Abacab

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Abacab
Genesis studio album

Publication
(s)

September 18, 1981

admission

May – June 1981

Label (s) Charisma Records (UK)
Atlantic Records (US)

Format (s)

CD, Hybrid-SACD, DVD, LP, MC

Genre (s)

Rock , progressive rock

Title (number)

9

running time

47:04

occupation

production

genesis

Studio (s)

The Farm, Surrey (England)

chronology
Duke
(1980) 		Abacab Three Sides Live
(1982)
Single releases
August 14, 1981 Abacab
September 9, 1981 No Reply at All
October 23, 1981 Keep it dark
March 5, 1982 Man on the corner
Chester Thompson and Collins play Who Dunnit? on the Abacab tour in Strasbourg in 1981

Abacab is the eleventh studio album by the British rock band Genesis . It was released on the Atlantic label on September 14, 1981 and documents a stylistic transition phase in Genesis' work. After Steve Hackett left the band in 1977 , the three remaining Genesis members Phil Collins , Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks turned to more commercial rock music.

background

On Abacab you the first time increased radio-friendly got pop music to hear. In particular, the singles No Reply at All , Man on the Corner and the song Paperlate , published on the EP 3 × 3 , achieved great popularity for Genesis standards at the time. The other album titles differ significantly from earlier Genesis material, but are still not easy radio songs. In terms of sound, there is a departure from the typically dense to lush impression of the previous albums, which gives way to a more space-accentuated and textured production. Abacab also stands for a perfecting of the typical Collins gated reverb drum sound, which is characterized by reverb, volume and compression effects. This is largely due to the producer Hugh Padgham , whom Phil Collins met while recording Peter Gabriel's third album in 1980 and who co-produced all Genesis albums until 1986 and all Phil Collins albums until 1996.

According to Mike Rutherford, the name Abacab came from the structure of an early version of the song of the same name. Its arrangement consisted of three parts, which were labeled a , b and c . Since the band members could not think of a suitable title for album and song, they put the sequence a - b - a - c - a - b together to form an artificial word.

Abacab shows a band looking for new ideas and new working methods. So this is the first album in which the majority of the songs were created from improvisations and jams . For the first and only time since the debut album From Genesis to Revelation, guest musicians will be featured: The brass section of the group Earth, Wind & Fire , which later appeared as Phenix Horns and which Phil Collins met while recording his solo album Face Value . This was not well received by many fans, as the two songs No Reply At All and Paperlate sounded too much like Collins' own music to them. Another song that is unusual for Genesis standards is Who Dunnit? , which is characterized by monotonous keyboards and minimalist text.

The conscious abandonment of the familiar continues with the design of the album, the cover of which shows an abstract color collage, whereby the choice of colors was varied in the course of the various releases in the individual countries and the different media. For the first time there was a large-format photograph of the three musicians on the inside of the cover, but the lyrics were not printed. The band's declared intention was to let the music speak for itself.

The recording sessions, the first in her own studio “The Farm”, which was still under renovation at the time, produced enough material for a double album. For commercial reasons only half of the songs were released as an album, the rest found their place on single B-sides , the EP 3 × 3 and the fourth page of the Three-Sides-Live- Album.

The album is considered controversial among Genesis fans. For many supporters of the pop phase of Genesis, however , Abacab made the first contact with the group.

Track list

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

DVD Extras (2007 Release)

  1. Band interview 2006
  2. Promotional videos: Abacab , No Reply at All , Keep It Dark , Man on the Corner
  3. World Tour Program 1981 Tour (gallery with 15 pictures)

tour

Between September and December 1981 Genesis completed the concert series for the album Abacab . The first concert of the Abacab Tour took place in the Spanish city of Barcelona. For the live album Three Sides Live , released the following year , recordings from New York and Birmingham were used. The tour is credited with being primarily responsible for the success of moving headlights .

Sample set list

  1. Behind the lines
  2. Duchess
  3. The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
  4. Dodo / Lurker
  5. Abacab
  6. The Carpet Crawlers
  7. Me and Sarah Jane
  8. Misunderstanding
  9. No Reply at All
  10. Firth of Fifth
  11. Man on the corner
  12. Who Dunnit?
  13. In the cage
  14. The Cinema Show / Riding the Scree / Slippermen
  15. Afterglow
  16. Turn it on again
  17. Dance on a volcano
  18. Drum Duet
  19. Los Endos
  20. I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)

Chart placements

album

Charts Top ranking Weeks
Chart placements
Germany (GfK) Germany (GfK) 6th (20 weeks) 20th
United Kingdom (OCC) United Kingdom (OCC) 1 (27 weeks) 27
United States (Billboard) United States (Billboard) 7th (54 weeks) 54

Singles

year Title
album 		Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
DE DE AT AT CH CH UK UK US US
1981 Abacab
Abacab 		DE28 (13 weeks)
DE 		- - UK9 (8 weeks)
UK 		US26 (14 weeks)
US
First published: August 14, 1981
No Reply at All
Abacab 		- - - - US29 (18 weeks)
US
First published: September 9, 1981
Keep It Dark
Abacab 		- - - UK33 (4 weeks)
UK 		-
First published: October 23, 1981
1982 Man on the Corner
Abacab 		- - - UK41 (5 weeks)
UK 		US40 (11 weeks)
US
First published: March 5, 1982

3 × 3

The EP 3 × 3 (UK # 10) was only released in the United Kingdom in 1982 , in other countries there was instead an ordinary single under the title Paperlate without the third track Me and Virgil .

  1. Paperlate (Tony Banks, Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford) - 3:20
  2. You Might Recall (Tony Banks, Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford) - 5:28
  3. Me and Virgil (Tony Banks, Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford) - 6:20

More titles from the Abacab sessions

  1. Naminanu (Tony Banks, Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford) - 3:49 B-side of the single No Reply at All or Keep it Dark , 1981
  2. Submarine (Tony Banks, Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford) - 4:33 B-side of the single Man on the Corner , 1982

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US
genesis
Studio albums

From Genesis to Revelation • Trespass • Nursery Cryme • Foxtrot • Selling England by the Pound • The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway • A Trick of the Tail • Wind & Wuthering • … And Then There Were Three… • Duke • Abacab • Genesis • Invisible Touch • We Can't Dance • … Calling All Stations…

Extended plays

Spot The Pigeon • 3 × 3

Live albums

Genesis Live • Seconds Out • Three Sides Live • The Way We Walk • Live over Europe 2007

Compilation albums

Archive I - 1967–1975 • Turn It On Again - The Hits • Archive II - 1976–1992 • Platinum Collection

Singles

I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe) • The Carpet Crawlers • Invisible Touch • Land of Confusion