Rank the Tracks: Genesis - Abacab
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Topic: Rank the Tracks: Genesis - Abacab
Posted By: Steve Wyzard
Subject: Rank the Tracks: Genesis - Abacab
Date Posted: June 14 2024 at 11:19
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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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Replies:
Posted By: someone_else
Date Posted: June 14 2024 at 14:43
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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? ------------- 
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Posted By: Valdez
Date Posted: June 14 2024 at 17:52
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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. ------------- https://bakullama1.bandcamp.com/album/maxwells-submarine |
Posted By: Octopus II
Date Posted: June 15 2024 at 02:47
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Dodo/Lurker Keep It Dark Abacab
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Posted By: suitkees
Date Posted: June 15 2024 at 03:20
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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 ------------- The razamataz is a pain in the bum |
Posted By: Cristi
Date Posted: June 15 2024 at 04:55
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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? |
Posted By: Cristi
Date Posted: June 15 2024 at 05:08
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Also from the Abacab sessions: Submarine - great Naminanu - great You Might Recall - good Paperlate - not good  Me & Virgil - not that good |
Posted By: Jeffro
Date Posted: June 15 2024 at 05:32
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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. ------------- We all dwell in an amber subdomain, amber subdomain, amber subdomain. My face IS a maserati |
Posted By: AFlowerKingCrimson
Date Posted: June 15 2024 at 08:58
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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? |
Posted By: Mirakaze
Date Posted: June 15 2024 at 09:28
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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 ------------- https://mirasnelder.wordpress.com/" rel="nofollow - Freelance composer, accepting commissions | https://mirasnelder.bandcamp.com/album/altered-acuity" rel="nofollow - Bandcamp page |
Posted By: Big Sky
Date Posted: June 15 2024 at 14:59
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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. |
Posted By: progaardvark
Date Posted: June 15 2024 at 17:42
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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 ------------- ---------- i'm shopping for a new oil-cured sinus bag that's a happy bag of lettuce this car smells like cartilage nothing beats a good video about fractions |
Posted By: Prog-jester
Date Posted: June 16 2024 at 12:45
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Dodo/Lurker Abacab Man on the Corner |
Posted By: Deadwing
Date Posted: June 17 2024 at 02:53
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Great: - Me and Sarah Jane - Dodo/Lurker - Man on the CornerGood: - Abacab (live version is fantastic though lol)Average: - Keep It Dark - Like it or not - Another RecordBad: - No Reply at All Awful: - Who dunnit? |
Posted By: Sean Trane
Date Posted: June 17 2024 at 03:00
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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 .
------------- let's just stay above the moral melee prefer the sink to the gutter keep our sand-castle virtues content to be a doer as well as a thinker, prefer lifting our pen rather than un-sheath our sword |
Posted By: Boojieboy
Date Posted: June 18 2024 at 13:37
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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 |
Posted By: Hrychu
Date Posted: June 18 2024 at 13:48
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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Boojieboy wrote:Posted By: Steve Wyzard
Date Posted: June 18 2024 at 14:37
The real problems start with Invisible Touch.
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Posted By: Sean Trane
Date Posted: June 19 2024 at 03:24
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 content to be a doer as well as a thinker, prefer lifting our pen rather than un-sheath our sword |
Posted By: Steve Wyzard
Date Posted: June 19 2024 at 09:59
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Posted By: RockHound
Date Posted: June 19 2024 at 16:56
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My favorites are: Me and Sarah Jane Dodo/Lurker Abacab The only song I don't like is Whodunnit. It's the only Genesis song I zoom right past when it comes up. It's funny, you know...
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Posted By: Intruder
Date Posted: June 19 2024 at 17:40
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Man on the Corner is classic 80s Genesis - maybe my favorite track from the post-TTWT era. It's the only track I return to the Abacab LP for - the best tracks on the album are done far better on the Three Sides LP. I ------------- I like to feel the suspense when you're certain you know I am there..... |
Posted By: Deadwing
Date Posted: June 20 2024 at 03:35
It's probably the best track in the album, IMO. Pop of the highest quality
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Posted By: mathman0806
Date Posted: June 20 2024 at 04:30
That's how I would rate the tracks also. |
Posted By: richardh
Date Posted: June 20 2024 at 21:50
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Dodo/Lurker ( I prefer it as it is in this edited version) Keep It Dark Abacab It's the last Genesis album I can take seriously but it's messy and feels like a failed experiment. At least they were still trying for something. After that it was disappointing all the way to CAS. I was rooming with a big Genesis fan at college when Shapes came out and he tried to convince me that was some sort of return to form. I didn't believe it then and still don't.
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Posted By: Steve Wyzard
Date Posted: July 19 2024 at 09:59
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This has been up for a month now, and I wanted to say thanks to everyone who responded. I'm very surprised by both how people responded and by how many took the time to do so. I know this album is far down the list of most people's favorites, but the responses indicate that at the very least, the album was listened to and (somewhat) appreciated. There was even a tiny little bit of love for "Who Dunnit?" Will wonders ever cease?
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Posted By: AFlowerKingCrimson
Date Posted: July 19 2024 at 13:02
| Who dunnit is a bit of an odd duck which is why I said "what were they thinking." However, I don't know if I would say it's awful. It's just not what I would expect from them. It sounds more like an experiment than a proper song. |