ABACAB

By the time ABACAB was released in the early 80's it had been clear by that point Genesis had no intentions on looking back to it's progressive rock roots. For fans of the Collins-era Genesis this is a satisfactory album from this stage of the band's music.

Everything is louder with ABACAB, most notably the heavier drum sound that is present on even the ballad numbers. Tony Banks also contributes to this new aggressive sound by using more electric sounding keyboards that border on abrasive in some sections. Phil Collins really steps up as a vocalist with this album, matching the emotional presence he had on the haunting "In the Air Tonight" from his debut solo outing (just before ABACAB was finished).

ABACAB bursts out of the gate with the pounding, energetic title track. This song is basically a short number made long by tacking on a lengthy instrumental section to it's second half, which doesn't add much but is interesting for at least one full listen. The band kicks right back into pop mode with the punchy ""No Reply At All" featuring some nicely applied horn sections. ""Me and Sarah Jane"" and ""Keep It Dark"" finishes a strong first half. With it's slick reggae momentum and obtuse lyrics, the multi-sectional ""Dodo/Lurker"" is one of this album's best and perplexing tracks, the closest the band comes to referencing their artier past. After ""Dodo"" the remainder of ABACAB concludes with a weaker set of tracks, with the exception of ""Man on the Corner"", but not enough to sink the album entirely.

The bonus DVD on the 2008 re-master includes the promotional videos from this album, which were usually little more than footage of the band miming their songs in a recording studio setting or on stage. For someone who was young with access to MTV, this album and it's promotional videos became my entry point in the career of this band. There is also pages from an ABACAB tour booklet, and a mix of the album in 5.1 sound.

"(copied from my Amazon review)