• AllMyVinyl #35
• Band: Genesis
• Album Title: Abacab
• Release Date: 12 Sep 1983
• Date purchased: 30 Jul 2024
• Location purchased: Genesis Online Store
• Color of vinyl: black
• Number of discs: 1
• Links: [ Wikipedia | Discogs | Band Website | Complete album on Youtube ]

Genesis was mostly a band I liked from the radio.  I don’t recall owning a ton of Genesis back in the day – and I certainly never had any of their vinyl in the 80’s.  If I had any it was a cassette tape, but I mostly was into them for songs, not albums.  Abacab was one that I enjoyed back in the day, but I was also discovering metal at the time, so this kind of music wasn’t in the forefront of my mind.

I did like a handful of songs from it, however, and I bought it on vinyl in 2024, so I do like the album, but it’s not one I have a metric ton to say about.  Back in the summer I noticed that Genesis was reprinting all of their studio albums on vinyl (except their 1969 original which the band doesn’t have rights to). But all the others from 1970’s Trespass through 1997’s Calling All Stations had new 2024 pressings made.  It wasn’t a new remaster, they used an older one (2007 I believe, which some Genesis hardcores seem to hate).  But I didn’t known any Genesis at all on vinyl, so I opted for a handful of them from the catalog (Abacab is one) – the others will come up in the project.  Abacab is now, as I was already past “A” in the listing, so this immediately became first on the list when it came in.

Anyway, Abacab is I think where the Gabriel folks started checking out.  I think I got into them on the next album (Duke), but I definitely remember the radio songs.  I chose this for vinyl on the strength of the radio hits which I know very well, and like a lot. Beyond that the album is mostly unknown to me.

Abacab the song is probably the strongest song on the album for me – probably the most radio friendly. – again something that Gabriel era fans didn’t care for. That’s not me, I got into them after Gabriel was long gone, so this works perfectly.  It’s got the most “guitar” sound – Rutherford isn’t what we would call a “shredder” or anything like that, but when he’s used he produces a nice guitar sound.  I thought it was great mix between Rutherford, Banks, & Collins.  I remember watching the video back in the day being impressed that the lead singer was the drummer.  I’m so used to the guy singing standing out front with a mike by myself.  Not behind the kit.

The second song (No Reply At All) is another of the big singles from the album.  It’s not as catchy as Abacab, but I like the sound here.  Something that doesn’t usually come into my thought process with Genesis is the bass lines.  I like the bass line that goes through here.  That’s Rutherford as well playing bass in addition to guitar.  There’s also a cool horn section that runs through this song.  That’s not a big part of Genesis’ tunes (at least in this era), but I loved the different sound here.  Especially the bass work.

Me & Sarah Jane – it sounded more like a nod to the earlier Gabriel era – it was less “poppy” than most of the Collins era was.  It was OK, but not my favorite track on the album.

Keep it Dark – when I listened to this today, I had 100% forgotten about the song, it was like a totally new track to me. Very much enjoyed this. Has an odd sound I can’t put my finger on, but I did quite like it.  The beat that runs through the whole song starts right up at the beginning.  That can sometimes get boring in a song, but here I liked that sound, so it worked.

Oddly, side 2 is a bunch of songs I didn’t remember by title. The only one I remembered was “Man on the Corner”.   Also, on my vinyl copy they list Dodo & Lurker as separate songs, but the version that’s on Apple Music has them as a single combined song “Dodo/Lurker” that’s 7 and a half minutes.  Not sure which way is the “correct” version.

Dodo – This has an odd vibe. I can’t put my finger on whether I like it or not, which is an unusual reaction to a song. Listened to the whole thing and at the end I was still confused as to whether I liked it or not.

Lurker – Had a beat that ran through it I liked a lot. It has a weird vibe like Dodo did, but it’s one that I liked better.  Given Apple music has them as one song, I find it interesting that I felt differently about the two.

Man on the Corner – One of the big singles from this album – heard it a TON on the radio. Has a different vibe to everything on the second side of the album. It’s one of the more commercial songs here, but not nearly as much as the first two songs on the album.

Like it or Not – A more straightforward song, not funky like Dodo or Lurker. Guitar solos aren’t really something are in your face as much with Genesis songs, but I liked the guitar bridge in this song.

Another Record – This was just kind of “there”, it didn’t do a ton for me.

Overall, of the handful of Genesis albums I picked up on vinyl, probably the one I knew the album tracks the least.  That’s OK, one doesn’t have to like 100% of the songs on an album, but most of what’s on this album was good to my ears today, despite not remembering half of it.