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ABACABGenesisSymphonic Prog2.58 | 1164 ratings |
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![]() Following Phil's success with "Face Value", however, the band realized they could take off the prog helmets and breathe the freshly minted air of the '80s. (I know, most prog bands suffocated in the late '70s trying the same thing, but this was after all GENESIS.) The opening "Abacab" marks a clean departure from the past: noisy and relentless synthesizers from Tony BANKS create an unscalable wall of sound, barbed by Phil COLLINS' spiked rhythms and Mike RUTHEFORD's intractable bass. What it all means is anybody's guess, but the urgency speaks for itself. The same epic scale returns on "Dodo/Lurker", not coincidentally the other "long" song on "Abacab" and one that would have felt at home on . "And Then There Were Three". Elsewhere, shades of "Cul-de-Sac" reappear on the wonderful "Me And Sarah Jane" (yet another gem from BANKS), "Behind The Lines" serves as a template for "No Reply At All", and RUTHEFORD's "Like It Or Not" echoes earlier works like "Alone Tonight". But viewing "Abacab" as an upstart "Duke" misses the point; where "Duke" was gauzy and languid, "Abacab" is wide awake. The rhythms feature crisp, left-of-center beats that draw from jazz, the keyboards trade their old magic and mystery for Orwellian overtones, RUTHEFORD's intoxicating sounds instead become musical punctuation marks. And nothing in GENESIS' past was streamlined like "Man on the Corner" or "Another Record". As good as "Abacab" is, I'd be remiss in not mentioning that "Keep It Dark" and "Who Dunnit?" sound gimmicky and could be considered unbecoming a band of GENESIS' stature. I'm not a huge fan of "Abacab", though I recognize that for many this is a milestone (newcomers I presume). For those of us still nursing the old dream, this record represents a slight speed bump that may occasion sideward glances for The Police (whose debut album played similar games with color cover variations).
daveconn |
4/5 |
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