ABACAB

The title track opens showing all what the new decade had to offer. Very differently sounding than previous works by the band, it features a more alienated drum playing and some colder sounding keyboards, a true 80's atmosphere. But one can't refuse the fact that this song is extremely catchy. It also has a long instrumental ending, which, while being cold as i mentioned above, it is quite hypnotizing, something rarely found on pop music. The next one, "No Reply At All", is definetely weaker, and has that pure and quite mediocre poppy feel that would scare anyone who's into and only into progressive music. But i do admit i enjoy it, and remember nowadays with humour of how much i disliked this track when i first listened to it. Thanks now i have a more open mind to appreciate this one. "Me And Sarah Jane" is a short prog number which has some different sections, and really neat arrangements. This song doesn't look like it is from its decade, it has a good 70's epic feel. Phil's vocals can get a bit annoying in some parts, though, but that doesn't spoil this GENESIS' classic. I especially enjoy Banks' work here, the guy is definetely a genius! Well, then we go to the infamous "Keep It Dark". This is a very weird experiment by the band, and i can understand why many people bash it, but it is like no other thing done by GENESIS, so its originality gives it some credit. It has some nice vocal work and an alienating background electronic section, very 80's-ish. The two-part number that follows is divided on "Dodo" and "Lurker", making the album's highest point, with this amazing epic. "Dodo" has some fun lyrics and a dramatic intro, and "Lurker" segues with interesting experiments like using keyboards to imitate a bird's (?) speaking. This is the album's true climax! "Who Dunnit?" is considered by many GENESIS' worst track, and i can truly understand why. But i prefer to think of it as an interesting experiment, and while not so succesful as "Keep It Dark", it has some catchy vocal work, not being so bad as many people make it to be. From now on we have three tunes which are good, but nothing that special. "Man On The Corner" and "Like It Or Not" are quite moving, the former has a touching theme, and the latter has a really beautiful intro. The ending song, "Another Record", is a beautiful and atmospheric ballad, with a long intro.

Well, while this is obviously not classic GENESIS, but it is still far better than a lot of stuff that came in that decade, so we can't just judge it because of the cold 80's production and the fact that it is mainly a pop album. I think the guys did a good job playing pop music, but of course the highlights are the prog moments, like the title track, and the third and fifth ones. Listen to it with an open mind...

Share this GENESIS review

Social review comments () BETA

---

---

Review related links

• Send comments to Eclipse
• Report this review (#105629)
• Buy GENESIS music online with PA partners
• Show all GENESIS MP3/Stream
• Go to GENESIS page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to Abacab page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for GENESIS related discussions