Mike Rutherford

Abacab again on vinyl this afternoon. I cleaned it as well as I could, but it is dull and crackly. Still listenable, and it is a great album with one exception that any Genesis fan will know immediately what I am talking about.

OMG, side two is the real bad one. “Lonely Man” sounds terrible and keeps skipping. Someone wore out this song.

OK — this one’s getting sold.

Genesis’ Abacab on the record I bought in Chattanooga. It sounds pretty good — the engineering, and not a lot of cereal. Some, but not distracting.

“Me and Sarah Jane” has some pretty distinct cereal, even a skip maybe. Really a lot of it by the time we get to “Keep It Dark.” This may not have been played in a while. Still, a good first side.

“Who Dunnit?” is a shit song. Sorry, guys.

“Lonely Man” has a lot of cereal. I am hoping that after this first play it won’t be as prevalent. It skips a couple of times too. Poo. A bad scratch at the end almost ruins the song. Dang it. And it gets worse into the next one, skipping quite a bit.

My copy of Selling England by the Pound sounds absolutely terrible. I can barely hear the drums. Cottony and soft, and volume did not help. My FLAC files are so much better. Luck of the draw, I suppose. I can’t have three jamming days with vinyl in a row, can I? Well — maybe I can. It may be time to open a new record.

Oh, yes. This is how “Firth of Fifth” is supposed to sound. Genesis is best when they get their prog thing on: what would be a three-minute song for any other band is a ten-minute banger here. And Hackett’s solo section is just great — what a mood he paints atop Rutherford’s driving bass line. I do wish the drums were further forward in the mix.