Editing Abacab (section)

==Critical reception==
{{Music ratings
| rev1      = [[AllMusic]]
| rev1score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}<ref name="allmusic">[{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r8179/review|pure_url=yes}} Abacab ''Genesis''] Allmusic.com, [[Stephen Thomas Erlewine]]</ref>
| rev2      = ''[[Q (magazine)|''Q'']]''
| rev2score = {{Rating|2|5}}<ref>Andy Fyfe ''Q'', May 2007, Issue 250.</ref>
| rev3      = ''[[Record Mirror]]''
| rev3score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Smith|first=Robin|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Record-Mirror/80s/81/Record-Mirror-1981-09-26-OCR.pdf|title=Albums: Abacadabra. Genesis – ''Abacab''|magazine=[[Record Mirror]]|location=London|publisher=Spotlight Publications Inc.|date=September 26, 1981|page=11|issn=0144-5804|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20240520095308/https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Record-Mirror/80s/81/Record-Mirror-1981-09-26-OCR.pdf|archivedate=20 May 2024|access-date=7 January 2025}}</ref>
| rev4      = ''[[Rolling Stone]]''
| rev4score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref name="Stone review">Fricke, David (26 November 1981). [https://web.archive.org/web/20080726083745/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/genesis/albums/album/96869/review/6068135/abacab Abacab review], ''Rolling Stone''.</ref>
| rev5      = ''[[The Rolling Stone Album Guide]]''
| rev5score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref>{{cite book|author1=Nathan Brackett|author2=Christian David Hoard|title=The new Rolling Stone album guide|publisher=Simon & Schuster|page=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/n341 328]|location=New York|year=2004|isbn=978-0-7432-0169-8|url=https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac|url-access=registration}}</ref>
| rev6      = ''[[Smash Hits]]''
| rev6score = 6.5/10<ref name="Hepworth">{{Cite magazine|last=Hepworth|first=David|author-link=David Hepworth|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Smash-Hits/1981/Smash-Hits-1981-10-01.pdf|title=Albums: Genesis – ''Abacab '' (Charisma)|magazine=[[Smash Hits]]|location=Peterborough|publisher=EMAP National Publications, Ltd.|volume=3|issue=20|page=19|date=1 October 1981|issn=0260-3004|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20240520174801/https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Smash-Hits/1981/Smash-Hits-1981-10-01.pdf|archivedate=2024-05-20|access-date=31 December 2024}}</ref>
| noprose = yes}}

In a review for ''[[Melody Maker]]'', reporter Paul Colbert thought the album was the band's least consistent and therefore, least predictable in three years. He recognised a "heavy PC [Phil Collins] twist to the sound" on "Man on the Corner" and "No Reply at All", but "he does not have it all his own way". Colbert, however, thought Genesis had produced "a couple of Frankensteins" such as the latter half of "Abacab", which he deemed "unstructured" and "uninspired" compared to their past instrumentals. He named "Keep It Dark" and "Who Dunnit?" as "the most exciting and innovative music" the band had produced for several years, and concluded with the album is "by far more promising" than ''Duke'' or ''...And Then There Were Three...''.<ref name=melodymaker1981>{{cite journal|url=http://thegenesisarchive.co.uk/melody-maker-paul-colbert-review/|title=New values|first=Paul|last=Colbert|date=1981|journal=Melody Maker|access-date=2 December 2016}}</ref> Ken Kubernik of the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' wondered if the success of Collins's solo album ''Face Value'' was an influence on the group, to which he replied, "Yes and no." He praised the album for its "thick, resonant instrumental passages, quaint imagery in the lyrics, and superb production", but "beneath the surface are some new wrinkles in the trademark Genesis sound", noting a reduction in harmonies for more simple vocals and Collins's drum sound replacing Banks's keyboards as their "vortex". Kubernik did, however, praise Collins's vocals.<ref name=latimes1981>{{cite journal|url=http://thegenesisarchive.co.uk/la-times-abacab-review-18th-october/|title=Genesis turns loss into gain|first=Ken|last=Kubernik|date=18 October 1981|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|access-date=2 December 2016}}</ref>

Jim Bohen for ''[[Daily Record (Morristown)|Daily Record]]'' recognised ''Abacab'' had largely taken its direction from Collins's ''Face Value'' with its structure based around a "a huge, booming drum sound". He noted the instrumentation is less restrained than previous Genesis albums. "Who Dunnit?" was described as "an [[Ian Dury]] like tongue-twister", yet deemed "Dodo/Lurker", "Like It or Not", and "Another Record" as "less noteworthy". Bohen concludes, however, that the album "drags this trio of art-rockers into the 80s at last".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/253777535/?terms=genesis+abacab|title=Shortcuts – Genesis – Abacab|newspaper=Daily Record|location=Morristown, New Jersey|page=56|date=18 November 1981|first=Jim|last=Bohen|access-date=17 December 2017|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> A positive review was published in ''[[The Pittsburgh Press]]'' by Pete Bishop. He named ''Abacab'' a "state-of-the-art" album and picked "Abacab" and "No Reply at All" as particularly good tracks despite Collins's vocals not being "the world's strongest". Bishop said "Who Dunnit?" was the album's only "dud", yet believed overall the album would please Genesis fans.<ref name=pittsburghpress>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/15950362/abacab_1981/|title='Abacab' more of same from Genesis|first=Pete|last=Bishop|date=25 October 1981|newspaper=The Pittsburgh Press|page=117|access-date=23 December 2017}}</ref> An uncredited review in ''[[The Coshocton Tribune]]'' in Ohio predicted the album would be Genesis's first top ten album in the US due to its similarity to ''Face Value'', but rated it ahead of "the dreary ''Duke''".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/15950511/abacab_1981/|title=Album Reviews|editor=Unknown|date=13 November 1981|newspaper=The Tribune|location=Coshocton, Ohio|page=14|access-date=23 December 2017}}</ref>

David Fricke of ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' praised the album for shedding the "ivory-tower artistry" of their previous albums, turning to sparse arrangements and "highly rhythmic interplay" and drawing inspiration from popular contemporaries such as [[XTC]] and [[The Police]].<ref name="Stone review"/> In his retrospective review for [[AllMusic]], critic [[Stephen Thomas Erlewine]] echoed this sentiment with greater emphasis, declaring "''Duke'' showcased a new Genesis... but ''Abacab'' was where this new incarnation of the band came into its own." He also argued that although the album is far richer in pop hooks and accessibility than the band's previous works, at its heart ''Abacab'' "is truly modern [[art rock]], their last album that could bear that tag comfortably."<ref name="allmusic"/>