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Rank the Tracks: Genesis - Abacab
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Steve Wyzard View Drop Down
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    Posted: June 14 2024 at 11:19
Three masterpieces:

1. Dodo/Lurker
2. Me and Sarah Jane
3. Abacab

Weird and wonderful, these three can stand head-and-shoulders next to anything the band has ever done. It was hearing the heavily synthesized sounds of "Abacab" on the radio that made me go out and buy my first Genesis album. I've been a fan ever since.

Three great experiments:

4. No Reply at All
5. Keep It Dark
6. Like It or Not

Some people think the horns on "No Reply at All" don't belong on a Genesis album. Others dislike the looped guitar line and dropped-in chords on "Keep It Dark", or the 6/8 swing-feel of "Like It or Not". I consider all three to be very successful at what they are striving for, and love all of the above.

Three "really good, but not great" songs:

7. Who Dunnit?
8. Another Record
9. Man on the Corner

I maintain my position that "Who Dunnit?" is quirky, offbeat, nutty, demented, and just plain a whole lotta fun. I love the haunting piano/guitar intro to "Another Record", but the rest of the song is just "all right". "Man on the Corner" is obviously a Phil Collins solo song, but Tony's synths create a good atmosphere.

Yes, the whole really is greater than the sum of its component parts. This is one of those albums where I wouldn't change anything, and yet I will always wonder how the projected double-album version would have come across. The 3 songs on the "3 X 3" EP and the single B-sides are decent, but it's easy to understand why they were left off the actually released album. I'll close by saying: "Those DRUMS!!! Those BASSLINES!!! Those SYNTHS!!!" 
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Excellent
1. Dodo/Lurker

Ok
2. Abacab
3. Keep It Dark

Decent
4. Another Record

Hit and miss
5. Me and Sarah Jane
6. Man on the Corner

Mediocre
7. Like It or Not
8. No Reply at All

Crap
9. Who Dunnit?



Edited by someone_else - June 15 2024 at 05:03
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Valdez View Drop Down
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  I swear that the only ones I've heard are Abacab and No Reply.  The two songs from radio play that Killed Genesis for me.  I hear a lot of Phil Collins on my kid's movie soundtracks. No interest here. 
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Dodo/Lurker
Keep It Dark
Abacab
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Abacab is the Genesis album I listen most often to - I've always found it a highly enjoyable album.
I'm not good at ranking, so I'll do some kind of grouping:

Great:
- Abacab
- Me and Sarah Jane
- Dodo/Lurker
- Who dunnit?

Good:
- Keep It Dark
- Man on the Corner
- Like it or not

OK:
- No Reply at All
- Another Record

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Good
Dodo/Lurker
Abacab
Me and Sarah Jane
Keep It Dark

listenable 
Another Record
Man on the Corner

meh (not bad, but not that good either)
Like it or not
No Reply at All


wtf was this?
Whodunnit?


Edited by Cristi - June 15 2024 at 05:03
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Also from the Abacab sessions:

Submarine - great
Naminanu - great
You Might Recall - good
Paperlate - not good LOL
Me & Virgil - not that good



Edited by Cristi - June 15 2024 at 05:36
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The only songs I would willingly choose to listen to these days are

Dodo/Lurker (great)
Abacab (great)
Keep It Dark (good)
No Reply At All (good....okay good is subjective but I like it. Sue me)

The rest are forgettable for me. 

This, however, is very cool. it's a what if of course. 








Edited by Jeffro - June 15 2024 at 05:33
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Great:

Abacab (one of their best from the 80s imo)
Dodo / Lurker

Very Good:

Man on the Corner
No Reply at All

Good:

Me and Sarah Jane
Like It Or Not
Keep It Dark

Ok:

Another Record


What were they thinking:

Who Dunnit?
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Excellent songs that rank among their best from this era:
1. Dodo / Lurker
2. Me And Sarah Jane

Great listens:
3. No Reply At All
4. Abacab
5. Like It Or Not
6. Man On The Corner

Not exactly essential but not bad:
7. Who Dunnit?
8. Another Record

Could do without:
9. Keep It Dark
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I always thought Duke and Abacab straddled the fence of is it Prog or Pop Rock. For me, Duke just falls on the side of Prog whereas Abacab falls on the side of Pop Rock. I like both albums.

Dodo/ Lurker is a great track.

Abacab and Keep it Dark are very good tracks.

Man on the Corner, Me and Sarah Jane and No Reply at All are good tracks. Take the horns out of No Reply at All and replace them with Bank's keyboards and there would probably be more love for that song in the Prog community.

Another Record is meh.

Like it or Not, I don't like.

Who Dunnit? is terrible. One of the worst songs Genesis recorded.

I wish the second side would have been Man on the Corner and the Dodo/ Lurker suite, which would have included the excellent Naminanu leading off the suite before it segues into Dodo with Submarine following Lurker and ending the suite (as well as providing the answer to the riddle found in Lurker). That suite would be 15+ minutes long and with Man on the Corner would have made side two about 20 minutes long. That suite would have firmly put the Abacab album in the Prog camp.
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Dodo/Lurker - 10/10
Me and Sarah Jane - 9/10
Keep It Dark - 8.5/10
Abacab - 8.5/10
Who Dunnit? - 7/10
No Reply at All - 7/10
Man on the Corner 6.5/10
Like It or Not - 6/10
Another Record - 6/10
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Dodo/Lurker
Abacab
Man on the Corner
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Great:
- Me and Sarah Jane
- Dodo/Lurker
- Man on the Corner

Good:
- Abacab (live version is fantastic though lol)

Average:
- Keep It Dark
- Like it or not
- Another Record

Bad:
- No Reply at All

Awful:
- Who dunnit?
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Abacab (the song)





























































































Abacrap (the rest of the album)





I do agree that the aborted suite might have made the album much more interesting, though. It makes the exploded pieces more interesting tied together, much like the aborted Duke suite would've made Dike a better album

.


Edited by Sean Trane - June 17 2024 at 03:38
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prefer lifting our pen
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It's so hard to get into their stuff post-Duke. Now, you could take the best songs from then to the end, and maybe come up with one decent album, but it's a sad to associate the band name with that era. They should have renamed themselves after Hackett left. The Trio, The Three, The Clowns, Banks-Collins-Ruffie, anything. LOL
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Originally posted by Boojieboy Boojieboy wrote:

They should have renamed themselves after Hackett left. The Trio, The Three, The Clowns, Banks-Collins-Ruffie, anything. LOL
*After "...And Then They Were Three."

I mean, just think about it. And Then They Were Three could've been the perfect way for Banks, Ruthreford and Collins to close the Genesis chapter and continue to make music under a different name. A great mix of the old Genesis sound updated for the new "Hacket-less format" (eg. Down and Out, Snowbound) with some bits announcing what's soon to come (eg. Follow You Follow Me, Scenes from a Night's Dream).
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Originally posted by Boojieboy Boojieboy wrote:

It's so hard to get into their stuff post-Duke. Now, you could take the best songs from then to the end, and maybe come up with one decent album, but it's a sad to associate the band name with that era. They should have renamed themselves after Hackett left. The Trio, The Three, The Clowns, Banks-Collins-Ruffie, anything. LOL
I have no issues with Abacab or the self-titled "Shapes" album.

The real problems start with Invisible Touch. 
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Points: 20645 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Sean Trane Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 19 2024 at 03:24
Originally posted by Steve Wyzard Steve Wyzard wrote:

Originally posted by Boojieboy Boojieboy wrote:

It's so hard to get into their stuff post-Duke. Now, you could take the best songs from then to the end, and maybe come up with one decent album, but it's a sad to associate the band name with that era. They should have renamed themselves after Hackett left. The Trio, The Three, The Clowns, Banks-Collins-Ruffie, anything. LOL
I have no issues with Abacab or the self-titled "Shapes" album.

The real problems start with Invisible Touch. 

Shapes' A-side is on the level of Duke in my appreciation scale... However the flipside is as bad (if not worse) than Invisible Touch and Abacrap.


.
let's just stay above the moral melee
prefer the sink to the gutter
keep our sand-castle virtues
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as well as a thinker,
prefer lifting our pen
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Steve Wyzard View Drop Down
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Points: 3017 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Steve Wyzard Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 19 2024 at 09:59
Originally posted by Sean Trane Sean Trane wrote:

Originally posted by Steve Wyzard Steve Wyzard wrote:

Originally posted by Boojieboy Boojieboy wrote:

It's so hard to get into their stuff post-Duke. Now, you could take the best songs from then to the end, and maybe come up with one decent album, but it's a sad to associate the band name with that era. They should have renamed themselves after Hackett left. The Trio, The Three, The Clowns, Banks-Collins-Ruffie, anything. LOL
I have no issues with Abacab or the self-titled "Shapes" album.

The real problems start with Invisible Touch. 

Shapes' A-side is on the level of Duke in my appreciation scale... However the flipside is as bad (if not worse) than Invisible Touch and Abacrap.


.
Yes, "Illegal Alien" is one of the band's silliest, most embarrassing songs. I would take "Who Dunnit?" over "Illegal Alien" EVERY time. Yet I would consider the rest of Shapes' B-Side to be flawless. While none could be compared to "Supper's Ready", these songs perfectly capture the band's ethereal yet haunting songwriting/production/performances that were light years ahead of what most everybody else was doing in 1983.
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