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SOUNDTRACKSTony BanksCrossover Prog |
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Soundtrack music? Well, a bit (like on "You Call This Victory" and "Lion of Symmetry", "Lorca"), but rest is keyboards-like "Abacad"-GENESIS period, although less catchy.

A project with FISH (hooray!) falls short of expectations on "Short Cut To Somewhere," largely because of dated synthesizers and artificially contrived drama that stink of the '80s. (Pockets of the same stale parfum waft throughout the "Quicksilver Suite", with a minor variation of "Mama" in the middle.) "You Call This Victory" features Jim Diamond, who plays Tim Finn to BANKS' Jeff Lynne, eliciting all manner of hand-wringing heartache on the line "You call this justice when without here there's no sun", confirming for many the inextricable link between sunlight and justice. "Lion of Symmetry" is the best of the batch, as if Siouxsie Sioux rewrote the lyrics to "Turn It On Again" with passion. The closing "Redwing Suite" is pretty much a series of musical placeholders, no better or more memorable than the instrumental snippets from "A Curious Feeling". So, is "Soundtracks" the bastard child in the BANKS discography? To quote the immortal Fred Flinstone (or, more precisely, Fred's alien clone): "Yes yes yes."


I don't like the Jim Diamond track, but Toyah's is excellent and she'd be so much better singing with Tony than doing bread and butter jobs like going on 'I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here!' and 'The Wright Stuff' (UK current affairs phone-in show). Maybe he should have considered her for Genesis after Phil went. As for the 'Lorca & The Outlaws' music, nitpickers will also spot a bit recycled for 'Queen Of Darkness' on 'Still'!
Okay, but Tony can do so much better.

You have to have a certain amount of sympathy for Tony Banks. He was not only a member of one of the most successful bands the world has even seen, he was arguably the main driving force behind it. Much of the success of Genesis can be directly attributed to both his compositions, and the layers of keyboards he created which gave the band their sound.
When it comes to his solo albums though, he has been spectacularly unsuccessful. This lack of success must be all the more frustrating for him when he has had to watch his peers (Gabriel, Collins, Rutherford, and even Hackett), enjoying so much adulation and appreciation. If I was being harsh, I could suggest that this lack of solo success is attributable to some extent to his lack of charisma. Banks is very much a musician, not a performer. When I saw Genesis final tour (the one with Ray Wilson), Banks barely acknowledge that the audience were even present, let alone making any effort to communicate with them. Such detachment from his "audience" does not serve to endear him to them.
The other obvious reason for Banks' relative failure as a solo artist is the lack of a hit single. He has tried on several occasions to strike the rich seam which his band mates have exploited, but such efforts have been consistently unsuccessful, resulting only in disappointing material which clearly did nothing to represent his talents.
In a further effort to find that elusive success, Banks has collaborated with a number of well known artists, but even they have been unable to light the fuse. "Soundtracks" is a perfect example of all that is good and bad about Banks as a solo artist. The album consists of music written by Banks for two films ("Quicksilver" starring Kevin Bacon and "Lorca and the outlaws" AKA "Starship"), neither of which can be termed blockbusters.
Since the music was written to accompany these films, the album is more instrumental that other Banks solo works (apart from the recent classical project). Three of the six tracks have no vocals at all, while the other three feature different guest singers.
The first three tracks, which occupy most of side one of the LP, are from "Quicksilver". "Short cut to somewhere" features the vocals of Fish, but the song is straight from Genesis 80's pop era and as such was a potential, but ultimately failed, hit single. The two other tracks from the film are little more than incidental music of the type which I'm sure Tony can churn out in his sleep.
The remaining track on side one, and the whole of side two are dedicated to "Lorca and the outlaws". Banks' compositions for this film were originally intended for the film "2010", but everything he wrote was rejected when it was submitted, and he ended up allowing it to be used without charge on "Lorca..".
The distinctively voiced Jim Diamond sings (and co-writes) "You call this victory?", a rather mediocre drudge of a song. Mrs Robert Fripp, sometimes known as Toyah, provides the final vocals on the album on "Lion of symmetry". Her instantly recognisable lispy tones sit well with Banks' plodding, slightly offbeat synthesiser rhythm. Apart from the rather clumsy pun of the title, this is the most appealing part of the album, the infectious beat reflecting Banks' "This is love" from "The fugitive".
The remainder of the album is occupied by "The redwing suite", which is in reality another batch of incidental music in five parts. The atmospheric introduction is unceremoniously pushed aside by the ubiquitous pounding beat of drum machine and synthesiser as Banks bashes out more of the same.
It is often unfair to judge an artist by their soundtrack work. The music is often written to complement the intended film, and as such is out of context when heard in audio only format (A fish out of water if you will). Disregarding the fact that in this case part of the album was actually written for a completely different film to the one it was used for, the music does actually stand up fairly well in its own right. This is by no means an essential album, and those seeking more of the significant contribution Banks made to Genesis finest works will find little here of that nature. Nevertheless, should the album land upon your lap, it is worthy of a spin.

Soundtracks is filled mostly with instrumental pieces, including lots of quiet bits and transitional background numbers, as one would expect in soundtrack music. Thus, if you prefer vocal tunes or more agressive, driving rock rhythms, you may be disappointed. I happen to love Tony's subtler, classical side, so for me, most of the vocal tunes are lowlights of this recording (except for the terrific Lion of Symmetry).

The singles here are essentially a joke. I'm not a Marillion fan, so the addition of Fish does little to please me. But I've read a lot of fans of Fish complaining that he offers little here. So it's not just me. The singles are some of Tony's least interesting work in the pop songwriting realm and only reinforce the idea that he was best working longer and more complex.
It's just a shame he didn't take that lesson to his soundtracks. Okay, here's an easy test: play any of this music back to back with music composed for any other 80's movie. Notice the difference? No? Of course not. Tony is operating strictly to the conventions of 80's soundtracking. His work is not distinctive, nor is it melodic or interesting. It's a shame because I thought the man would actually excell in soundtrack work. I give the album two stars because it is listenable, and even enjoyable if you relax and let your mind focus on other things. However, because of my disappointment it will never rise above that. The best part of the album is the picture of Tony. He seems so happy and we rarely see the boy smiling. It also shows his excellent fashion sense: like in the 70's, Tony avoided stupid fashion excess, and stuck to comfortable and homey clothes. This makes him one of the least ridiculous looking rock stars of the 70's and 80's. In fact, you could say he looks more like an accountant than a keyboardist and songwriter for one of the most succesful bands of all time.

This album shows that Banks is good in writing soundtracks. The albums contains music for two movies: Quicksilver (the most recent) and Lorca And The Outlaws (the oldest of the two). If you think that soundtracks are boring: not so with Banks' soundtracks. Consider them as songs without words, though with a progressive twist. Sure enough, there are some songs with vocals on the album as well, but the biggest part of the album is instrumental.
Banks has interesting themes, interesting chords, and his synths and the production are state of the art. The sound of the album is very good. Maybe still a bit mechanical sounding for some, but definitely warmer than on "The Fugitive". Actually, I think that quite some prog / Genesis fans, who are being put off by most other albums Banks made after A Curious Feeling, might find some of their liking on this album. The reason is simple: the album is much more free form, and leaves more room for creativity beyond the three minutes pop song.
The music of Quicksilver is the most daring of the two, but the music of the oldest soundtrack, Lorca And The Outlaws, is probably the most in line with the tastes of the average Genesis fan. It's very melodious, the sounds of the synths are very open, spacey and sometimes a bit enigmatic (though never too much with Banks, who is still a traditional composer in many ways).
There are three vocal songs on the album, one with Fish, one with (in those days) new wave / pop singer Toyah Willcox and one with Jim Diamond, who was lead singer of PhD in those days, a band which was well known for their smash hit I Won't Let You Down. Maybe it's a matter of taste, but I think the song with Jim Diamond ("You Call This Victory") is the best of the three, and it shows Banks' considerable song writing talents. The three vocal songs are also a pointer for the future: from that point on Banks would make solo albums with different singers, and songs with different atmospheres (as opposed to the homogeny in sound and vocals of Banks' first two solo albums).
Soundtracks is a decent album and shows that Banks still had some progressive aspirations, and that he was versatile enough to reinvent himself as a composer and performer. It's not a spectacular album, but is has some real nice moments for prog / Genesis fans.

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