ABACAB

"Abacab" is the eleventh studio album of Genesis and it was released in 1981. Curiously and strangely, the album was released with four different embossed art covers simultaneously across the country and all depicting the same collage but with the paper shapes in different colours. The four different covers variants are usually identified by the colour of the largest upper shape adjacent to the title lettering. This shape was being coloured navy blue, red, peach and yellow.

"Duke" showcased a new Genesis, a sleek, hard, stylish trio that truly sounded like a different band from their first incarnation. But, "Abacab" was where this new incarnation of the band came into its own. "Abacab" continues the band's sharp stylistic shift, that begun on the preceding studio album "Duke", towards to a more radio friendly pop music sound. Genesis escalated the innovations of "Duke", increasing the pop hooks, working them seamlessly into the artiest rock here. The sound on the album is as bright, bold, and jagged as the modernist artwork on the art cover.

"Abacab" has nine tracks. All songs were written by Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins, except "Me And Sarah Jane" written by Tony Banks, "Man On The Corner" written by Phil Collins and "Like It Or Not" written by Mike Rutherford. The first track is the title song "Abacab". It was the second single taken from the album. The title was taken from the structure of an early version of the song, which no longer followed that format. I like very much of this song and I sincerely think we are in presence of one of the best songs on this album. This is a song with a very simple structure but that progress in a modern sound. The second track "No Reply At All" was the song released as the first single from "Abacab". This song marks clearly a step toward the mainstream pop direction that Genesis was taking at the time, and shows perfectly well the main influence of Phil Collins in the song writing of the group. It's a nice and typical pop song in the same vein of Collins' solo studio albums. See the inclusion of horns on it. The third track "Me And Sarah Jane" is clearly one of the two best songs on the album and is also the only song with slight reminiscences from Gabriel's musical era. This is a perfect example that proves the band never cut completely with their progressive roots, and why I always considered Tony Banks with Steve Hackett my Genesis favourite band's members. The fourth track "Keep It Dark" was another song to be taken from the album to be released as a single. It's a little rock song with an unusual musical structure and a different rhythm. It's lead by a distinct and syncopated rhythm guitar sound and by the voice of Phil Collins that sings in falsetto for certain lines of the song. This is a nice and pleasant song to hear. The fifth track "Dodo/Lurker" is the other highlight of the album, with "Me And Sarah Jane". It follows the same steps of "Duke's Travels" and "Duke's Ends" of their previous studio album "Duke". This is clearly a song with many good progressive parts. The beginning of the song reminds me very much their eighth studio album "Wind And Wuthering". The sixth track "Who Dunnit?" is the biggest and true deception of this album. I have some difficulty to express really my true feelings about it. This is, without any doubt, one of the worst things I've ever heard from any one. The lyrics are completely stupid and the music is repetitively annoying, which made of this song a complete aberration. The seventh track "Man On The Corner" is another song of the album released as a single. This is a song with a very simple musical structure, commanded by a simple drum machine and by the voice of Phil Collins. This is another nice and typical Phil Collins' song, very similar to many other songs made by him. The eighth track "Like It Or Not" sounds to some old songs made by Mike Rutherford in Steve Hackett's musical era. It's a very simple song without great progressivity and made more in the Phil Collins' style. However, we are in presence, in my humble opinion, of one good track with a very good melody and it's nice to hear. The ninth and last track "Another Record" was the song chosen to be released as the B side of their second single "Abacab". It's another pop song with nice rhythm and melody, and nice to hear. This is another song clearly influenced by Phil Collins' pop style. Anyway, this song represents a nice way to finish this album.

Conclusion: "Abacab" represents definitely the last step to turn Genesis into a pop/rock band. It confirms the path started by them with their previous studio album "Duke". I don't say "And Then There Were Three?", because who read my reviews know that I consider it a truly progressive album, not as good, but in the same vein of "A Trick Of The Tail" and "Wind And Wuthering". "Abacab" isn't really a bad album. We may even say that it's a good album. In reality, it has even three very good songs, "Abacab" and especially "Me And Sarah Jane" and "Dodo/Lurker". The rest of the album is good, but we can say that it's also very vulgar for a progressive album, with the exception of "Who Dunnit?", which is absolutely awful. I had already referred to this track, previously, when I reviewed some time ago, "The Game" of Queen. Then, I wrote that "Don't Try Suicide" from that album is, for me, one of the worst songs made by Queen and that it reminds me immediately "Who Dunnit?". However, "Who Dunnit?" is even worse than "Don't Try Suicide", really.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

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