Tony+banks

Genesis keyboardist Tony Banks has made several stabs at a solo career since 1978, writing and recording in various styles and occasionally under different group names. However, none of his attempts have been very commercially successful, a sore point for the man many deem responsible for a large portion of the Genesis sound…

Tony Banks' first solo album borrowed faint elements of Genesis' early progressive sound, making his debut release the strongest in his catalog. Solid keyboard movements lend themselves to mystic, fantasy-like excursions found in tracks such as "From the Undertow," "Somebody Else's Dream," and "The Waters of Lethe," one of the album's strongest cuts…

A Curious Feeling is the début solo album from Genesis keyboardist Tony Banks. Recorded at ABBA's Polar Music Studios during a brief Genesis hiatus, it was released in 1979 on Charisma Records and is one of only two of Banks' solo albums to have entered the UK Albums Chart, reaching 21 and staying on the chart for five weeks. According to Banks himself, the album "got some extremely scathing reviews, I don't think they were fair" but he conceded "this was post-punk and this was really not the album that people wanted to hear". Classic Rock reviewer Jerry Ewing agrees with Banks, writing that the album is made of "lush pastoral English prog rock that deserved better at the time" and is probably the musician's best solo effort.

The Fugitive is the second solo album by Genesis keyboardist Tony Banks. It was originally released in June 1983, on Charisma (UK), and Atlantic (US). It was produced by Banks himself, and co-produced by the Grammy Award–winning Stephen Short. The album is the only album in which Banks sings all of the lead vocals. On the previous concept album, A Curious Feeling (1979) all of the vocals were done by Kim Beacon. When that album did not turn out too successfully, Banks thought that it was pointless to continue that project.

With this album, Tony Banks attempted a more mainstream pop sound, and from an artistic standpoint he succeeded, although it certainly wasn't reflected in sales. The vocalists employed here (Alistair Gordon, Jayney Klimek, Banks himself) do an outstanding job blending with fluid, often dark soundscapes. Surprisingly, songs like "Throwback" (with a catchy, synth-horn pop hook) and even the pop fluff of "A House Needs a Roof" were overlooked on American radio, but fans of Tony Banks and the pop powerhouse sound of '80s Genesis will enjoy this release.

A compilation of the material Genesis keyboardist Tony Banks recorded for two mid-'80s films, Quicksilver and Lorca and the Outlaws, Soundtracks is very similar in instrumentation to Genesis' Invisible Touch. Keyboards and drum machines dominate the album, which, in addition to the instrumental suites, includes three pop songs. "Quicksilver Suite" tends to rely too much on the recurring theme to "Shortcut to Somewhere," but the breathy keyboard theme that opens the piece is quite touching, and Banks has a flair for building interesting layers of synthesizers.

Tony Banks - A Curious Feeling (1979)
MP3 CBR 224kbps | RAR File 88.9Mb
Pop-Rock | 1CD | 11 Tracks

A Curious Feeling is the debut solo album from Genesis keyboardist Tony Banks.