TONY BANKS

On to the second solo album of Tony Banks. The first album didn't get me really lusting for this one.

"This is Love" - Better than a lot of tracks on the first album. This is a "pop" song but it has an interesting construction and sound. There is almost a reggae feel to a lot of this track.

"Man of Spells" - I can't decipher the reason for this track - it's ok but it means nothing musically to me.

"And the Wheels Keep Turning" - At this stage the only reason that I continue listening to this is to complete the review.

"Say You'll Never Leave Me" - I can't say that this does anything for me at all.

"Thirty Three's" - Interesting beat structure carries a bunch of keyboard sounds and ideas. KInd of gets one dimensional later in the track.

"By You" - Quirky track that I quite like. A little long for what it is though.

"At the Edge of Night" - Upbeat rocky pop number. Bring on the monotony.

"Charm" - Instrumental track - A video game would have been suited to this music.

"Moving Under" - Lack of cohesion abounds. Why stretch a 2 minute idea into 6 minutes?

"K2" - If this is about fake weed then that's ok - if it's about the mountain peak you'd better make it dramatic.

"Sometime Never" - Thank goodness this review is over.

What on earth is this? I would have expected something way more profound from the Genesis keyboard wizard than what I've found on the first two Banks solo releases. There is nothing profound or in fact really interesting about this album at all. If this hadn't been Banks then I wonder how this album would have fared against the competition at the time in the music world - I doubt that anyone would even know of its existance today.

I have my own opinions about Tony Banks in his role with Genesis which I will not relate here. There is no doubt whatsoever, though, that he is one of the great "prog" keyboard exponents irrelevantly of anything else. What do I think of this - his first solo effort?

"From the Undertow" - very nice dramatic piano and keyboard piece.

"Lucky Me" - A nice track that is just that. Nice enough but nothing special.

"The Lie" - This track could easily have fit into the Genesis portfolio for the period.

"After the Lie" - Again a track that could have fit the Genesis portfolio for the period.

"A Curious Feeling" - The track is ok but as with the previous two there is something missing in the music that would give it a less playful and more mature edge.

"Forever Morning" - Keyboard heavy instrumental track. Noodling with melody. It's pleasant but it isn't cohesive.

"You" - Love song. I wouldn't play it to a woman to warm her heart as there are love songs out there that leave this cold. It's ok but really nothing special.

"Somebody Else's Dream" - The longest track on the album - I want to like it but it feels to me as if the vocal relating to the lyrics has just been tacked on. That perhaps the music was written and then the lyrics added as an addition - they don't gel very well.

"The Waters of Lethe" - Nice enough instumental track.

"For a While" - Little "pop" number that's pleasant.

"In the Dark" - This shorter track is really nice until the bombastic keyboards overpower it.

I feel that there are things missing on this album - my first impression of of this is that it's not mature enough musically. If there is love in the lyrics then show me love in the music, if there is angst in the lyrics then that must be mirrored in the music. To me, relating to this, Banks is way better when in a band. This is flighty happy stuff bordering on Pop music. I can't give this more than 2 stars in all honesty. The Genesis sound is there a lot of the time but it's the Genesis sound lacking the skills of the other members of that band to form a cohesive, solid, work.

Finally, the soul of Tony Banks , free as a bird, flying over our horizons... Confounded to walk to the shadows of Peter Gabriel, and Phil Collins, this is maybe the first time, when Tony shows and offer to our world his intentions , that he has always... As a composer, here is the time and the moment, that we can judge him fair... Wealthy compositions, make our views wider, and our soulworld bigger... A progressive mind, can compose even progressive music for full orchestra ... :-)

Tony Banks was born on 27 March 1950... Objectively speeking, he is in the second part of life... He is in the afternoon of the life... With his horizons wider, a big orchestra is the ideal tool (he is musician) , to tell us his emotions... That means not , that he can't be progressive mind ... :-) The bigger proof to that fact, is the tracks "Still Waters" , and "Blade" ... :-)

In those times we living, with poverty everywhere (pneumatically and physically) , the music of Tony Banks in 2012 , is a lighthouse, a coverture...

I think , we are lucky, that we living in an age so much poor emotional, and a progressive mind offer to us so many positively illuminated pictures for our world...

Recommended of course, to any progressive mind, all over the world... :-)

This cd is pretty much beyond beautiful. It is evident that Tony Banks has gained much confidence between his first orchestral cd, "Seven" (2004) and "Six" (2012). The magic of his earlier compositions with Genesis is here, in the dense details and emotive melodies. There is a haunting, and at the same time, pastoral quality to the music, even in the livelier pieces, such as "Blade" and "City of Gold". I'm reminded at times of a more complex "Forever Morning" (from "A Curious Feeling"), of course, orchestrated. Because this is an orchestrated album, it wont be for everyone, but for many of us, there will be a deep connection to this album, as it is unusually beautiful, and unusually poignant.

Tony Banks tries to find his way to solo success of fellow current Genesis bandmates Phil Collins and Mike Rutherford instead of former mates Peter Gabriel, Steve Hackett, and Ant Phillips. Initially, the pair follow the latter trio with prog albums as their initial releases with very good results but modest sales. After two PC pop rock albums, both Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks have a go at it. Each make the same mistake that both of them should have learned from their core job with Genesis; neither is a lead singer.

While Banks is a better singer than Rutherford, that is not exactly a ringing endorsement. The songs themselves are not horrible, on the whole they are just not very memorable. He writes for is limited singing range, which means there is not much variation here. There are a handful of very good songs and nothing to make you cringe. No real prog on this CD, a light 3 stars might be generous but I played it often when it was released.

It is very difficult to review this album as progressive in any way. It is a purely instrumental album written and produced by Banks and very well orchestrated by Paul Englishby. It cannot be described as progressive in any way really. However, I cannot ignore the fact, that despite Banks' meanderings amongst many different musical genres, he is a musical genius, and undeniably the major force behind the best works of Genesis.

The music is classical in style and some of Banks' talent for brilliant melodies can be heard straining through here and there. There are some very nice tracks on here, but it simply is not progressive in any way. But still, I do really like it and have happily listened to it a few times now. It is a good piece of work. But it is not an essential part of any prog collection. However, I wouldn't say it is just for fans either. Hence, three stars.

Well Tony Banks has finally outdone himself, with his finest solo album to date, doing what he dles best, creating beautiful and engaging instrumental music. The opening piece, 'Siren' is the only one that may be repetitous, with some haunting melodies, but perhaps repeated a time or two too many. But the following piece, 'Still Waters' is pure magic. Very subtle, with the type of intrigue Tony brought to early Genesis albums. 'Blade' and 'City of Gold' are among the two best compositions he has ever done, the former highly emotional and with the insertion of one chord at the 7:13 to 7:14 mark, takes the piece from 'great' to 'rapturous', and the latter powerfully provocative. Compositionally there is some commonality with Delius and possibly a bit of Vaughan-Williams. One hears some similarity to his 2004 release 'Seven', but 'Six' is a fairly significant improvement, and will be a favorite of mine for many years to come.

I have listened to this album twice now. I have heard 'Still', and think is is a fantastic pop album, with a wide variety of styles and tempo changes. I have also heard a curious feeling, which is also a touching album. This is utterly, totally bland. Every single song sounds exactly the same. Boring instrumentation, boring mid tempo balladry, and Tony Banks singing constantly out of key. I didn't mind him when he sung one song on an album, but track after track of this slightly sharp, shrill, thin voice. No, it is awful. Oh, and 'By you', compare to the 30 second interlude on Paul McCartney's tug of war album (1982), can't remember the name, just before 'dress me up as a robber'. But that was 40 seconds. It's not a great track, but there is something weirdly endearing about it, prob because his voice is being fed through a vocoder or something. I enjoy 80's pop, this falls short of the mark, let alone a prog album. The Carpenters album 'Passage' is 100,000x more progressive than this album.

I was curious about this album. I had heard the 9-minute prog "epic" from it ("Another Murder of the Day" with guest vocals by ex-Marillion singer Fish) prior to hearing the complete work. In very blunt terms, that song kicks butt!

However, I also read some of the reviews that said this album was pretty poppy. Well, yes, it is pretty poppy. Tony Banks made an album that could've been an 80's Genesis album, except with a bunch of different singers instead of Phil Collins.

Now I do like a lot of 80's Genesis, but even after multiple listens the majority of this album hasn't really grown on me.

The main problem is that a lot of the vocals don't feel like they fit the music. I kept expecting Phil to break in at any given moment to give these songs some punch.

The songs are sung by Fish, Andy Taylor (yeah, the one from Duran Duran & The Power Station apparently), Nik Kershaw, Jayney Klimek, and for one song, Tony Banks! Maybe because I know Fish from Marillion and his solo work, the songs he sings ("Angel Face" and the aforementioned "Another Murder of the Day") are pretty immediately likable. The other songs range from syrupy to tolerably bland. Maybe if Banks had one vocalist (like Fish) the album would have felt a little more cohesive.

Actually, the track Banks sings ("Hero For An Hour") is pretty decent. It sounds a little like something off Genesis' ill-fated (but underrated) Calling All Stations. Also, the tracks on which Klimek takes lead vocals are fun just for the fact that it gives a hint of what a female lead singer in Genesis might have sounded like.

In the end though, I'm "Still" not able to give this album a very strong recommendation - aside from the Fish tracks - or for curiosity's sake.

Highlights: "Another Murder of the Day"

In this time every progrocker seems to wants to have a solo recording (Steve Hillage, Steve Hacket, Jon Anderson, etc, etc.) Tony Banks shows up with his first solorecord "Acurious Feeling". I got this record by accident as a gift of my supervisor who had picked up that I listened to vinyl records. Before that I didn't know of it's existance.

Tony Banks (for the one, who don't know (yet); he played the keyboards in Genesis) begins his record with some nice keys before the first song with lyrics. The vocals are a bit like in the Alan Parsons Project. Hmm, maybe the whole record is a bit like the Alan Parsons project.

Some keyparts are quiet nice, but the songs are a bit too happy and pop-music alike for me. The first three songs keep my attention but after these I become a bit sleepy. After side one I seldom listen to side two, because at that time I'm allready overloaded by the first side with popsongs.

What this record really needed was some more soulfull vocalist and some more darkened sound.

Well, 2,5 stars for this cheesy record.