Tony Banks or Rick Wakeman

old grumpy Rick !

Wake, man!

Banks for me, he has more subtle musicality, his choices for shifting keys and scales are wonderful. All my respect to grumpy Rick in any case!

Wakeman is a far better and talented keyboard player. I choose Sir Rick.

Rick Wakeman, of course.

Six Wives of Rick

The.Crimson.King wrote: Neo-Romantic wrote: I've never been too keen on Wakeman. Patrick Moraz is my favorite Yes keyboardist. Only took one album for him to effectively displace Wakeman in my book. ^ this <span style="line-height: 1.2;"></span> <span style="line-height: 1.2;">This is a fascinating question because in many ways, they're opposites:</span> <span style="line-height: 1.2;"></span> <span style="line-height: 1.2;">1)  Banks is more of a meat-and-potatos player who supports the song</span> <span style="line-height: 1.2;">      Wakeman is better from a technical standpoint and more flash</span> <span style="line-height: 1.2;">2)  Banks seemed to favor organ and polysynth</span> <span style="line-height: 1.2;">      Wakeman favored piano</span> <span style="line-height: 1.2;">3)  Banks' solo's were usually played on an ARP Pro Soloist</span> <span style="line-height: 1.2;">      Wakeman favored the Mini-Moog</span> <span style="line-height: 1.2;">4)  </span><span style="line-height: 1.2;">Wakeman is a hilarious guy you'd want to hang out with</span>       <span style="line-height: 1.2;">Banks is an upper class twit, but I voted for him anyway </span>

richardh wrote: Depends from what perspective you are looking Technical - very close run thing ,didn't Keith Emerson say Banks was the best? Composition - Six Wives is amazing but is to Rick what The Planets Suite is to Holst. I do like Criminal Record and other Wakemen albums but none of them are masterpeices like Six Wives. Banks has never recorded a bravura work such as that Working within a band - Banks easily. well he was 'Mr Genesis'. Wakeman joined an established band and was the cherry on top of the icing on top of the cake. Suddenly Yes could challenge ELP on their own ground. Live performance - Banks nails it every time but rarely varies from pre-rehearsed solos. Could phone in his performance most of the time. Wakeman is prepared to improvise much like Emerson. I make it a 2-2- draw

I do like Wakeman's ability to improvise, or make some twists to the songs he is playing, adding something and so on, just like the extra keyboard solo he added to "Starship Trooper" on Keys to Ascension... he just made the Wurm section his own as much as it's Howe's; and of course, he would do this kind of things with his own songs on his own shows. Another nice thing about him, is that he usually plays his songs with the musicians he has available, without using recordings to fill out the sound, which might have been a temptation with songs from albums such as Journey and Arthur that use lots of orchestrations and choirs, and really, those songs sound usually sound perfect anyway.

If it counts for anything, I prefer Rick's 'Silent Nights' over Banks' 'A Curious Feeling'.............

richardh wrote: Live performance - Banks nails it every time but rarely varies from pre-rehearsed solos. Could phone in his performance most of the time. Wakeman is prepared to improvise much like Emerson.