Genesis - Abacab
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URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=130434
Printed Date: April 12 2025 at 11:50
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Topic: Genesis - Abacab
Posted By: AFlowerKingCrimson
Subject: Genesis - Abacab
Date Posted: January 30 2023 at 16:40
| This seems to be one of the most polarizing Genesis albums and to many the beginning of the end. |
Replies:
Posted By: Psychedelic Paul
Date Posted: January 30 2023 at 16:58
Like It or Not, Abacab was a commercial success for Genesis, but for me, it's just Another Record which belongs in a charity shop's bargain bin. Maybe not the reply you were hoping for, but it's better than No Reply at All. 
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Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: January 30 2023 at 17:48
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Some great cuts, a spectacular mix, it is a gorgeous and frequently disappointing release. ------------- "Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." -- John F. Kennedy |
Posted By: AFlowerKingCrimson
Date Posted: January 30 2023 at 17:52
So which one did you vote for? I actually changed one from "not a fan" to "not much of a fan." If that was you then I hope that still applies.
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Atavachron wrote:Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: January 30 2023 at 18:01
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^ 'Like it but not one of their best' ------------- "Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." -- John F. Kennedy |
Posted By: AFlowerKingCrimson
Date Posted: January 30 2023 at 18:48
| I think that description sums up my opinion the best as well. |
Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: January 30 2023 at 18:58
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When judging an album that has highs & lows, does one judge the whole?; or does one laud the tasty bits, ignore the rest, and appreciate the good stuff that was offered? Listening to Tangerine Dream's releases from '74 and '75, an argument could be made for the latter. ------------- "Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." -- John F. Kennedy |
Posted By: AFlowerKingCrimson
Date Posted: January 30 2023 at 20:39
Maybe I should put Abacab up against Tormato.
 I get your point though since the title track, "Dodo" and maybe a few others are really good but "Who Dunnit,""Me And Sara Jane" and the last two songs not so much. I actually like "no reply at all" though but maybe because I heard it on top forty radio when it first came out and bought the single (which somehow got destroyed). |
Posted By: The-Station-Pilot
Date Posted: January 31 2023 at 00:11
| For me Abacab is easily the weakest Genesis album, something just wasn't gelling together when they made this. |
Posted By: Cristi
Date Posted: January 31 2023 at 00:38
| One of their weaker albums |
Posted By: someone_else
Date Posted: January 31 2023 at 00:49
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One of their weaker albums (2.5 stars in my book), maybe their worst. Still it has a few good songs. ------------- 
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Posted By: geekfreak
Date Posted: January 31 2023 at 01:09
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One of their weaker albums ------------- Friedrich Nietzsche: "Without music, life would be a mistake." Music Is Live Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. Keep Calm And Listen To The Music… < |
Posted By: Rick1
Date Posted: January 31 2023 at 02:00
| I didn't buy it when it came out but I did get 'Three Sides Live' on release. On there is a belter called 'Dodo' which segues into 'Abacab' - brilliant. |
Posted By: Cristi
Date Posted: January 31 2023 at 02:08
somebody compiled this and it sounds nice 
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Posted By: Psychedelic Paul
Date Posted: January 31 2023 at 04:45
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My Genesis studio album rankings:- 01.  1973: Selling England by the Pound - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoIDt_C5y1Ls8c3SxGZW2wPNWTifikotc" rel="nofollow - 02. 1972: Foxtrot - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoIDt_C5y1LutOVRL4O2LYbAaPtNQjtzt" rel="nofollow - 03. 1971: Nursery Cryme - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoIDt_C5y1LvvRA8-vhtqeavlv9_TYkI9" rel="nofollow - 04. 1970: Trespass - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoIDt_C5y1LuZha0g4IGPuYTYa2ojNJ5a" rel="nofollow - 05. 1976: A Trick of the Tail - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoIDt_C5y1LuNpwmZ8GoikYtQy7QBk7n9" rel="nofollow - 1976: Wind & Wuthering - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoIDt_C5y1LtklfWs1Vn7vBe5S3-akc7A" rel="nofollow - 07. 1974: The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoIDt_C5y1LvZRqTE0R8CKQn3uj02Eete" rel="nofollow - 08.  1969: From Genesis to Revelation - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoIDt_C5y1Ls8TsNNijJYxxnS-Kp5ts8t" rel="nofollow - 09. 1978: And Then There Were Three - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoIDt_C5y1Lu_v2KJ4Drut19mv5NA5Vbb" rel="nofollow - 10. 1980: Duke - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoIDt_C5y1LuhvokGgqGhqePfy2PSVC0e" rel="nofollow - 11.  1997: Calling All Stations - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoIDt_C5y1LvGUqnvmEO9Kxq-tjOJ-TcX" rel="nofollow - 12. 1986: Invisible Touch - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoIDt_C5y1LueLtgXMm4tJJVvTRrDpy6E" rel="nofollow - 13. 1981: Abacab - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoIDt_C5y1LualU3IIHUGJWlepYRMzkfk" rel="nofollow - 14. 1983: Genesis - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoIDt_C5y1LsV-Ocua4iC4rU9TaLcLMS8" rel="nofollow - 15. 1991: We Can't Dance - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoIDt_C5y1LsimrBR6o-95oLdeLTMch9" rel="nofollow - |
Posted By: VianaProghead
Date Posted: January 31 2023 at 04:56
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I like it but it's not one of their best- it's good. ------------- "PROG IS MY FERRARI". Jem Godfrey (Frost*) |
Posted By: Jeffro
Date Posted: January 31 2023 at 05:59
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It's kind of heretical on this site to claim to enjoy a non-prog Genesis album but I've always liked Abacab. These days I'd much rather listen to the early albums though. I don't begrudge them one bit for going for the pop on this one. It was very successful and led to them being heard by a much wider audience, thus setting them on a path to mega-stardom.
------------- We all dwell in an amber subdomain, amber subdomain, amber subdomain. My face IS a maserati |
Posted By: progaardvark
Date Posted: January 31 2023 at 06:07
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It seems to have grown on me more and more as I get older. I'd give it four stars now instead of the three I gave it years ago. ------------- ---------- i'm shopping for a new oil-cured sinus bag that's a happy bag of lettuce this car smells like cartilage nothing beats a good video about fractions |
Posted By: Heart of the Matter
Date Posted: January 31 2023 at 06:20
| They have done worse (with Invisible Touch). The title track used to sound fine on morning radio. |
Posted By: Deadwing
Date Posted: January 31 2023 at 06:20
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The original album is quite bad, but I made a different tracklist that makes it a very fun listen to me. No horns no other weird sh*t in the middle haha 1 - Abacab, 2 - Me and Sarah Jane, 3 - You Might Recall, 4 - Man on the Corner, 5 - Dodo / Lurker, 6 - Submarine Only 37 minutes, but some Rush albums are as long as this
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Posted By: Cristi
Date Posted: January 31 2023 at 06:34
Naminanu and Keep It Dark are also good IMO.
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Posted By: Manuel
Date Posted: January 31 2023 at 06:40
| Certainly one of Genesis weaker albums. |
Posted By: Deadwing
Date Posted: January 31 2023 at 07:08
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The problem with Naminanu is don't really know where to put the track haha, it's a fun listen indeed though. I'm not much a fan of Keep It Dark, but it has been a while I didn't listen to it though.
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Posted By: twosteves
Date Posted: January 31 2023 at 07:39
Yes I like this version too. Voted it’s ok buy meh - as I’m skipping a lot of songs
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Posted By: Lewian
Date Posted: January 31 2023 at 10:37
^ This!
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Posted By: Mormegil
Date Posted: January 31 2023 at 12:27
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Not one of their best, but still a good listen. ------------- Welcome to the middle of the film. |
Posted By: Steve Wyzard
Date Posted: January 31 2023 at 13:27
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I am the only one to vote for "Love it - One of the best Genesis albums". In fact, I will even take the next logical step and also say it's my very favorite Genesis album, slightly ahead of Selling England by the Pound. I had heard a number of Genesis songs on the radio, but nothing really grabbed me until hearing this album's title track. I rushed out to buy it, and Abacab became my introduction to all things Genesis. It was only much later, after hearing all the other albums, that I found out how controversial this album was with the fanbase. Yes, it's very different from anything else they've ever done, but what a risk they took to completely update and re-invent their sound. Sure, having Hugh Padgham and a brand new recording studio went a long way toward reaching this goal, but this album still sounds brilliant and amazes me to this day. So if you want to know who to blame for my very unpopular choice, I'll just say it was my first Genesis album, and the times, places, and people that were part of my life in 1981/1982. Go ahead and say it: nostalgia/sentimentalism. I will conclude by saying that I consider "Dodo/Lurker" and "Me and Sarah Jane" to be among the best things the band has ever done, and that none of the extra songs from the same sessions that have appeared on various releases have ever impressed me: they picked the perfect 9 songs for a 50-minute album. |
Posted By: suitkees
Date Posted: January 31 2023 at 13:59
Nope, I'll join you. I wouldn't dare to say it's the best Genesis album, but since the option says "one of the best", that's enough for me too. And much for the same reasons. It is the Genesis album I listen most often to. ------------- The razamataz is a pain in the bum |
Posted By: Syzygy
Date Posted: January 31 2023 at 14:06
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I like it, but only a little. It was all downhill after Duke, but any album that contains Dodo/Lurker isn't totally irredeemable, and some of the songs were better onstage - 3 Sides Live breathes some life into them. ------------- 'Like so many of you I've got my doubts about how much to contribute to the already rich among us...' Robert Wyatt, Gloria Gloom |
Posted By: Deadwing
Date Posted: January 31 2023 at 17:02
| The live version of Abacab is so much better than the studio one for me haha the outro is fantastic and the final crescendo live is my favourite part |
Posted By: b_olariu
Date Posted: February 01 2023 at 02:23
| I like it but it's not one of their best- it's good |
Posted By: Big Sky
Date Posted: February 01 2023 at 22:57
| I like it. Last good album Genesis made. Doesn't come close to their 70s classic albums, but I gave it a good listen back in the day. Liked the title track first time I heard it and I am quite fond of Keep it Dark and Dodo/Lurker. |
Posted By: Jared
Date Posted: February 02 2023 at 02:15
I agree with you completely; 3SL took the best bits and made them sound as good as was possible, but I'm no fan of any of the shorter, poppier works and don't have Abacab in my collection (I stopped at Duke).
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Posted By: Rick1
Date Posted: February 02 2023 at 02:52
| ^ I also stopped at Duke but I did get Three Sides Live, which I still think is great! |
Posted By: Jared
Date Posted: February 02 2023 at 03:28
3SL certainly does justice to the Duke/ Abacab material it covers. I have similar feelings about Abacab as I do about MO's Crises... I quite enjoy side 1 occasionally despite the brash 80's sound, but find side 2 unplayable..
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Posted By: richardh
Date Posted: February 03 2023 at 08:47
| Having absolutely hated it when it was first released ( the end of prog omg) I recently decided to get the deluxe remastered edition. It's just a real pain of an album to sum up. Possibly their most daring release as there is simply no other reference point for it I can think of. Who were they copying or being influenced by at the time?! Not obvious to me at all. Abacab, Dodo/Lurker and Keep It Dark are fantastic tracks imo. Much of the rest I care a little less for but then there are only 3 tracks on SEBTP that I really care for. As said we have to hate it because it was a watershed moment when prog in its original form was perhaps coming to an end. You have to fight the 'bad nostalgia' of the moment to even give it a chance. |
Posted By: AFlowerKingCrimson
Date Posted: February 03 2023 at 09:15
| Well, why do so many people say this was the beginning of their pop era and not Duke? Abacab has the title track and Dodo and Lurker on it? Duke has the Duke's Travel's end and Duchess but what else on Duke is really full on prog? To me they are both equally split between prog and pop. |
Posted By: dr wu23
Date Posted: February 03 2023 at 10:22
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I like it but only a little - It's ok or meh ------------- One does nothing yet nothing is left undone. Haquin |
Posted By: mellotronwave
Date Posted: February 03 2023 at 13:35
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3SL was particularly good in its 4SL version
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Posted By: Steve Wyzard
Date Posted: February 03 2023 at 17:23
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Tony Banks, on Abacab: "On that particular record, we were trying to get away from what was, at that point, traditionally Genesis, which was quite flowery and fantasy, and to go to something that was much more stark and abstract. That's why we went for an abstract art painting on the front, and gave it this abstract title, Abacab, so that it didn't conjure up any particular emotion at all. We started with a kind of blank canvas. It worked well as both a song and an album title, I think." The whole interview: https://www.songfacts.com/blog/interviews/tony-banks" rel="nofollow - https://www.songfacts.com/blog/interviews/tony-banks
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Posted By: Boojieboy
Date Posted: February 03 2023 at 18:29
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Duke and all the rest get a frown from me. Not that they're horrible, just that they aren't "Genesis" in the true sense. The band should have renamed themselves. Now, if they put the best tracks together from all those releases, it would be a fairly good and respectable album.
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Posted By: AFlowerKingCrimson
Date Posted: February 04 2023 at 09:37
There is no such thing as "true" Genesis. Bands change and evolve. That's just the reality of it. Just because you and I prefer a certain era doesn't mean that era we prefer is the "true" era. It's like saying it's not "real" Yes without Jon Anderson. You can't blame these bands for doing what they had to do to survive so they could put food on the table.
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Posted By: The Dark Elf
Date Posted: February 04 2023 at 10:10
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The end of the road for Genesis and I. ------------- ...a vigorous circular motion hitherto unknown to the people of this area, but destined to take the place of the mud shark in your mythology... |
Posted By: Dellinger
Date Posted: February 04 2023 at 20:02
| I was really underwhelmed by it. Nothing particularly good besides Dodo. |