Rando Ken's Album Reviews
Tony Banks may be recognized as one of the greatest keyboardists, let alone musicians, ever to grace the scene of progressive rock. A member of Genesis through all iterations, both singers, all styles, his musical contributions and styles to the album always remained consistent with his progressive influence no matter what period. Regardless, this album poorly represents his quality as a member of the progressive scene.
If you thought that Tony Banks could demonstrate even more of his progressive capabilities in his solo career, and put in even more if you were dissatisfied with A Curious Feeling, you are in for a rough ride with The Fugitive. This album is specifically catered for fans of Phil Collins; not the Collins-era of Genesis which saw Banks contribute such epics like One For The Vine, Me and Sarah Jane, or Domino, but the Collins superstar that ruled the eighties. Such the quality is given more by the involvement of musicians like Daryl Stuermer and Mo Foster who were on Collins' latest album, Hello I Must Be Going!
The songs on the album are hardly progressive at all. You start off with This Is Love and get to hear what Banks sounds like. Many complained that the album A Curious Feeling was sung by Kim Beacon instead of Tony Banks himself. Now, with Banks singing almost all tracks, those critics can doubt themselves. Banks' decision was likely influenced by his fellow band member Mike Rutherford, he just the preceding year released Acting Very Strange, with his own vocals. While Rutherford has worse singing, some songs on that album, like Maxine or Hideaway, sound decent enough compared to what we've got here. Most songs are mostly pop based and lacked any complicity found on Genesis' albums or Banks' contributions. For the most part, Banks' singing scars the album but it's a shame that the content provided instead really progressive. Some songs like By You seem to take advantage of Banks' association with keyboards to attempt synth-pop, only for it to sound completely abysmal to real attempts by bands like Kraftwerk or New Order that defined the genre.
The only song I would recommend on a semi-basis would be At The Edge of Night. It would have done great as a single and it should have been the first track on this album, not the first on Side Two. The song would be a great number for Genesis to perform had they wanted to steer their listeners at other material.
By providing this review, I don't mean to discriminate Tony Banks for who he is. He's already proven himself to be a highly venerable musician through his fantastic contributions to his band and his loyalty. But I can hardly stand how he went against his character to pop out a record like this.
If you thought that Tony Banks could demonstrate even more of his progressive capabilities in his solo career, and put in even more if you were dissatisfied with A Curious Feeling, you are in for a rough ride with The Fugitive. This album is specifically catered for fans of Phil Collins; not the Collins-era of Genesis which saw Banks contribute such epics like One For The Vine, Me and Sarah Jane, or Domino, but the Collins superstar that ruled the eighties. Such the quality is given more by the involvement of musicians like Daryl Stuermer and Mo Foster who were on Collins' latest album, Hello I Must Be Going!
The songs on the album are hardly progressive at all. You start off with This Is Love and get to hear what Banks sounds like. Many complained that the album A Curious Feeling was sung by Kim Beacon instead of Tony Banks himself. Now, with Banks singing almost all tracks, those critics can doubt themselves. Banks' decision was likely influenced by his fellow band member Mike Rutherford, he just the preceding year released Acting Very Strange, with his own vocals. While Rutherford has worse singing, some songs on that album, like Maxine or Hideaway, sound decent enough compared to what we've got here. Most songs are mostly pop based and lacked any complicity found on Genesis' albums or Banks' contributions. For the most part, Banks' singing scars the album but it's a shame that the content provided instead really progressive. Some songs like By You seem to take advantage of Banks' association with keyboards to attempt synth-pop, only for it to sound completely abysmal to real attempts by bands like Kraftwerk or New Order that defined the genre.
The only song I would recommend on a semi-basis would be At The Edge of Night. It would have done great as a single and it should have been the first track on this album, not the first on Side Two. The song would be a great number for Genesis to perform had they wanted to steer their listeners at other material.
By providing this review, I don't mean to discriminate Tony Banks for who he is. He's already proven himself to be a highly venerable musician through his fantastic contributions to his band and his loyalty. But I can hardly stand how he went against his character to pop out a record like this.
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