Abacab

For the song, see Abacab (song).
Abacab
Studio album by Genesis
Released 14 September 1981
Recorded May–June 1981
Studio The Farm, Chiddingfold, Surrey, England
Genre
Length 47:10
Label Charisma
Producer Genesis
Genesis chronology
Duke
(1980)		 Abacab
(1981)		 3X3
(1982)
Singles from Abacab
  1. "Abacab"
    Released: 14 August 1981
  2. "No Reply at All"
    Released: 9 September 1981
  3. "Keep It Dark"
    Released: 23 October 1981
  4. "Man on the Corner"
    Released: 5 March 1982

Abacab is the eleventh studio album from the English rock band Genesis, released in September 1981 on Charisma Records. After their 1980 tour in support of their previous album Duke, the band took a break before they reconvened in 1981 to write and record a new album. Abacab is the first Genesis album recorded at The Farm, a recording studio bought by the group in Chiddingfold, Surrey. It marked the band's development from their progressive roots into more accessible and pop-oriented songs, and their conscious decision to write songs unlike their previous albums.

Abacab received a mostly positive reception from critics and was a commercial success for the band, reaching number one on the UK Albums Chart and number 7 on the US Billboard 200. Genesis released four singles from the album, the most successful were "Abacab" and "No Reply at All". The album continued to sell, and was certified double platinum in 1988 by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for two million copies sold in the US. Genesis supported the album with their tour of North America and Europe in 1981 which formed most of their second live album, Three Sides Live.

Background and recording

The band's remodelled studio in Chiddingfold, Surrey, known as The Farm, pictured in 2006. Abacab was their first album recorded there.

In November 1980, Genesis bought Fisher Lane Farm, a farmhouse with an adjoining cowshed near Chiddingfold, Surrey, as their new rehearsal and recording facility. The building was remodelled into a studio in four months before work on Abacab began in March 1981.[1] The new environment had a productive effect on the writing process as the band wrote enough for a double album, but they discarded one hour's worth of songs that sounded too similar to their past albums. Banks said a conscious effort was made to keep melodies as simple as possible which signalled further changes in their direction.[2] Rutherford noted a substantial amount of material was discarded because the band saw themselves as becoming "a caricature of ourselves".[3] The shift was underlined in its production when David Hentschel, their producer and engineer since 1975, was replaced by Hugh Padgham after Collins liked his production on his solo album Face Value and former Genesis singer Peter Gabriel's third solo album.[4] Production duties were solely credited the band for the first time with Padgham as their engineer.[5] The album is formed of group written material with an individual song from each member. "No Reply at All" features the Phenix Horns, the horn section of American band Earth, Wind & Fire.[6] The band marked Abacab as a departure from their previous albums as it is closer to their natural live sound.[7]

The album takes its name from an early arrangement of the title track. Rutherford said on the U.S. radio show In the Studio with Redbeard (which spotlighted Duke and Abacab in one episode): "There were three bits of music in 'Abacab', and we referred to them as 'section a', 'section b', and 'section c'... and at different times, they were in different order. We'd start with 'section a' and then have 'section c' ... and at one point in time, it spelled Abacab. On the final version, it's not that at all, it's like 'Accaabbaac'."[8]

Three songs from the Abacab sessions — "Paperlate", "You Might Recall", and "Me & Virgil" — were issued on the 3×3 EP. They were also issued on the non-UK releases of 1982's Three Sides Live. Two other songs from the sessions, "Naminanu" and "Submarine", appeared as B-sides on the "Abacab" singles, but were originally intended to be part of "Dodo/Lurker", where the order would have been either "Naminanu/Dodo/Lurker/Submarine" or "Dodo/Lurker/Submarine/Naminanu".

The keyboard sound on "Who Dunnit?" is the result of Banks changing the presets on his Prophet synthesizer as he plays. Live performances of this song featured the novelty of Rutherford playing drums alongside Chester Thompson (although Collins played drums on the studio version).

Release

The album was released with four different embossed covers simultaneously across the country, all depicting the same collage but with the paper shapes in different colours. The four different cover variants are usually identified by the colour of the largest upper shape adjacent to the title lettering; this shape being coloured navy blue, red, peach, and yellow.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[9]
Q[10]
Rolling Stone[11]

In a review for Melody Maker, reporter Paul Colbert thought the album is their least consistent and therefore, least predictable in three years. He recognised a "heavy PC [Phil Collins] twist to the sound" on "Man on the Corner" and "No Reply At All", but "he does not have it all his own way". Colbert, however, thought Genesis had produced "a couple of Frankensteins" such as the latter half of "Abacab" which he deemed "unstructured" and "uninspired" compared to their past instrumentals. Though he named "Keep It Dark" and "Who Dunnit?" as "the most exciting and innovative music" the band had produced for several years and concluded with the album is "by far more promising" than Duke or ...And Then There Were Three... (1978).[12] Ken Kubernik of the Los Angeles Times wondered if the success of Collins' solo album Face Value was an influence on the group, to which he replied, "Yes and no". He praised the album for its "thick, resonant instrumental passages, quaint imagery in the lyrics, and superb production", but "beneath the surface are some new wrinkles in the trademark Genesis sound", noting a reduction in harmonies for more simple vocals and Collins' drum sound replacing Banks's keyboards as their "vortex". Kubernik did however, praise Collins' vocals.[13]

Rolling Stone praised the album for shedding the "ivory-tower artistry" of their previous albums, turning to sparse arrangements and "highly rhythmic interplay" and drawing inspiration from popular contemporaries such as XTC and The Police.[11] In his retrospective review for AllMusic, critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine echoed this sentiment with greater emphasis, declaring "Duke showcased a new Genesis... but Abacab was where this new incarnation of the band came into its own." They also argued that although the album is far richer in pop hooks and accessibility than the band's previous works, at its heart Abacab "is truly modern art rock, their last album that could bear that tag comfortably."[9]

Tour

Genesis toured in support of Abacab during September–December 1981, covering Europe and North America. Shows in New York City and Birmingham, England comprised the Three Sides Live album released the following year. The tour also marked the first appearance of the Vari-Lite automated lighting system, the development of which had been paid for by the band.

2007 reissue

A new version of Abacab was released in the UK and Japan on 2 April 2007. It was released in the U.S. and Canada as part of the Genesis 1976–1982 box set on 15 May 2007. This includes the album in remixed stereo and surround sound, plus related video tracks.

Track listing

Side one
No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "Abacab"  Tony Banks, Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford 7:02
2. "No Reply at All"  Banks, Collins, Rutherford 4:41
3. "Me and Sarah Jane"  Banks 6:00
4. "Keep It Dark"  Banks, Collins, Rutherford 4:34
Side two
No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "Dodo/Lurker"  Banks, Collins, Rutherford 7:30
2. "Who Dunnit?"  Banks, Collins, Rutherford 3:22
3. "Man on the Corner"  Collins 4:27
4. "Like It or Not"  Rutherford 4:58
5. "Another Record"  Banks, Collins, Rutherford 4:30

Personnel

Genesis – production
Additional personnel

Certifications

Region Award Date
France – SNEP Gold (100,000 units) 1981[14]
Germany – BVMI Gold (250,000 units) 1988[15]
Italy – AFI Gold (50,000 units) 25 October 1981[16]
United Kingdom – BPI Gold (100,000 units) 24 September 1981[17]
United States – RIAA 2x Platinum (2,000,000 units) 11 February 1988[18]

References

  1. ↑ Genesis 2007, p. 238.
  2. ↑ Bowler & Dray 1992, p. 170.
  3. ↑ Neer, Dan (1985). Mike on Mike [interview LP], Atlantic Recording Corporation.
  4. ↑ Flans, Robyn (1 May 2005). "Classic Tracks: Phil Collins' In the Air Tonight". Mix. Archived from the original on 17 March 2007. Retrieved 25 March 2007.
  5. ↑ Bowler & Dray 1992, p. 171.
  6. ↑ Bowler & Dray 1992, p. 175.
  7. ↑ Fielder, Hugh (19 December 1981). "Waisted and hot". Sounds. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
  8. ↑ Genesis In the Studio. YouTube. 2006.
  9. 1 2 Abacab Genesis Allmusic.com, Stephen Thomas Erlewine
  10. ↑ Andy Fyfe Q, May 2007, Issue 250.
  11. 1 2 Fricke, David (26 November 1981). Abacab review, Rolling Stone.
  12. ↑ Colbert, Paul (1981). "New values". Melody Maker. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
  13. ↑ Kubernik, Ken (18 October 1981). "Genesis turns loss into gain". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
  14. ↑ "Les Certifications Officielles des Formats Longs ((33 T. / CD / Albums / Téléchargements depuis 1973)" (in French). InfoDisc.fr. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
  15. ↑ "Datenbank" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
  16. ↑ Multiple sources: "TV Sorrisi e Canzoni". News report from 25 October 1981. (Italian); "Musica e Dischi" Publication (#424) October 1981. (Italian).
  17. ↑ "Certified Awards". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
  18. ↑ "Gold & Platinum". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
Books

External links

Preceded by
Dead Ringer by Meat Loaf		 UK Albums Chart number one album
26 September 1981 – 9 October 1981 		Succeeded by
Ghost in the Machine by The Police
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