Genesis – Abacab
“Ooh, like it or not there’s a lot I could say, cause I’ve got a lot on my mind.”
Surfing the success of the Duke album, the band set out on 78 date tour across North America and UK from March 17 through June 30 1980 again supported by Chester Thompson on Drums and Darryl Stuermer on Guitar and Bass. This time mainland Europe was not toured. Forty of the dates were in the UK which they hadn’t played on the …And Then There Were Three tour apart from the Knebworth Festival. The remaining 38 dates were in North America. Like the previous two tours the shows started with a song from the previous album – in this case Deep In The Motherlode – which again wouldn’t be played live following the tour. A large part of the set was dedicated to the “Duke’s Suite” of songs and very little surviving from the Gabriel era. The Knife was brought back for the UK portion of the tour but not North America beyond a few shows. Same with The Carpet Crawlers. For much of the North American arm of the tour the only music pre-Trick played was the intro to Dancing With The Moonlit Knight, parts of In The Cage and The Colony of Slippermen in the Old Medley and I Know What I Like.
Following the tour the band took a break and in November 1980 bought Fisher Lane Farm in Surrey England which they remodeled and refurbished into their own private rehearsal and recording studio thereafter branded “The Farm”. During the renovations the band worked up new material which was recorded between March and June of 1981. It was the first time they had recorded in the UK since A Trick Of The Tail. In the meantime Phil Collins’ Face Value solo debut was busy becoming an absolutely monster success on the heals of the song In The Air Tonight and I Missed Again. It is deservedly praised as an amazing record and stands up as well today as it did when it was released 40 years ago. Anyway all of this was going on but the band managed to come up with enough material for a double album. In one of those whatever happened to stories…they decided to scrap an hours worth of material as they felt it was too similar to what had come before. They had actively decided at this point to change their approach and discard what they felt as writers were “Genesis clichés”, opting to try to keep things a bit simpler in melody and execution. They wanted to change up their sound and that’s exactly what they did…sort of. Facilitating that change was engineer Hugh Padgham who had worked on Face Value and Peter Gabriel’s third album. He replaced David Hentschel who had co-produced the previous four Genesis records with the band. New decade, new producer, new studio, new approach.
Anyone lingering on the verge of departure after Duke probably jumped ship at this point. For me it was actually the time I discovered the band. That being said I actually immersed myself in their entire catalog to date at the same time, which I think is why I don’t have the baggage of change weighing on my opinion. I’ve certainly developed one over time but I feel it is a more nuanced opinion that doesn’t simply define whether songs or albums are good based on who was or was not in the band. It is why I can get as much from Supper’s Ready as I can from Home By The Sea. For me it is all about music. How does it make me feel? Does it do something for me? Does it add to my life in a positive way? It isn’t about the musical silo it fits into. I can get as much out of a 20 minute prog rock song as I can from a 3 minute Disco song. It all has its place and time to be enjoyed. Keep that in mind when I get to We Can’t Dance…my brutal honesty will be in full swing.
Abacab was released on September 18 1981 and was comprised of nine songs and had four singles, three of which were hugely successful. Six of the songs were from improv jams written in the studio and with the remaining three solely credited to each of the three. The artwork was again provided by Bill Smith who had done the Duke Cover. It sort of looks like random pieces of torn paper of different colours and was originally released in four different colour schemes (labeled A, B, C and D on the spine of the records). A lot of people think it is their worst album cover but the truth is there are at least three others equally as bad. One of which is …And Then There Were Three which I’ve already explained my disdain for.
All right lets dig into this sleek new model. The first song on the album is the title track.
Great beginning and sounds exciting right out of the gate. The keyboards are way better than on ATTWT, vocals are totally confident and backing vocals are great. Production is excellent as well. The keyboard/guitar motif trade off is excellent and I love the ride on the choruses. This is the sound of Genesis 3.0 comfortable in their skin. I have no idea what the song is about if it is about anything at all. Maybe something about being covered in cellophane which is kind of BDSM I think. Outro is great; it is actually one of my favourite instrumental sections of anything post The Lamb. It always makes me think of being stuck in the Amazon. I like that they just kind of chill and jam the entire ending of the song but it is very melodic and has interesting sections/builds with guitar and keys trading off. If you don’t like this song, push off, there is nothing for you here. I could do with a 15 minute version of this song.
No Reply At All is probably one of the culprits in the Phil ruined Genesis snoozefest of discussions. For the record every person in the band was a fan of soul music. If you don’t like soul music you won’t like this song – and you have no soul. I love this song. Thus I have soul. It is upbeat, the horns are amazing, and the song just grooves along on the verses and has a great chorus. Phil did a fantastic job orchestrating the horns on this song. They do nothing but make a great song even better. They were played by the members of Earth Wind and Fire who had recorded with Phil on Face Value. They were also the first guest musicians to play on a Genesis album apart from the strings on the debut and Brian Eno on the Lamb though he only provided some effects and loops. The bass line is also amazing especially on the choruses as is the breakdown in the refrain/bridge which is excellent. Some bridges just elevate songs to another level and this is one of those. If you don’t like this song, push off, there is nothing for you here.
Me And Sarah Jane is a masterpiece of structure and clearly the song Tony brought to the session. It starts out like Man On The Corner in a predestined fake out for side 2. The song just kind of morphs from one part to the next like a mini prog opera. The sections never repeat which is what is pretty amazing cause it doesn’t sound like a song with parts stuck together like many long prog rock epics do. It is like the song changes ever 16 bars. The only exception is that it manages to end how it starts. Amazing. And it is catchy as hell from beginning to end. I have nothing but ultimate respect for this song. This is a very very complicated and structurally brilliant song that takes a phenomenal writing ability pull off. One of Banks’ finest songs ever in my opinion. If you don’t like this song, push off, there is nothing for you here.
Rounding out side 1 of the album is Keep It Dark. It has a great guitar sound and funky keys. I feel like they managed to master the jiggity jaggity sound that bugged me on songs like Ballad Of Big and the Snowman Song on ATTWT. This song always reminds me of Squonk part II: The Homecoming. I know it isn’t but it has that kind of mystical storytelling style. Collins vocals sound great on this song. Actually his vocals are pretty amazing on the whole album. I love the percussion before he says “Keep It Dark”, it reminds me of Depeche Mode’s metal pipe plonking days. The only real issue I have with Keep It Dark is it doesn’t have enough variety to it, like it could have used another interesting section but in the end it doesn’t matter the song is great as it is. If you don’t like this song, push off, there is nothing for you here. Flip the album.
Most Genesis albums have at least one obligatory long song and on this album the honour belongs to Dodo/Lurker which kicks off side two of the record. OK let me start by saying if you don’t like Dodo/Lurker then turn the fucking album off – there is REALLY nothing for you here. Now….Dodo for me is one of the epic Genesis songs. Musically it is a very Interesting. Again I have no idea what it is about and regardless of the actual lyrics I have always and will always say Darth Vader Agitator cause It sounds great and who in their right mind would give up the opportunity to mix Star Wars and Genesis. SO Darth Vader it is forever for me. I love the entire “Sun he giving life in his light” section – it is murky, eerie and sinister – I love loving it. I also love how Phil sings “Big Noise, Black Smoke” and the keyboard motif over the beat on all the versus is just so awesome. So you get this amazing verse chorus song that that is both eerie and catchy at the same time – I don’t know – I feel like if you don’t like this song you might not like Genesis (ok don’t focus too much on this statement). Then comes Lurker which is a shorter section which is basically comprised of a riddle that isn’t answered on the actual album. It all repeats and ends with the sound of Tubular fucking bells – Who doesn’t like TUBULAR BELLS? Mike Oldfield? Oh right he likes them A LOT! Anyway Dodo/Lurker makes this album a winner on its own merit. More on it later.
Whereas Lurker leaves you with a riddle, Who Dunnit? poses only questions. Yes this is the fart song, everyone’s favourite song to hate. If you know what it is about it is kind of funny. The band said it was their stab at Punk or something – who knows – it sounds nothing like punk other than Phil is the one with the STU-TTER (see The Punk Meets The Godfather). What this song actually sounds like is the song that Buckaroo Bonzai plays in the bar scene In the movie The Adventures Of Buckaroo Bonzai Across The 8th Dimension, before he stops them to ask why Ellen Barkin is crying. If you know the movie you know exactly what I mean. Anything that reminds me of Buckaroo Banzai deserves props. If you don’t like this song you get a pass but it is actually no where near as bad as it is made out to be…well maybe it is.… We Know…We Know…We Know…We Know…We Don’t Know…We Don’t Know… I’ll give it this – the drum ending is awesome. If you can survive this song then I think for the most part you are probably OK with Genesis as a Trio. Some consider this the line they aren’t willing cross. I mean it isn’t exactly The Musical Box but you know…sometimes its OK to just have fun and I’m pretty sure that’s what this song is. As well as a giant fucking exclamation mark on the fact that this ain’t your parent’s Genesis. We never do find out who did it which leaves you wanting more…OK maybe not.
Man On The Corner is the tune Phil brought to this album. Following Who Dunnit this song just feels so great – drum machines gasp!!! Yeah get over it. It isn’t a big deal especially 40 years later. This is another of the great Genesis ballads. I don’t find it cheesy at all. It is a sad song sung absolutely perfectly by Phil in another standout vocal for him. The drums sound amazing on this song as well. You can really hear the gated reverb sound that was accidentally discovered by Phil and Hugh while recording Intruder for Peter Gabriel’s Melt album – and effectively defined the sound of the 80s before he became one of its biggest success stories. Actually the production on the whole album is pretty sparkly clear especially following Duke which had space issues on vinyl and ultimately compromised the sound a bit – so I’m told – I can’t tell very much. OK If you don’t like this song I give you a marginal pass. I can see why fans may not like it but they should cause it is a great song.
Like It Or Not is the solo Rutherford offering and it is OK. Not the best song on the album or the best song Mike wrote but it isn’t bad. The versus are kind of bland for me. The drums and the chorus are excellent though they repeat too much. It is a song that could have been on …And Then There Were Three in my book. I think overall I like this song but it kind of sounds like Genesis 3.0 by numbers without adding anything new to the formula. The bridge is really good though “It’s been a long, long time” section with the AAAHHHH Back up vocals – which then doubles and ups the octave which builds it nicely. Actually now that I think of it I really kind of like this song. It has 1 verse, a bunch of choruses and then a couple bridges – interesting anti-structure – You can like it or not – I like it more than I thought I did. It is kind of the motto of the entire album.
Another Record starts kind of ok until the lyrics come in and the song gets going at which point it is in a battle with itself for the worst closing song on any Genesis album. This one…I don’t know…Does anyone like this song? I don’t even think the band sound like they like it and they are the ones playing it. It just lumbers along urging everyone to put another record on which is what you kind of want to do at this point just because of this song alone. The album needs an epic instrumental ending and this is the real fart of the album for me. Even if you are a fan of the album you are going to want to get the fuck out at this point. This one alone might make some people think there is nothing for them here…
Four singles were released from this record. The title track was a big hit globally. No Reply At All was the lead single in the US but was not released in the UK. Man On The Corner did fairly well everywhere and Keep It Dark was released in the UK only. Five additional songs were recorded for consideration for the Abacab album. Paperlate, You Might Recall and Me & Virgil would appear on the 3X3 EP and on side 4 of Three Sides Live along with Open Door and Evidence Of Autumn from the Duke sessions. I’ll talk about these songs in the next post. The other two songs from the Abacab sessions were the instrumentals Naminamu, which appeared on the b-side of both the No Reply At All and Keep It Dark singles, and Submarine which was on the No Reply At All release. One interesting thing about these two songs is that they actually were originally a part of something fans call “The Dodo Suite”. Similar in intent to the Duke Suite this one featured 4 songs that merged together – Naminamu/Dodo/Lurker/Submarine and would have been about 16 minutes long if it was included on the album. Again the band were actively trying to move away from preconceived notions of what they were so with that lens it is understandable that they scrapped the idea, keeping only the Dodo/Lurker part on the album. FYI the lyrics to Lurker pose a riddle “Clothes of brass and hair of brown, Seldom need to breathe. Don’t need no wings to fly, And a heart of stone. A fear of fire and water, Who am I? The answer is “Submarine” which begins exactly as Lurker ends. If you want to hear a fan mix of what it might have sounded like click the link – https://youtu.be/w4Y5OQhYt48.
So overall Abacab is notorious for being one of the most maligned albums in the Genesis catalog, maybe only suffering less when compared to the 80s/90s albums that followed, which are a whole other kettle of fish and way more divisive to old prog farts. I think this album is actually the sound of Genesis 3.0 sounding about as relaxed and in the pocket as they ever sounded. It is a pretty awesome record which I can understand some people not liking parts of. The most unfortunate thing about it is that it ends with not only one of the worst album closers in their catalog but one of their…ahem…most goodly challenged songs…In my opinion. What the album IS however is arguably the most daring and brave album they ever put out. Not because it is the best or the worst album – but because it was the singular album that dared to do something completely different – though the seeds were being sewn on the preceding two albums. I would go as far as to say if they hadn’t done an album like this at that time, with punk and new wave chomping at their heals, they may not have survived at all. The fact that they imposed a self defined left turn kind of helped them skirt ridicule and ensured longevity. It sounded fresh, with crisp, clear production, new keyboard sounds and more concise writing aimed specifically at trying not to duplicate the past. Whether you think that is a good thing or not is a matter of personal opinion. What it definitely is by definition is Progressive…Like it or Not!
Here is a link to Abacab session demos on YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJrrMgRedYZAzoWBq8J5CAAlAGpsU_xQp.
Also I forgot to mention on previous posts but the Genesis Reissue box sets released in 2008 have some amazing interviews with all the band members about the albums there were a part of.
Here are three videos some might find of interest
1970-1975 Part 1 – https://youtu.be/Turt17roYkY
1970-1975 Part 2 – https://youtu.be/uJU-J2zkFws
1976-1982 – https://youtu.be/WhPo52CbxEE
Recommended Listening – Abacab, No Reply At All, Me and Sarah Jane, Dodo/Lurker, Like It Or Not
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