Genesis
Abacab

THE REVIEW

The big day had arrived!

The new album by the fabulous GENESIS, 'ABACAB', was on record store shelves. A year earlier, at just fourteen, I had purchased 'Duke' (my first "serious music" album) and was thrilled!

During the wait for 'ABACAB', I got to know all the previous works of GENESIS, becoming an exaggerated fan, as one can be at that age. And finally, the new work of the greatest pop group of the millennium was ready to be listened to by us mere mortals. I received a call from my brotherly friend, (also a Genesis fan to the core), who had just bought the album and invited me to rush to his house to listen to it together.
A mishap prevented me from getting there right away, so he listened to it once alone and I understood afterward why he had that glum face when he greeted me… At first, I thought… what happened? Did the stylus on the turntable break? Is the record skipping? No, technically everything was fine.. unfortunately… the problems were much different…

And thus began the ordeal… We already knew the album title; it didn’t seem too "Genesis-like" but it could easily have been the name of some imp frequently peeking from the magical atmospheres of their music, surely it was something like that… Here comes the music!... Here comes ABACAB!
The first drum beats began and I realized I had made a huge mistake… I had already heard that sound that would accompany us for years… the crazy Phil Collins, after the success of 'In the Air Tonight' and his cursed album 'Face (slap... ) Value', had killed Genesis by engulfing them in his raucous and pounding sound.

But the worst was yet to come… the glimmer of light during ME AND SARAH JANE and DODO, were only the prelude to horror when we arrived at the (notes?) of WHO DUNNIT? and KEEP IT DARK, where the invader that is Phil Collins is truly unbearable. . . but where were Rutherford and Banks??? Maybe they were taking a pee break at that moment… there is no other plausible explanation. I exchanged a glance of dismay with my friend, but are these the Genesis?

But let's check the cover, is it sure to say that name??? It wasn't a prank, and it was all true, we were witnesses to the complete dissolution of one of the greatest pop bands. And we continued to hurt ourselves! NO REPLY AT ALL was exactly what was missing, so we were indeed complete! The horns of Earth, Wind, and Fire on a Genesis album? Be my guest, at this point…
In MAN IN A CORNER, good Phil Collins reminds us (but we really didn't need it), once again who was the author of this mess, since it could be a B-side of the aforementioned In the air tonight. LIKE IT OR NOT and ANOTHER RECORD…. they aren't even worthy of mention, "neither meat nor fish" pieces that form the epilogue to a musical jumble where the reins have been lost and were put there just to fill space on the record.

In conclusion, I say that 'ABACAB' was simply the collapse of a legend. The GENESIS no longer existed, the little progressive that remained with 'DUKE' had been brutally erased in favor of a pseudo-renewal dictated by Phil Collins on the wave of his solo success, ending up transforming GENESIS into a "support band" for personal use and consumption.

After 24 years, I still struggle to answer some simple questions about this album, I’ll mention just two:
But to whom was it addressed?
Was it necessary to fall so low just for the sake of change?