Abacab
Abacab is the eleventh studio album by English rock band Genesis, released on 18 September 1981 by Charisma Records. After their 1980 tour in support of their previous album, Duke (1980), the band took a break before they reconvened in 1981 to write and record a new album. Abacab is the first Genesis album recorded at The Farm, a recording studio bought by the group in Chiddingfold, Surrey. It marked the band's development from their progressive roots into more accessible and pop-oriented songs, and their conscious decision to write songs unlike their previous albums.
For the song, see Abacab (song).Abacab enjoyed a mostly positive reception from critics and was a commercial success for the band, becoming their second No. 1 LP on the UK Albums Chart and their first to reach the top ten of the US Billboard 200, peaking at No. 7. Genesis released four singles from the album, the most successful being "Abacab" and "No Reply at All". The album was certified gold in the UK and double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for selling two million copies in the US. The Abacab Tour visited North America and Europe in 1981, recordings from which formed most of their 1982 live album and concert video Three Sides Live. Three tracks left off the album were released on the EP 3×3. The album was reissued with a new stereo and 5.1 surround sound mix in 2007.
Background[edit]
In June 1980, the Genesis line-up of drummer and singer Phil Collins, keyboardist Tony Banks, and guitarist/bassist Mike Rutherford, with touring drummer Chester Thompson and guitarist and bassist Daryl Stuermer, wrapped their 1980 tour of the United Kingdom and North America in support of their tenth album, Duke (1980). Following a period of rest, in November 1980 the band bought Fisher Lane Farm, a farmhouse with an adjoining cowshed near Chiddingfold, Surrey, as their new private rehearsal and recording facility. In the process of remodelling the building into a studio, the trio reconvened in the farm house to write and rehearse new material, which initially took place in the living room, and they started recording the album in March 1981 once the studio was operational.[3][4][1][5] Abacab marks the first Genesis album that was recorded in England since A Trick of the Tail (1976). The success of Collins's debut solo album Face Value (1981) had gained momentum by the recording stage; Banks claimed it did little to alter the sound or style of Abacab or the relationship towards him or Rutherford as they had been friends for a long time.[4]
Artwork[edit]
The cover was designed by English artist Bill Smith, who recalled that the group were difficult to work with as "they only ever knew what they didn't like".[25][16] He first presented the band with portfolios from various illustrators, but the group did not find anything that they liked from them. Rutherford took Smith's sketchbook and spotted an abstract design initially made for a book, which featured an arrangement of torn inch-long pieces of paper from a Pantone swatch of colours with squiggly black lines. The band chose it as the cover, and Smith reproduced it in four different colour schemes with an embossed finish.[25] The band liked all four, and thought it would have an effective presentation on shop displays. Three of the designs had a limited print, after which their label Charisma Records selected the original montage to remain in stock.[10] Smith recalled the difficulty in persuading Genesis manager Tony Smith and staff at Charisma that "these tiny scraps of coloured paper" was to be the album's cover, but he was successful from having the group's backing and noted it became "his best paid job ever."[26] Genesis allowed Smith to retain the copyright to his work.[26] In a contrast to previous Genesis albums, the sleeve is absent of lyrics. Banks reasoned this to reducing the emphasis on the words, which he thought had been overdone on previous albums, in order to make them a greater part in the album's overall sound.[6]
Credits are adapted from the album's sleeve notes.[16]
Genesis
Additional musicians
Production
Citations
Books
DVD media