ABACAB REMAINS THE ULTIMATE PROGRESSIVE ROCK EXPERIENCE
Pink Floyd of course normally gets the gold medal from music critics and fans of progressive rock as being the best, but Genesis is usually coming in a fairly close second.
After the shock departure.of original vocalist Peter Gabriel, Genesis turned to the band`s drummer, Phil Collins, to fill the lead vocalist
vacancy.
vacancy.
Musically speaking, the dynamics of the band didn`t alter that much after Gabriel done a get, the one thing which did change was that the band relied a lot less on any theatrical stagecraft as part of its live performances in the absence of the flamboyant Gabriel and concentrated more on developing a more accessible and straightforward melodic sound.
The best Genesis album with Phil Collins singing remains TRICK OF THE TAIL from 1976, but the best Genesis song and my favourite progressive rock song of all time, remains the atmospheric ABACAB, the title song from the band`s 1981 album.
No doubt much of the inspiration for
creating this song on Collin`s part was the
previous year`s magnificent IN THE AIR
TONIGHT, off his debut solo album.
creating this song on Collin`s part was the
previous year`s magnificent IN THE AIR
TONIGHT, off his debut solo album.
Unlike what many people think, that song is
not a song about lost love or a song directed at a woman who broke his heart and was found out, it actually has quite a sinister theme, one in which Collins finally tracks down and gets even with the stranger who was responsible for letting his young brother die in suspicious circumstances when he was a young boy.
Legend has it that Collins went to the
extraordinary length of inviting this person to one of his concerts years ago just after the song was released and made arrangements for the stage lights to be directed straight on him at the precise moment he started to play the thunderous finale to the song on drums.
not a song about lost love or a song directed at a woman who broke his heart and was found out, it actually has quite a sinister theme, one in which Collins finally tracks down and gets even with the stranger who was responsible for letting his young brother die in suspicious circumstances when he was a young boy.
Legend has it that Collins went to the
extraordinary length of inviting this person to one of his concerts years ago just after the song was released and made arrangements for the stage lights to be directed straight on him at the precise moment he started to play the thunderous finale to the song on drums.
I cannot be certain, only Collins can say if
this is the truth or not. ABACAB of course is a Genesis composition, keyboard whiz Tony Banks is at his best, while guitarist Mike
Rutherford`s closing solo has all the finesse and richness of anything David Gilmour has ever recorded.
this is the truth or not. ABACAB of course is a Genesis composition, keyboard whiz Tony Banks is at his best, while guitarist Mike
Rutherford`s closing solo has all the finesse and richness of anything David Gilmour has ever recorded.
One criticism you could have of Genesis is that very often Tony Banks had a tendency to drown out Rutherford`s fluent guitar work with too much fancy keyboard, but ABACAB is the one great exception.
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