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Genesis - Abacab
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Poll Question: What do you think of this album?
Poll Choice Votes Poll Statistics
3 [5.66%]
5 [9.43%]
15 [28.30%]
3 [5.66%]
8 [15.09%]
16 [30.19%]
0 [0.00%]
0 [0.00%]
3 [5.66%]
0 [0.00%]
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Dellinger View Drop Down
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    Posted: February 04 2023 at 20:02
I was really underwhelmed by it. Nothing particularly good besides Dodo.
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The end of the road for Genesis and I. 
...a vigorous circular motion hitherto unknown to the people of this area, but destined
to take the place of the mud shark in your mythology...
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Originally posted by Boojieboy Boojieboy wrote:

Duke and all the rest get a frown from me. Not that they're horrible, just that they aren't "Genesis" in the true sense. The band should have renamed themselves. 

Now, if they put the best tracks together from all those releases, it would be a fairly good and respectable album.

There is no such thing as "true" Genesis. Bands change and evolve. That's just the reality of it. Just because you and I prefer a certain era doesn't mean that era we prefer is the "true" era. It's like saying it's not "real" Yes without Jon Anderson. You can't blame these bands for doing what they had to do to survive so they could put food on the table. 
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Duke and all the rest get a frown from me. Not that they're horrible, just that they aren't "Genesis" in the true sense. The band should have renamed themselves. 

Now, if they put the best tracks together from all those releases, it would be a fairly good and respectable album.


Edited by Boojieboy - February 03 2023 at 18:30
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Steve Wyzard View Drop Down
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Tony Banks, on Abacab:

"On that particular record, we were trying to get away from what was, at that point, traditionally Genesis, which was quite flowery and fantasy, and to go to something that was much more stark and abstract. That's why we went for an abstract art painting on the front, and gave it this abstract title, Abacab, so that it didn't conjure up any particular emotion at all. We started with a kind of blank canvas. It worked well as both a song and an album title, I think."

The whole interview:
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3SL was particularly good in its 4SL version
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I like it but only a little - It's ok or meh
One does nothing yet nothing is left undone.
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Points: 19757 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote AFlowerKingCrimson Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 03 2023 at 09:15
Well, why do so many people say this was the beginning of their pop era and not Duke? Abacab has the title track and Dodo and Lurker on it? Duke has the Duke's Travel's end and Duchess but what else on Duke is really full on prog? To me they are both equally split between prog and pop. 
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Points: 30756 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote richardh Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 03 2023 at 08:47
Having absolutely hated it when it was first released ( the end of prog omg) I recently decided to get the deluxe remastered edition. It's just a real pain of an album to sum up. Possibly their most daring release as there is simply no other reference point for it I can think of. Who were they copying or being influenced by at the time?! Not obvious to me at all. Abacab, Dodo/Lurker and Keep It Dark are fantastic tracks imo. Much of the rest I care a little less for but then there are only 3 tracks on SEBTP that I really care for. As said we have to hate it because it was a watershed moment when prog in its original form was perhaps coming to an end. You have to fight the 'bad nostalgia' of the moment to even give it a chance. 
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Jared View Drop Down
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Points: 20950 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Jared Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 02 2023 at 03:28
Originally posted by Rick1 Rick1 wrote:

^ I also stopped at Duke but I did get Three Sides Live, which I still think is great!

3SL certainly does justice to the Duke/ Abacab material it covers. I have similar feelings about Abacab as I do about MO's Crises... I quite enjoy side 1 occasionally despite the brash 80's sound, but find side 2 unplayable.. 
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^ I also stopped at Duke but I did get Three Sides Live, which I still think is great!
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Originally posted by Syzygy Syzygy wrote:

I like it, but only a little. It was all downhill after Duke, but any album that contains Dodo/Lurker isn't totally irredeemable, and some of the songs were better onstage - 3 Sides Live breathes some life into them.

I agree with you completely; 3SL took the best bits and made them sound as good as was possible, but I'm no fan of any of the shorter, poppier works and don't have Abacab in my collection (I stopped at Duke).
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Points: 1145 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Big Sky Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 01 2023 at 22:57
I like it. Last good album Genesis made. Doesn't come close to their 70s classic albums, but I gave it a good listen back in the day. Liked the title track first time I heard it and I am quite fond of Keep it Dark and Dodo/Lurker.
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Points: 5660 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote b_olariu Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 01 2023 at 02:23
I like it but it's not one of their best- it's good
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The live version of Abacab is so much better than the studio one for me haha the outro is fantastic and the final crescendo live is my favourite part
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Points: 7178 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Syzygy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 31 2023 at 14:06
I like it, but only a little. It was all downhill after Duke, but any album that contains Dodo/Lurker isn't totally irredeemable, and some of the songs were better onstage - 3 Sides Live breathes some life into them.
'Like so many of you
I've got my doubts about how much to contribute
to the already rich among us...'

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Originally posted by Steve Wyzard Steve Wyzard wrote:

I am the only one to vote for "Love it - One of the best Genesis albums".

Nope, I'll join you. I wouldn't dare to say it's the best Genesis album, but since the option says "one of the best", that's enough for me too. And much for the same reasons. It is the Genesis album I listen most often to.

The razamataz is a pain in the bum
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Steve Wyzard View Drop Down
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Points: 3091 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Steve Wyzard Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 31 2023 at 13:27
I am the only one to vote for "Love it - One of the best Genesis albums". In fact, I will even take the next logical step and also say it's my very favorite Genesis album, slightly ahead of Selling England by the Pound.

I had heard a number of Genesis songs on the radio, but nothing really grabbed me until hearing this album's title track. I rushed out to buy it, and Abacab became my introduction to all things Genesis. It was only much later, after hearing all the other albums, that I found out how controversial this album was with the fanbase. Yes, it's very different from anything else they've ever done, but what a risk they took to completely update and re-invent their sound. Sure, having Hugh Padgham and a brand new recording studio went a long way toward reaching this goal, but this album still sounds brilliant and amazes me to this day.

So if you want to know who to blame for my very unpopular choice, I'll just say it was my first Genesis album, and the times, places, and people that were part of my life in 1981/1982. Go ahead and say it: nostalgia/sentimentalism. I will conclude by saying that I consider "Dodo/Lurker" and "Me and Sarah Jane" to be among the best things the band has ever done, and that none of the extra songs from the same sessions that have appeared on various releases have ever impressed me: they picked the perfect 9 songs for a 50-minute album.
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Not one of their best, but still a good listen.
Welcome to the middle of the film.
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Points: 15753 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Lewian Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 31 2023 at 10:37
Originally posted by Atavachron Atavachron wrote:

Some great cuts, a spectacular mix, it is a gorgeous and frequently disappointing release.


^ This!
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