Although a member of one of the most successful and influential progressive rock bands of the last century, Tony Banks is something of a quiet enigma, certainly compared to his bandmates. Phil Collins, we know, had a very high-profile solo career, and for a while Peter Gabriel was in the charts and doing well. Even now, he's highly regarded and respected as a musician. Mike Rutherford, too, made a name for himself outside of Genesis with his solo project, Mike and the Mechanics. But Tony? Despite being an accomplished keyboard maestro, and an excellent songwriter, and having been in Genesis from the very beginning, he's the one about whom you tend to hear very little, whether inside of or outside of the band. Of course, Genesis are no longer together, but even when they were, Tony would always shy from the spotlight, preferring to noodle away in relative obscurity, unleashing amazing keyboard solos like the one in “One for the Vine”, the heavy organ sound that underpins “The Knife”, and even in more recent times, the thematic “Duke's Travels”, but still little is generally known about his solo work.
Unlike some of his contemporaries in Genesis, including ex-bandmember Anthony Phillips, who has gone on to have quite the career in classical music, Tony has not put out a slew of albums. In fact, between 1979 and this year he's only had eight in total, and two of them were soundtracks to movies. Two were also released under projects, 1989's
Bankstatement and 1995's
Strictly Inc., leaving him with basically five actual solo albums, two of which are suites for orchestra, the latest released this year.
A Curious Feeling - Tony Banks -1979)
But though I've not heard everything he's written or played solo, and though
Bankstatement was, for me, very hit and miss, with some great tracks and some real letdowns, his debut album,
A Curious Feeling, hit all the right spots. Released without fanfare, without a picture of him on the sleeve, and with little or no media attention, it nevertheless quietly climbed into the top twenty album charts and remained there for over a month. It's a concept album, apparently (though I never knew it) based on the novel
Flowers for Algernon, which I've never read and so can't confirm or deny it follows the storyline. What it does have, however, is no bad tracks and some really stunning ones. At a time when Mike Rutherford had yet to release any solo material, nor indeed Phil Collins, and while Peter Gabriel was just getting to grips with his second solo album, with Genesis about to hit the big time again with
Duke the following year,
A Curious Feeling is a gem of an album, showing effortless, natural talent without any big hubbub or ego.
But then, that's Anthony George “Tony” Banks for you.
It opens with a piano instrumental, as perhaps you might expect, but if you think this is going to be largely an album of piano and keyboard instrumentals and themes, you're off centre there. Originally intended to be the intro to Genesis's “Undertow” from the
...And Then There Were Three album, it's a powerful yet laidback tune with synths backing up the piano, really to be honest sounding more like something off
Duke to me, especially “Heathaze”. It only lasts two and three quarter minutes, but serves as a delicious little
entree to this feast of an album, followed by “Lucky Me”, an uptempo pop-sounding song which really looks forward, if unintentionally, to Genesis's later material on
Invisible Touch, and the first vocal track with the late Kim Beacon taking the mike, as he does for the entire album, Tony content to hide behind the keyboard, where he's always been most comfortable.
“Lucky Me” displays many Genesis moments, but this will not be typical of the album, as it strikes out on its own, heading it its own direction. The voice of String Driven Thing's Beacon fits the material like a glove, and his vocal is clear, strong and passionate without ever taking over from the music, which is the lynchpin around which the album turns. Toiling quietly in the background, Tony paints a lavish soundscape with his keyboards, also taking guitar and bass duties, and some percussion, though most of this is delegated to Genesis on-the-road drummer Chester Thompson. “The Lie” is a
very Duke-sounding piece, uptempo and boppy with a great piano melody racing it along, heavy synths keeping the background as the guitars chop it up and snarl away in quite a rocky tune. It falls into a sort of slow semi-reggae beat halfway in, with choral voices coming in to join the melody, and Kim sounding almost Colin Blunstone. Then Tony takes us back to 1974 with a keyboard line right out of
The Lamb, before it all ramps back up again to head towards its boppy end. Not, I have to admit, one of my favourite tracks on the album, but then, that only shows how good the ones I rate are!
“After the Lie” is a much slower, moodier piece, with Beacon's voice low and almost echoing, Banks' piano taking centre stage, then supplemented by Alan Parsons-style marching keyboards and drums, as the vocal gets stronger and more insistent. There are some lovely little Banks moments in this song: piano runs, keyboard arpeggios, little
glissandos, lovely stuff. A deep, humming choral synth keeps pace as the song heads into its third minute, then some spacey synth and light piano as everything slows down even further in almost Vangelis style, Beacon's vocal coming back in as the tempo begins to increase with the song moving into its
denouement with some superb trumpeting keys from Tony taking the tune home in an almost brassy way.
The title track comes in on a shout and a big, happy keyboard sound, and is an uptempo, poppy song which could have made quite a decent single, had it been released. Beacon is on fine form here, singing his heart out, with Tony trying out all sorts of little tricks on the synth and making it sound like a whole band. It's a very uplifting song, and it leads into only the second instrumental on the album, but one of my favourite tracks. “Forever Morning” kind of revisits the theme of “From the Undertow”, with a heavy piano opening, then sliding into soft synth and arpeggiated keys, with a nice midsection where it goes all pastoral for a minute or two, nice soft piano passage with attendant bright keyboards, then a big finish as it crescendos up to the climax of the piece, first running off a sort of false ending before coming back with the triumphant finish.
Opening as a much slower, moodier song, “You” begins on jangly, expressive guitar with minimal synth backing and some nice vocal harmonies, percussion coming in almost unnoticed around the second minute before it kicks into life as it moves into the third, with a big crazy keyboard run again harking back to the best of
The Lamb, flowing arpeggios and smooth synth runs everywhere as Banks takes over the melody, then it slows down in very Genesis fashion with a sonorous, deep booming choral synth, taking off again with trumpeting keyboard flourishes before it all fades down on light synth and piano to the end.
One of my very favorites, in fact I think I would put it as the standout, is up next, and “Somebody Else's Dream” comes in on a thumping, rolling drumbeat and squealy synth before a nice little piano line breaks in, and Beacon's vocal can be described as one of the very best on this album. It's a sombre, moody, tense piece with a lot of drama and urgency about it, with the intensity building as the song goes on, dropping back in the middle as the melody takes a little breather, a nice gentle piano line soon giving way to more urgent and heavy synthwork, and Beacon comes back for his final vocal lines in the song. The longest on the album at just under eight minutes, the last two minutes are totally instrumental as Banks really lets himself go on the keys in an almost operatic display of energy and drama.
A nice relaxing instrumental then, just the ticket after all that high-powered, intense playing, and a real respite in a lush little interlude; well, not really as it's over six minutes long, but it does bridge the gap between the energetic and dramatic “Somebody Else's Dream” and the final two tracks, and is the final instrumental on the album. Some rather nice soft guitar on it too, though it's soon supplanted by deep organ and warbly keys, with the piano coming back in to calm things down. Lovely little flutey sounds on the keys add to the sense of tranquility on the piece, but like a storm bubbling under, just held in check, the heavier keyboards and throaty synths are just waiting to be unleashed again, so that the track rises and falls like the tide, with crests and troughs, and is a thoroughly enjoyable ride, and a real testament to the undoubted and yet almost taken for granted prowess of Genesis's quiet keysman.
A mid-tempo ballad helps to close off and bookend the album, as “For a While” breezes along nicely with some bright guitar and some carefree keys, and another fine vocal performance from Kim Beacon, though by comparison it's a short song, just over three minutes, then the coda, or epilogue is a dark but moving little piano piece called “In the Dark”, with some effective flute and whistle sounds on the keys, but otherwise just the piano and Beacon's vocal, with some soft synth joining in with a sort of half-reprise of the theme from “Forever Morning”. A nice gentle and yet appropriate way to finish the album.
It's a pity this isn't better known; despite spending time in the top twenty I doubt many non-Genesis fans could point to it as a solo Genesis album, and yet although it was his debut it comes across to me as completely accomplished and professional, balanced and thoughtful, definitely more a project created by someone who loves music than a crass attempt to cash in on the Genesis name, or make a big splash in the charts. Not saying Gabriel or Collins had that in mind either - well, probably Collins - but it's nice to see that this album, rather like Mike Rutherford's later efforts before forming his band, concentrates more on making the sort of music the artist prefers than what will sell.
An undiscovered gem, without doubt. Go unearth it now.
TRACK LISTING
1. From the Undertow
2. Lucky Me
3. The Lie
4. After the Lie
5. A Curious Feeling
6. Forever Morning
7. You
8. Somebody Else's Dream
9. The Waters of Lethe
10. For a While
11. In the Dark
Rating: 9.4/10