BANKSTATEMENT

One of the great mysteries concerning Genesis is 1. the lack of respect for Tony Banks 2. How important Tony is to the sound of Genesis 3. How underated Tony is as a writer.

Many might frown at Tony Banks musical direction that he has taken in both Genesis and his solo career, but in admitance, Tony always wanted to write music and only became a musician when he knew he could do it. Unlike any of his peers, Tony not only was a influential figure within the Progressive rock annals, but he also wrote or co-wrote many songs that would become long-time standards.

So then comes Tony's solo career. Tony's solo debut was a stunner, the missing link between Genesis's "And Then There Were Three" and "Duke", but with Tony in control, the music seemed more fluid. But in a major mistep, Tony released his second album "The Fugitive" which was a critical and commercial disaster, a move that his solo career would never recover from.

A shame, as for despite a couple of movie soundtracked based album, Tony's "Bankstatement" is a excellent album similar to the Synth-pop direction Genesis had dwelled into with "Genesis" and "Invisible Touch", but sadly that synth oriented style was fading within the late Eighties, and this album would sink without charting a single or on the album charts.

Charles

Surely with the success of Mike + The Mechanics, the time was right for Tony BANKS to join his GENESIS mates at the top of the charts. Or so the thinking probably went; but Tony's temporary rebranding as "Bankstatement" ended up on the loss side of the balance sheets, commercially anyway. Produced by Steve HILLAGE and featuring a pair of strong vocalists in Alistair Gordon and Jayney Klimek, "Bankstatement" was the closest thing to a full-fledged contender that BANKS had released yet, augmenting his keyboard-led creations with palpable production value.

At times, especially when Klimek takes the lead, "Bankstatement" seems like a viable option artistically (just recall how good Toyah Wilcox sounded on "Lion of Symmetry"). Alistair Gordon's voice is less consistent; the opening "Throwback" ends up sounding like Was Not Was' "Knocked Down, Made Small (Treated Like A Rubber Ball)", Lou Gramm comes to mind on "The More I Hide It," Barry Manilow on "That Night". Gordon gets the lion's share of the leads, which was likely intended as a means to compete with Mike + The Mechanics, but Klimek gets the best moments: "Queen of Darkness" and "A House Needs A Roof.".

Despite being credited with guitar, HILLAGE has little audible effect on the outcome, though his handiwork is evident on the Eastern-tinged "Big Man" (which starts with a reference to GENESIS' "Watcher of the Skies"). Thankfully, BANKS' character still comes through on "Bankstatement". No doubt the labels would have liked an entire album of adult contemporary pop, but it's when "Bankstatement" resists these expectations and returns to BANKS' strengths that the record truly succeeds. And if you enjoyed the instrumentals on "The Fugitive", check out "Thursday the Twelfth."

More attempts at commercial parity with his peers....but there are some wonderful moments on this album especially ' I'll be waiting' 'Raincloud' and ' The border' which would have been comfortable on any Genesis album. I sometimes wonder what Bank's works would have sounded like with PC behind the mic!

As with GTR, I expected more out of the collaboration between Banks and Hillage and got a poppy result. Jayney Klimek comes across like a 'Stars In Their Eyes' version of Aimee Mann (then of Til Tuesday)down to the blonde dreads, but minus the lyrical wit. Alistair Gordon I'm not sure about. 'Thursday The Twelth' is a bit hit and miss, but I do like 'The Border' very much. 'Throwback' was the wrong single choice. The sleeve is rubbish, which tends to be a given for Banks albums.

I expected a lot from this album due to Banks being a main Genesis songwriter and a great tinkler of the keys, but it fails to deliver! All the tracks are mere "soundscapes" with rather ordinary vocals sung on top. The songs start as they mean to go on and then just fade way at the end. Every one. Funnily,the stand out track for me is the Banks sung one "Big Man". Other than that a rather forgettable experience! Not an unpleasant album by any means, but lacking in any real "go". Seems an album aimed for commercial success and failing.

I really expected a lot of this album when I bought it back in the day.Steve Hillage guested on guitar and his was the first gig I had ever attended.Tony Banks was a keyboard player that I really admired.I remember that at about the time I purchased this I also bought Wet Dreams by Richard Wright. Keyboards was my favourite instrument and I had hoped for stirring stuff. I was to be disappointed. This album was much weaker than Wet Dreams,and I remember being thankful that I had never found a Peter Bardens solo album. The pain may have been too much to bare. Tony Banks was crucial to the success of Genesis,but as a solo artist he left me wanting so much more.

Six years after releasing the hideous "The Fugitive" album, Tony Banks returns to the solo spot with Bankstatement. Thank God I listened to this album after The Fugitive. Both deal much with pop music, but while the former is a total disaster, with bad songs and a rather lacklustre vocal, the latter is actually much better in both subjects. It seemes that Banks found out that his voice is not really ideal even for his songs (he sings only one track here). So he called two good vocalists fot this task. Right move. Also his songwriting here is fine. Pop music with a little hint of prog, ok, but fine nevertheless. In fact, if some of the materail were recorded by Genesis, they would probably be hits. If you don't believe me just hear the first track Throwback and try NOT to think Phill Collins singing it. It's a perfect Genesis late 80's song and a sure top ten single IF Collins had sung it and had the label Genesis print on it.

Certainly it's not Banks in it's prime but I have to admit I like this album. At first it really sounds a bit flat and bopring. But after a couple of listenings you'll probably finding out the fine subtletities most of the tunes have. It's not Tony banks best, far from that, but good anyway. If you're a fan of 80's Genesis music I recomended it

Low on credit?

Having failed to achieve the level of solo success enjoyed by his peers (Gabriel, Collins Hackett & Rutherford) from Genesis, Tony Banks released under the name Bankstatement what was really another solo album. Unfortunately, the venture was no more commercially successful than his previous attempts, and the name was quickly dropped.

For this album, Banks brought in the legendary Steve Hillage on guitar and production duties. While the production is indeed top notch, the talents of both Hillage and Banks are largely wasted in a collection of anonymous pop and soft rock songs. Sensibly, Banks takes a back seat on vocal duties on all but one of the tracks. He employs Alistair Gordon for six of the nine tracks, Jayney Klimek singing on a further two and dueting with Gordon on "That night". Gordon sounds very like future Genesis singer Ray Wilson, his throaty style also being reminiscent of Kim Bacon's contribution to Banks' first solo album.

The album opens in rather worrying fashion, with a brass intro to an upbeat pop rock number, which is rather too much in the vein of Phil Collins solo work. The "keyboard brass" is "augmented" by the real brass of The Phantom horns. Fortunately, this is the only track with a brass arrangement.

In rather predictable fashion the upbeat pop songs alternate with reflective ballads. Of the ballads, "I'll be waiting" is a pleasant but undistinguished song with breathing keyboards, while "That night" is a sugary middle of the road duet. The upbeat songs are the least appealing though, especially when Banks insists on singing on the "Jesus he knows me" related "Big man". "I need a roof" is probably the album's nadir, with all the characteristics of a Cindi Lauper reject and featuring lyrics such as "Call me, please talk to me, tell me the truth, I need to believe like a house needs a roof".

There are a couple of slightly more exciting songs. "Queen of darkness" is a bit heavier, the female lead vocal making for a pleasant change. "The border" sees Alistair Gordon sounding more than ever like Ray Wilson, Banks' supporting keyboards giving the track slightly more depth.

The main problem is the although Banks writes all the songs, his keyboards never take centre stage, preferring to maintain a supporting role throughout. The sole exception is the closing instrumental "Thursday the twelfth", when Banks finally comes up with something a little more constructive. Even here though, he hardly challenges himself, the piece being a mid-paced plod through some pretty straightforward keyboard exercises.

Not Banks' finest hour by any means, and a further indication that Phil Collins was far from being the only guilty party in Genesis migration to the murky world of pop.

I largely concur with previous reviewers in my opinion of this album. There's nothing particularly offensive about Bankstatement, but there's nothing particularly memorable about it, either. Overall, it's a nice production. Good singers, great keyboard textures from Banks, and a few musically poignant moments. My favorite songs are I'll be Waiting, The Border, Diamonds Aren't so Hard, and Thursday the 12th. The only one I really don't care for is (as always) the song that Tony sings himself, Big Man.

If you like Tony Banks, this is worth getting. But don't pay a premium price to get it! I guess I would sum it up by saying that this album is more consistent than most of his solo albums, but it's somewhat bland in its consistency. I like Bankstatement, but I prefer his albums with some bad songs and some GREAT songs (like Still).

If Genesis fans had a fit after The Fugitive, they must really have been driven up the wall by this album. A "debut" album by a "band" that Tony created (I use the quotes because this was as much a band as any other group Tony had worked with on his solo albums before) it was an even stronger stab at pop success. Unlike the bizarre stripped down and tense sound of The Fugitive, this was 80's pop all the way. The first song "Throwback" starts out with a horn chart that was a definite "throwback" to contemporary Genesis and Phil Collins songs. After this, the album storms through a collection of contemporary 80's pop styles. Hard driving synth pop rock tunes are surrounded by dreamy ballads and even evocative instrumentals. Tony was experiencing a lot of success in Genesis around this time. Genesis was one of the top selling bands in the world, and much of the songwriting was pushed by Tony. Likewise, Phil and Mike were also succesful with their parallel solo careers, getting huge hits with songs like Sussudio and All I Need is a Miracle. Tony figured he could do the same.

Why Tony never got this success is still unclear to me. There are many moments on this album that are as catchy as any moment from Phil or Mike's solo stuff. Tony was, and is, a great songwriter and composer, so these songs are strong, diverse, well played, and confident. In a different world, this album could have been a huge hit.

I think the reason it wasn't cuts close to the nature of Tony. Though Tony's keyboard playing style was often the center of Genesis, it was rarely, if ever, larger than life. It was subtle and careful, and Tony has always been illustrated as the shy and reclusive Genesis member, which is saying something, considering how shy and reclusive many of them are to this day. While Phil had the big friendly charisma and simple, honest approach that engendered him to pop success and Mike had the natural pop songwriting ability to create memorable and hit filled albums, Tony didn't have that same charisma. He was more likely to shyly smile during an interview, or tell one of his barbed, sometimes cruel jokes. He didn't promote, tour, or push his work the way that Phil did, nor did he have that easy going, natural talent to create pop music that Mike did. Tony worked best long and sprawling. He would develop his melodies slowly, create harmonic diversity, and come up with a polished and beautiful, if lengthy tune. Though he could write pop music, I truly don't believe his heart was in pop music. This is why, although he could write catchy pop just like Mike or Phil, he just didn't have the success.

In 1989, Tony Banks' colleague from Genesis, Mike Rutherford, was enjoying commercial success with his band outside Genesis, Mike & The Mechanics. Since Phil Collins also had enormous success as a solo artist, Tony now was the only artist within Genesis who didn't find himself a steady audience outside of the band.

Therefore it's no wonder that Tony tried to go the same road as Mike: forming a band with different singers, and make an album under a group banner: here on ProgArchives this album is filed under "Tony Banks", but originally it was released under the group name "Bankstatement".

Here we encounter a bit of a tragic story within Tony's life: time and time again he tried to make solo albums which would give him commercial success, but in this respect the record fails on two levels: not only does he not get the attention that he wants, but also he estranges his progressive core audience from himself.

After this lengthy introduction it may be obvious that this album is not a prog album. Indeed, it isn't. There are, on some songs, only hints of prog, nothing more. This may also the least rock oriented Banks album. This is very much a keyboard oriented album, but quite different from A Curious Feeling. The (simple) rhythms give the album very much a pop sound. Very 1980's hard and hollow sounding rhythms sometimes. The record company wanted Tony to have an outside producer, which is logical if you listen to Tony's first two solo albums, which sound a bit underproduced. For this job Tony asked Steve Hillage, who also plays guitar on the album. Although Steve still had a hippie image in those days, he did exactly what the record company and Tony wanted him to do: help to make it a modern commercial album. Don't buy this album because you are interested in Steve's guitar: there isn't much to enjoy on this album in that respect.

After five paragraphs of critical notes I may surprise you to tell you this is actually not a bad album. Well, if you are looking for prog on it, you will be very disappointed. But if you look at the record as a melodious 1980's pop album, it is actually quite good. The production still isn't very good (the next album "Still" would be better in that respect), but the songs are quite good. On this album Banks shows, to begin with, that he is an excellent song smith in a traditional way.

Yes, I said "traditional". "Throwback" and "Raincloud" are completely traditional sing songs, but very well written. Melodious songs with a head, a middle part and a tail. They are well sung also, by the way, by Alistair Gordon, who does a decent job on the album. Alistair's voice sounds much like Genesis' Ray Wilson, by the way.

But there is more than just traditional songs. "I'll Be Waiting" and "The More It Shows", also sung by Gordon, show that Banks knows how to make soulful songs where keyboards add a lot of atmosphere. The best piece on the album, "That Night", is also like that, though with the added vocals of female singer Jayney Klimek. Here Tony shines, and his keyboards give some sort of wall of sound which sounds quite compelling. It's too bad that Tony didn't have charisma as a solo artist, because on the strength of his compositions he might easily have found himself a bigger audience.

"Big Man" is also good. Tony' sings on it, in a style which is almost completely sounding like the songs of The Fugitive. It also shows that Tony can write intelligent lyrics: the song is about someone who comes in a position of power, maybe because he's elected as a politician because of his rhetorics or good looks, but misses in any way the abilities to handle his power in a good way. Especially memorable is the line: "I got a red light warning, I don't know why. Maybe it will go away if I close my eyes".

"Diamonds Aren't So Hard To Find" is a nice glorious feel good track. Even when, in terms of composition, the chorus and the verse aren't seamlessly fitting together, but the song is so catchy that it doesn't really bother.

"Thursday The Twelfth" is an instrumental with some nice, roaming, keyboard waves.

There are three songs on the album which don't work out well. "Queen Of Darkness" is a remake of an instrumental track on the Soundtracks album, this time with Jayney Klimek singing. The original version is much better, though, and Jayney sounds a bit nagging on the Bankstatement version which doesn't add to the original atmosphere of the song. "The Border" and "A House Needs A Roof" are like fillers in my ears. The other eight are quite good, though.

Tony Banks has another crack at pop success and he doesn't succeed.

It must have been frustrating for the main writer in Genesis not to have the success the four other members from their artistic heyday. Released in the last year of the 1980's, Banks created an album that had more polish then either of his prior releases but had an album most devoid of any prog. That was the idea as he had multiple singers, a stripped down sound (for him) and a shiney vintage 1980's production. While not a great album by any stretch of the imagination, he does have at least 2 songs that should have hit the market he was aiming for. "I'll Be Waiting" and especially "That Night" are 2 relationship ballads that should have been all over the Top 40. "Throwback" has keyboard horns and a nice pace that should have hit the bottom end of the charts. There is one song that hints at his predigree and that is the closing instrumental "Thursday the Twelfth. Excellent!

I believe the reason Tony Banks did not reach his goal was that he doesn't have the personality to promote himself, and he did not follow the Mike and The Mechanics lead and make any great videos. MTV is king + Good pop / rock songs + no visiblility = albums and singles that do not chart.

I occasionally enjoy this release but there are some tracks that I wouldn't call fillers but they are not that strong either.

3 stars.

Its now ten years since I first reviewed this album and I have to admit I enjoy this album more now than I did before. My original beef was with Jayney Klimek's vocals but now I no longer have those reservations. I am a big fan of TB and I will push this album to a weak 4 stars.

#20 Review

I find really weird that this album was intended as a band project, and it is still listed in some sites as a separate entity to Tony solo works, when this is in fact a work composed and writen (mostly) by Tony Banks, even knowing that, i really apreciate the talents that he got for making this album.

And now the review:

1.- Throwback 8/10: A song that i first ignored, that has some really good moments, i don't usually talk about lyrics, but i really like the ones here, i like what it tells and how the singer reaches those notes. Another thing to point out is the video, wich has several nods to The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, the video overall is really entertaining. The song itself may feel too happy with those horns, or sometimes really repetitive, but the Tony Banks factor clearly plays into here, wich makes the song be entertaining... and by the Tony Banks factor i mean that he has difficulties to do something simpler, but also he says that its intentional because he believes that pop songs need more beef, like his musical inspirations have done (The Beatles, Pet Shop sounds).

2.- I'll Be Waiting 4/10 Those synth clap sounds are back, this time for a more forgetable song (spoilers from a future review), this song would fit Calling All Stations, i can already imagine Ray Wilson singing this. With this song i really feel like i'm waiting for a more entertaining song to happen... the wait ain't so bad tho, there is interesting material here, expecting to have a better usage, like the pieces of music i have writen myself, except that i don't release them. Also, as i say to many songs... this one is also repetitive.

3.- Queen of Darkness 8/10: Based on the song "Lorca" from "The Red Wing Suite", feels like a new version from a song that i already like (spoilers), and "Lorca" feels based on "Final Chase" from the "Quicksilver Suite". If you have followed my reviews, you should know that i'm a fan of soundtracks, and that before Prog i was into movies and videogames soundtracks, and this song feels like an HD remaster of Lorca with interesting lyrics "If you wanted a creature from another dimension... i'm the answer", what is with that? I like it, and the voice work is excelent as well, the only downside to this song is the ending, wich feels boring, should've done a little more instead of a remaster with lyrics of "Lorca", but anyway, it still made for an entertaining song.

4.- That Night 7/10 A song clearly made from someone that specializes on keyboards, one really beautyful and melancholic song, really good voice work here. This song has a really interesting concept where the music and voice work contradicts each other on every verse until they mix together for the final, really nice idea that makes the song don't get old, but i feel like this song could've been expanded, made a part of a really large song, the fade-out at the end comes too soon.

5.- Raincloud 4/10 What is this? What a change from the last song feelings-wise, either way, it makes me feel really similar to what "I'll be waiting" did, except that this one could be on We Can't Dance and its repetitive, but it is more entertaining and has more variations than that one... if this song lasted 1 minute, it wouldn't lose that much.

6.- The Border 8/10: I really like the piano here, its repetitive but mesmerizing, the voice gives intensity and strenght to this song, that already feels more serious than everything previous on the album. Even with the little changes near the end, the song is still very repetitive, this song could be shorter... also, on a video for a certain Tony Banks tribute group (yes, there is one, i don't remember the name) they use an instrumental version of this song for introducing their concerts, it sounds really sweet. This song does what some songs previous on this album tried to do, a catchy sound to get us interested.

7.- Big Man 5/10 This starts like a SNES song and then it transforms into a Genesis/Mega Drive song, Tony would be really good at making videogame music... ok, aside from that, now Tony is singing, and he does a good job while telling bullies how they are. The problem with this song is that it gets repetitive quickly and tried to do an interesting chorus that comes out as boring.

8.- A House Needs a Roof 6/10 Tony really needs to make music for the Yamaha YM2612... this song is as 80s pop as a song can be, why wasn't this a hit? And as always, he needs to add something more and added a really minuscule keyboard solo, this is good, probably no for this site, but what can i do, this song works for what it is.

9.- The More I Hide It 4/10 This again reminds me to "The Waiting", yet this song tried to be interesting at one point, to add more, it really feels like this song was calculatedly crafted to add more "beef to pop", but in the end it falls short again, its the same case.

10.- Diamonds Aren't So Hard 7/10 It starts a little funny with happy music while telling horribly bad and ridiculous situtations, then the music makes you travel to a fictional world where diamonds aren't so hard to find, and that's how the song keeps being interesting, the changes one the song are welcome and the rythm is well done.

11.- Thursday the Twelfth 8/10: What an ending to this album, its as if a portal is distorting the world and re-organizing every physical entity while also making me dizzy. This instrumental track its a really interesting ending to an album that was supposed to be filled with pop-hits, yet Tony Banks can't contain himself from being weird, and you know, weird isn't bad. My problems with this song are that the intensity of the start decreases too fast, i feel like some people won't like this song for how it sounds or for being on 4/4, i like to be subjective on my reviews but i always seem to not make it that way, and in this case i can tell you, i'm clearly being biased because i just like this song.

So in the end this album gets a 62/100, wich is just 3 stars, almost 2.

My "5" review got lots of atention and i forgot to add in there that i was updating my older reviews with "B-Sides", right now "Abacab" and "... And then there where three..." are already done, but i plan to continue with "Invisible Touch" and "Trespass". I'm sorry if it took so long for me to post, but i was so busy that i even forgot that i was doing reviews and now i'm back, hope you give Bankstatement a chance and for Tony Banks in general, he is a really good keyboardist and composer, probably one of the best and my biggest inspiration... well, not for that i'm gonna make inflated scores, i don't want to spoil it, but there's an album that "still" dissapoints me to this very day... ok, that was mean, goodbye.

Review Nº 485

The musical career of Tony Banks is very extensive and is divided on two distinct facets, the career inside Genesis and his solo musical career. Inside Genesis, his role was fundamental on the group's sound and he always was one of the main composers of the band. His elaborated keyboard style is perfectly evidenced in songs like "Firth Of Fifth", "The Cinema Show", "Watcher Of The Skies" and "Supper's Ready", just only to mention some of them. Definitely, his work in the band helped to establish the final and unique sound of Genesis. Those works explain why he is considered as one of the best and most respected keyboardists and the owner of an unmistakable sound in the progressive rock. Banks' distinct keyboard style is very different from many of his contemporary keyboard players, always keeping a low profile, in opposition to the most extravagant styles like we can see, for instance, in the cases of Rick Wakeman and especially in the case of Keith Emerson. That style earned him to be considered the quiet driving force behind Genesis.

Unfortunately, unlike the other band members of Genesis, his solo musical career, beyond can be considered relatively short, never was considered really bright. Sincerely, I could never understand the why, and it always let me puzzled and disappointed. Apart from being responsible for some of the best and my favourite songs from Genesis, he always was my favourite member of Genesis along with Steve Hackett. Sincerelly, I don't know yet all his solo musical works. However, of the four works I know, until now, "A Curious Feeling", "The Fugitive", "Bankstatement" and "Still", the first is, in my humble opinion and without any doubt, the best and the only that we can consider truly a progressive album.

"Bankstatement" is his fourth solo studio album and was released in 1989. Technically, it's a group's project with little more than an only a name. In reality, this is a solo project of Tony Banks, issued under a band's name. The other band's members were the singers Alistair Gordon and Jayney Klimek, predominantly on lead vocals. The latter of which, also appeared in Bank's next and fifth solo studio album "Still", released in 1992. It seems that Banks had the idea of creating a band named Bankstatement, after he knows the success that Mike Rutherford was having with the debut eponymous studio album of his Mike And The Mechanics musical project, an album which was released in 1985.

Again, Banks wrote all the tracks and invited several musicians to participate on the album. So, the line up on "Bankstatement" is Tony Banks (vocals, keyboards, bass synthesizer and synthesizer lead guitar), Alistair Gordon (lead vocals and backing vocals), Jayney Klimek (lead vocals and backing vocals), Geoff Dugmore (drums), Pino Palladino (bass guitar), Dick Nolan (bass guitar), Steve Hillage (guitar), John Wilson (additional vocals), Martin Ditcham (tambourine and congas), Martin Robison (saxophones) and The Phantom Horns (brass).

Once more and as happened on his "A Curious Feeling" and "The Fugitive", the album has also eleven tracks. As a conceptual album, I'm not going to review the album track by track, as usual, but only a global review. "Bankstatement" is an album completely different from "A Curious Feeling" and "The Fugitive". "A Curious Feeling" is essentially a symphonic progressive album and "The Fugitive" is, for me, a little bit difficult to classify. It's something between a crossover album and a pop album. "The Fugitive" is, in a certain way, a kind of a naïve album where Banks thought he could dispense some professionalism, like dispense a real vocalist and do himself those functions. "Bankstatement" is a more professional album than "The Fugitive". It's a more painstaking album with two really good vocalists and it has also a handful of good professional performers. Certainly, it's not Banks at his best but it has some tasteful moments. As happened with "The Fugitive", I like this album too, but I think it isn't better than "The Fugitive". After first listenings it seems to be a bit flat and boring. But, I think these are the main problems of almost the albums made by the classic prog bands of the 70's, in the 80's. It has some inconsistency but if you're a fan of 80's Genesis, maybe you can like it.

Conclusion: My overall impression about this album is mixed. There are some highlights on it, there are some good songs but there are also some mediocre songs too. Banks to often rely on repetitive musical structures and does lyrics to do the trick. The sound is still firmly rooted in the 80's, though the drum sounds reveal that it has been recorded near the end of that decade. By the other hand, the musicians on "Bankstatement" didn't become a truly full band. The proof is that on his next solo work "Still", it appeared under Tony's own name again, though the concept of "Still" isn't so different from "Bankstatement". Finally, what lacks to this album is some variety and catchy tunes, especially for being a non progressive album. After all I said before, I still think that "Bankstatement" can be considered a good album, but on the contrary with Rutherford's "The Mechanics" project, Bankstatement never reached the successful career of his colleague and friend. So, unlike the opinions of most of my colleagues on Progarchives, I don't think "Bankstatement" is a better album than "The Fugitive" is. So, I think that "Bankstatement" deserves to be rated with the same 3 stars.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

There is a problem when you are trying to be like everyone else looking for that golden wand that you can use to rake in lots of dough. Tony Banks is one of the most brilliant keyboardists in rock and especially prog. I am a big Genesis fan, that is "Trespass" through "Wind & Wuthering". "And then there were 3" was okay and "Duke" had the last blast of their old prog sound (Duke's Travels). Post Hackett meant abandoning prog for the most part. They would include a lame piece of sort of prog on each album. Buying each album as it came out left me searching for the tunes that were "just okay."

As I have gotten older I have a little more respect of pop music but not much. Anyone can sit down and spend 20 minutes writing a 3 minute song. Granted, some of the tracks here instrumentally are complex in the keyboard area which is the saving grace here. I wonder what would have happened had they included some of the pop tracks on a Genesis album.

I think what I am trying to say here is that Tony was not destined to be a pop star and he spent his solo days trying to be something he wasn't. Tony should be Tony, not Phil, not Mr. Mechanic. His albums seem to want to accomplish success more than they do putting out great music. I really think Tony's pride hated the fact that he just couldn't get on the charts like Phil, Peter or Mike and he sure wasn't going to allow Steve to best him since he always gave the impression he didn't like him in the band. Thankfully Hackett stayed true to himself and I respect him more than any of the other 5 core members of Genesis. It is a shame he has been criminally overlooked by his former bandmates and the critics. Steve just puts out music he wants and isn't looking for stardom. You have to respect a musician who does that regardless of what genre they are in. Anyway, Tony is not a pop music genius.

We have his later album that once again was under a band name: "Strictly". It is like Bankstatement in that it is catering to pop except on the last song which is a long prog tune that seems totally out of place on the album. It is okay but again, lacking, "Still" had some good moments but it was also like this album in many ways with the one long prog song on it, The Fugitive was musically his best attempt and has some prog in it. This album isn't so bad but it isn't great. I bought it on vinyl as soon as it came out and oddly the vinyl version was missing the song which I felt was probably the best: "Diamonds Aren't So Hard". That song I just couldn't stop playing. The catchy driven beat, the tightly interwoven keyboards and even the lyrics make that song the strongest for me. "The Border" also has a full sound due to the more complex keyboard melody. "Big Man" I actually like and his voice works on it almost having a Beatle-esc sound to it mixed with the strange keyboard sound.

The last song is an instrumental "Thursday the Twelfth" and I like the keyboards on it. That is as prog as the album gets. One cannot review this album from the platform of prog as it just isn't nor was it meant to be. It is an attempt to create pop stardom and falls short but again, Genesis put out those awful pop ballad like songs that threw them into stardom so I would think some of the other love tracks would do well with Phil's voice. In other words, Tony could have given them to Phil to drop on his solo album and then Tony could make his money!