It was produced by Genesis and distributed in the United States by Atlantic Records and Warner Music Group.

Record World said that "sinuous keyboards, pulsating synthesizers and a driving rock beat transport Phil Collins' lead vocal.

Guitarist Mike Rutherford explained in an interview in 2006: [There are] three bits of music in "Abacab" and we refer to them as 'bit A', [correcting self] 'Section A', 'Section B', and 'Section C'.

On the first two tours, Phil Collins would sing the chorus in a high falsetto while Banks and Rutherford sang the lower harmonies.

For the later tours, Collins would sing the chorus in a lower octave while Rutherford sang the higher falsetto harmonies.