Abacab | ||||
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Studio album by Genesis | ||||
Released | 18 September 1981 | |||
Recorded | May–June 1981 | |||
Studio | The Farm, Chiddingfold, Surrey, England | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 47:10 | |||
Label | Charisma | |||
Producer | Genesis | |||
Genesis chronology | ||||
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Singles from Abacab | ||||
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Professional ratings | |
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Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | |
Q | |
Rolling Stone |
Abacab is the eleventh studio album by English progressive rock band Genesis, released on 18 September 1981 in the United Kingdom by Charisma Records and 24 September 1981 in the United States by Atlantic 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.
Abacab received a mostly positive reception from critics and was a commercial success for the band, reaching number one on the UK Albums Chart and number 7 on the US Billboard 200. Genesis released four singles from the album, the most successful being "Abacab" and "No Reply at All". The album continued to sell, and was certified double platinum in 1988 by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for two million copies sold in the US. Genesis supported the album with their tour of North America and Europe in 1981 which formed most of their live album Three Sides Live (1982).
At the end of their 1980 tour in support of their previous album Duke, the line-up of singer and drummer Phil Collins, keyboardist Tony Banks, and guitarist Mike Rutherford took a break from touring and recording. In November 1980, the band purchased Fisher Lane Farm, a farmhouse with an adjoining cowshed near Chiddingfold, Surrey, as their new rehearsal and recording facility. The building was remodelled into a studio, and the trio settled in March 1981 to write and record new material for Abacab, the first Genesis album recorded in England since A Trick of the Tail.