Abacab is the eleventh studio album by the English rock band Genesis, released on 18 September 1981 by Charisma Records. After their 1980 tour in support of their previous album, Duke (1980), the band took a break before they reconvened in 1981 to write and record a new album. Abacab is the first Genesis album recorded at The Farm, a recording studio bought by the group in Chiddingfold, Surrey. It marked the band's development from their progressive roots into more accessible and pop-oriented songs, and their conscious decision to write songs unlike their previous albums.
Abacab enjoyed a mostly positive reception from critics and was a commercial success for the band, becoming their second No. 1 LP on the UK Albums Chart and their first to reach the top ten of the US Billboard 200, peaking at No. 7. Genesis released four singles from the album, the most successful being "Abacab" and "No Reply at All". The album was certified gold in the UK and double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for selling two million copies in the US. The Abacab Tour visited North America and Europe in 1981, recordings from which formed most of their 1982 live album and concert video Three Sides Live. Three tracks left off the album were released on the EP 3×3. The album was reissued with a new stereo and 5.1 surround sound mix in 2007.
Background
In June 1980, the Genesis line-up of drummer and singer Phil Collins, keyboardist Tony Banks, and guitarist/bassist Mike Rutherford, with touring drummer Chester Thompson and guitarist and bassist Daryl Stuermer, wrapped their 1980 tour of the United Kingdom and North America in support of their tenth album, Duke (1980). Following a period of rest, in November 1980 the band bought Fisher Lane Farm, a farmhouse with an adjoining cowshed near Chiddingfold, Surrey, as their new private rehearsal and recording facility. In the process of remodelling the building into a studio, the trio reconvened in the farm house to write and rehearse new material, which initially took place in the living room, and they started recording the album in March 1981 once the studio was operational. Abacab marks the first Genesis album that was recorded in England since A Trick of the Tail (1976). The success of Collins's debut solo album Face Value (1981) had gained momentum by the recording stage; Banks claimed it did little to alter the sound or style of Abacab or the relationship towards him or Rutherford as they had been friends for a long time.
Recording
thumb|[[The Farm (recording studio)|The Farm studio, pictured in 2006. Abacab was their first album recorded there.]]
Genesis recorded Abacab in 14 weeks, and they typically worked between 12 and 14 hours a day while making it. Banks said a conscious effort was made by the group to avoid "Genesis cliches" such as using tambourines during a chorus, reprises, extended solos, lengthy instrumental passages, and keeping melodies simple, which signalled further changes in their direction. Because of this, Banks considered Abacab to be the least technical Genesis album at the time of its release. He picked the songwriting periods for Duke and Abacab as a "rethink" of Genesis' approach. Gabriel's track "Intruder" features a gated reverb effect on Collins's drums that Banks and Rutherford liked, and wanted Padgham to do the same on Abacab. The album marked the first time Genesis produced an album on their own, with Padgham credited as engineer. The decision to bring the drums to the forefront of a song caused Banks to change his usual approach of writing and playing, which he found exciting. Banks cut down on the block chords used, which that were typical of prior albums like ...And Then There Were Three... and Wind & Wuthering, allowing the drums more room sonically. The band praised Padgham's fresh approach to recording; Banks recalled the attractive ideas he had for recording drums and his lack of knowledge in handling keyboards gave Banks the freedom to explore and obtain sounds that interested him. The band would produce different mixes of finished songs and selected the one they all liked best. The band wanted to emulate the brass keyboard sound that was used on some parts on Duke, and Collins had used the Phenix Horns on Face Value and suggested to Banks and Rutherford that they use them for the track. Collins thought the horns was a good move to "suddenly jar people and take them off automatic pilot" from the preconceived notions they had about Genesis. Their involvement created some initial reservations from Banks, but he grew to enjoy the track by the time it was complete.
"Me and Sarah Jane" originated from takes that the group had recorded as early as the second day of recording. Early arrangements of the song including two songs later released as b-sides - "Naminanu" and "Submarine" - suggest that perhaps "submarines" were a basis for the lyric.
Banks described "Who Dunnit?" as a "real one-off piece". Featuring drums, guitar, and a Prophet-5 analogue synthesiser, he obtained the track's distorted keyboard sound by changing its presets as he played the notes. He pushed Collins and Rutherford to record what ideas he had for the track, to which Collins wrote a lyric. The band improvised on top of the track for 30 minutes, which was cut into a three-minute arrangement. Padgham wanted the drums on the track to sound loud and exciting, and not like typical drum recording sounds of the 1970s. Rutherford played the drums alongside Thompson during live performances of the song on the album's tour. While the group were deciding the final track listing for Abacab, Atlantic Records president Ahmet Ertegun believed "Who Dunnit?" should be included. At one point, Genesis considered releasing "Who Dunnit?" as a single. The band liked all four, and thought it would have an effective presentation on shop displays. Three of the designs had a limited print, after which their label Charisma Records selected the original montage to remain in stock.
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In a review for Melody Maker, reporter Paul Colbert thought the album was the band's least consistent and therefore, least predictable in three years. He recognised a "heavy PC [Phil Collins] twist to the sound" on "Man on the Corner" and "No Reply at All", but "he does not have it all his own way". Colbert, however, thought Genesis had produced "a couple of Frankensteins" such as the latter half of "Abacab", which he deemed "unstructured" and "uninspired" compared to their past instrumentals. He named "Keep It Dark" and "Who Dunnit?" as "the most exciting and innovative music" the band had produced for several years, and concluded with the album is "by far more promising" than Duke or ...And Then There Were Three.... Ken Kubernik of the Los Angeles Times wondered if the success of Collins's solo album Face Value was an influence on the group, to which he replied, "Yes and no." He praised the album for its "thick, resonant instrumental passages, quaint imagery in the lyrics, and superb production", but "beneath the surface are some new wrinkles in the trademark Genesis sound", noting a reduction in harmonies for more simple vocals and Collins's drum sound replacing Banks's keyboards as their "vortex". Kubernik did, however, praise Collins's vocals.
Jim Bohen for Daily Record recognised Abacab had largely taken its direction from Collins's Face Value with its structure based around a "a huge, booming drum sound". He noted the instrumentation is less restrained than previous Genesis albums. "Who Dunnit?" was described as "an Ian Dury like tongue-twister", yet deemed "Dodo/Lurker", "Like It or Not", and "Another Record" as "less noteworthy". Bohen concludes, however, that the album "drags this trio of art-rockers into the 80s at last". A positive review was published in The Pittsburgh Press by Pete Bishop. He named Abacab a "state-of-the-art" album and picked "Abacab" and "No Reply at All" as particularly good tracks despite Collins's vocals not being "the world's strongest". Bishop said "Who Dunnit?" was the album's only "dud", yet believed overall the album would please Genesis fans. An uncredited review in The Coshocton Tribune in Ohio predicted the album would be Genesis's first top ten album in the US due to its similarity to Face Value, but rated it ahead of "the dreary Duke".
David Fricke of Rolling Stone praised the album for shedding the "ivory-tower artistry" of their previous albums, turning to sparse arrangements and "highly rhythmic interplay" and drawing inspiration from popular contemporaries such as XTC and The Police. Recordings from shows in New York City, Uniondale, New York, and Birmingham, England were included in the band's third live album, Three Sides Live, and the same-titled concert video, both released in 1982.
Track listing
All music written by Tony Banks, Phil Collins, and Mike Rutherford, except where noted. All songs arranged and performed by Genesis.
Additional tracks
Additional songs recorded during the Abacab sessions can be found on other releases:
{|class="wikitable"
|+Abacab outtakes
! Title
! Source
|-
| "Naminanu"
| "No Reply at All" (EU) <br> "Keep It Dark"
|-
| "Submarine"
| "Man on the Corner"
|-
| "Paperlate"
| rowspan="3" |3×3 <br> Three Sides Live
|-
| "You Might Recall"
|-
| "Me and Virgil"
|-
|}
Personnel
Credits are adapted from the album's sleeve notes.
| align="center"| 18
|-
|-
|-
! scope="row"| Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts)
| align="center"| 14
|-
!scope="row"| French Albums (SNEP)
| align="center"| 1
|-
|-
!scope="row"|Italian Albums (Musica e dischi)
| style="text-align:center;"|2
|-
!scope="row"|Japanese Albums (Oricon)
| align="center"| 62
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
|}
Year-end charts
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+Year-end chart performance for Abacab
! scope="col" | Chart (1981)
! scope="col" | Position
|-
|-
! scope="col" | Chart (1982)
! scope="col" | Position
|-
|-
! scope="row" | US Billboard 200
| 12
|}
Certifications
References
Citations
Books
DVD media