’s a byproduct of having a different sound then what said fan is used to hearing. For Genesis, they did what progressive bands are supposed to do, progress. Is that so bad?

    • Official Post

    I went through a typical youtube rabbit hole last week: Genesis albums ranked to worst to best. I saw several of those videos, Abacab did consistently poorly, the general feeling however was not hatred, that was reserved for IT, rather indifference.

    Isn't that peculiar? With many people foaming at mouth when Whodunnit? is mentioned and with the famous booing concerts I would have expected it to be the other way round: hate for Abacab because of its music, and indifference to IT, because its music is pop.

    • Official Post

    Isn't that peculiar? With many people foaming at mouth when Whodunnit? is mentioned and with the famous booing concerts I would have expected it to be the other way round: hate for Abacab because of its music, and indifference to IT, because its music is pop.

    I don’t understand the demon vitriol for a particular song. I could understand not liking a song from your favorite band; but sheer utter hatred of a song that brings you to boo at a concert? Just go to the bathroom, get a beer, whatever. If you were going to a Genesis concert in the 80’s wouldn’t you expect them to play their 80’s stuff? Lol.