SACD Genesis – Abacab

Genesis make a new working home

For Abacab, Genesis acquired a studio of their own. Fisher Lane Farm in Surrey was bought in 1980, with the adjoining cattle shed converted for recording. Tony Banks, Phil Collins and Mike Rutherford initially rehearsed in the house; by spring 1981, the recording space was ready. Establishing a permanent base coincided with a wish to move away from familiar musical habits.

Genesis produced the album themselves, with Hugh Padgham engineering. His connection with Collins reached back to work on Peter Gabriel’s third solo album. Drums and rhythm took on a different role in the new arrangements. Banks reduced the dense keyboard chords associated with earlier records, giving the other instruments more room.

A title left over from construction

“Abacab” describes an early order of the song’s sections. Parts labelled A, B and C were assembled in different sequences, and one of those sequences supplied the name. The completed recording no longer follows it exactly. The title preserves a trace of the writing process even after the finished music has moved on.

The writing credits offer another point of entry. Alongside jointly written material, each member contributes a song individually: Banks’ “Me and Sarah Jane”, Collins’ “Man on the Corner” and Rutherford’s “Like It or Not”. Try using these as three reference points. How do melody, accompaniment and structure differ when a single member brings the composition to the group?

Horns from outside the trio

The Phenix Horns from Earth, Wind & Fire appear on “No Reply at All”. Their presence expands the trio’s instrumental vocabulary and provides one of the record’s most identifiable changes. Listen specifically to their entrances: how do they answer the vocal, and which parts of the rhythm do they emphasise?

“Who Dunnit?” takes a different route. Its unusual synthesizer sound is connected with Banks’ work on the Prophet-5. The longer “Dodo/Lurker” pairing offers another contrast. Reducing Abacab to a simple move towards shorter pop songs misses those different experiments. Several approaches to changing the band’s familiar habits coexist within the programme.

The SACD edition

Analogue Productions CAPA 042 SA is a hybrid stereo SACD in the Atlantic 75 Series. A stereo CD programme and a stereo SACD layer occupy the same disc. The latter requires an SACD player, while the CD layer works in conventional CD equipment. No 5.1 programme is included. The publisher’s product page identifies neither a mastering engineer nor a tape source, so details belonging to other Genesis reissues are not transferred to this disc.

Michael 45 holds the item in Germany and dispatches it from Hilden, so customers do not need to arrange a personal US import or wait for customs processing.

Also in another edition: Abacab

More by Genesis: Foxtrot · “Genesis”

Artist page: All titles by Genesis and Phil Collins

Customer question: Buying Analogue Productions records in Europe

Musicians

Documented selection of participating musicians. Personnel may vary by track; this list does not claim to be complete.