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I might be insane, but I give this and those other albums FIVE, with this a need-to-listen. However, this album isn't the best for those who don't like sinister music, as this album exemplifies with White Hammer or After The Flood, or melancholic tunes like Refugees. Besides that, it's a great record
TLWCDIWTEO, a h*** of a title, is VdGG's first album the same way that Trespass was... I should probably not compare VdGG to that band. If Trespass sounded like Foxtrot, my favorite record from that band, it would sound like THIS.
Refugees, arguably the best known VdGG track, is a fantastic song that really captures the moment VdGG were great. White Hammer, the next track, is a brilliant song about The Witch Hammer and a treat to any prog rock fan desiring something about witchcraft. After the Flood is a frightful ending to the album that concludes the band's greatness. The other songs, Darkness, Whatever Happened... and Out of my Book all exemplified the skill of the musicians, with the last being one of my favorites off the record.

First of all, I would like to praise Tony Banks for his brilliant keyboard skills and excellent musicianship. His efforts as heard on Genesis' and his own solo records shows the tremendous skill he is capable of. One of these efforts shows him at his best while the other undermines his brilliance. The former is Genesis. Most of Tony Banks's solo albums sought to reproduce the success he made in Genesis, forgoing the progressive characteristic his songs retained well after Genesis became reclassified as a pop band. A Curious Feeling is not one of those albums, being the most progressive album he made, at least of the ones before his symphonic records, but it really misses the sound of his records.
A Curious Feeling follows a concept similar to the book Flowers for Algernon, a good starting point and similarity with Mike Rutherford's contemporary solo record Smallcreep's Day (which was also produced by David Hentschel at Polar Studios). However, on the record, the concept is taken with the story removed, the environment sterilized. The musicianship shows off on most of the tracks, with You, The Waters of Lethe, Forever Morning, and Somebody Else's Dream particularly, all exemplified by Banks's impressive keyboard playing. Kim Beacon's voice, while not the greatest, is a fitting contribution to this record. What this album really lacks is a solid concept that fails to come through as clearly as it would have with the original story followed. While Banks' prominence on keyboards is exemplified, his skill on the guitars or other instruments makes it more solo than I would wish.
I would recommend this to the progressive-era fans considering this is Banks' most progressive records, or simply there is no other way to introduce them. Pop fans, go for the later albums.

The album Acting Very Strange needs very little introduction or listening to assess the listener's mind. Simply, what was Mike Rutherford thinking!?
Compared to The Fugitive, Rutherford's Genesis bandmate Tony Banks's responsive solo album, AVS has some better songwriting with Rutherford sharing the writing hand with some other writers. The musicians on this album are more distinguishable than on Banks's album, such as the almighty Stewart Copeland! Copeland notwithstanding, Rutherford and whatever musicians he recruited could not bring this record to the heights of Collins', at least in the U.S, but maybe it was meant to be. Rutherford's singing is even more unlistenable than Banks' and I can only stand to raise the audio bar up on Hideaway. The songs Maxine and Halfway There could have been catchy pop hits had Rutherford not sung them. The guitar riff on the former sounds like it belongs in a horror movie. I may be too harsh since I've not listened to the full album but I cannot bear it! Just give Maxine, Halfway There, and Hideaway a listen to get the feeling and then go back to Banks or Collins or Genesis. This is just Rutherford, a good guitarist, an alright songwriter, and a terrible singer.

Compared to The Geese and the Ghost, an album that was seven years in the making, Wise After the Event came out very quickly the following year. Anthony Phillips came up with material in a short time frame and ended up releasing what must be recognized as his greatest album. Wise After the Event is a source of counter-argument for anyone who chooses to dismiss Phillips as incomparable and irrelevant, given his short time in Genesis.
The album is quite progressive, though not as people would expect. The album gets its progressive qualities not from Phillips' association with Genesis; how could they with him leaving after being on the band's least progressively developed albums? Instead, Phillips uses associations with other figures. Mel Collins and Michael Giles, both of King Crimson, both appear on this album, providing a bit of Crimson to the album. The album is sometimes folky and sometimes advanced, as contradictory as it sounds but explained by the album cover. The music is easily as good as Peter Cross's design.
Anthony Phillips sings this album, something not seen elsewhere in his career. It is recognizable that other attempts at band members singing, like Mike Rutherford or Tony Banks, are not admirable and flavorless. However, Phillips' singing, while weaker, suits the music and themes on this album.
The songs are quite brilliant as well. You have We're All As We Lie, introducing Phillips' voice with some very catchy and well construed lyrics bringing together all sorts of figures. There's Wise After the Event, a fantastic epic dominated by 12-strings. Regrets brings an orchestra onto the scene adding more emotion to an already melancholic song. Now What concludes the album with a sorrowful and existential view on animal hunting, provided even more with Phillips' playing and vocals. Besides these key tracks, there is plenty of material on this album to enjoy once you get a hold of the style.
The album was not commercially successful in any way when released. By 1978, punks had hit the street and progressive was going out. But today, we can admire whatever genre we wish without regards to what music we have out today or what is in style. This record has the ability to be appreciated and relished as much as necessary and deserves its place. Phillips' album not only proves that but shows that he is a very competent guitarist who could be just as qualified and talented as his Genesis successor, Steve Hackett, though not to say who is better.

The Geese and the Ghost is the frontier and pioneering piece of Anthony Phillips' long and adventurous solo career. The album is not for everyone; it is reasonable that some people would dismiss the album and some of Anthony's other efforts for being just as pastoral and archaic as the albums he was on, From Genesis to Revelation and Trespass. But in comparison to those albums, Anthony Phillips' role and musical skill are identified and recognizable - the two having obscured his efforts through poor production and featuring no major contributions. Here, Anthony is free to express his own musical ideology, only restricted by his uncompromising association with Mike Rutherford. As Genesis grew more popular, it was harder to complete the album and by the time it was released, the band had lived through its progressive era, on the verge of producing And Then There Were Three and Collins' other pop efforts. The album was released in a time of changing musical identities and dismissed; whatever was left of progressive rock at the time only permitted the album to just enter the Billboard 200. Hardly anyone would know this album if Anthony wasn't in Genesis.
The album is plausibly Anthony's best known, given the two songs Which Way The Wind Blows and God If I Saw Her Now. Both of these songs feature Phil Collins - unusual considering Phil joined Genesis after Anthony left - which certifies their reputation as the most listened to tracks on the album. Collins' voice closely resembles his own on Genesis' A Trick of the Tail, in my opinion, the best album of his tenure as frontman. While these tracks are brilliant, people need to investigate the rest of the album and appreciate Anthony's unique gift, given they are willing to investigate. The album contains two lengthy instrumental passages, Henry: Portraits from Tudor Times and the title track. The album shows Anthony's ability to reflect his group's sound and intonations, even with its distance. The creativity and efforts embedded with the record makes the album more admirable and overall listenable than Tony Banks or Mike Rutherford.
The album is a well-made vessel for those seeking to listen to the solo efforts of Genesis fans, besides Peter Gabriel or Phil Collins. While the album's sound is mostly acoustic and never as intense as Genesis ever been after Trespass, the album is thoroughly enjoyable given respect and is worth exploring for the inquisitive listener. The album is currently available in a special edition courtesy Esoteric Recordings that includes many instrumental demos and an aborted single from 1973, Silver Song, that will deliver more for thunderous Collins enthusiasts.

Trespass presents Genesis at their onset to fame, being the band's first progressive album and their first with Charisma. Most of the songs on Trespass are acoustically based and rustic. The themes of the songs alternate with the dark, e.g White Mountain and Stagnation, or bright, such as Visions of Angels and Dusk. Peter Gabriel's voice is better suited and more acceptable than From Genesis To Revelation and likewise, most of the album is agnostic or existential. The album's production faults by leaving most of Anthony Phillips' effort from recognition, whose guitar galore is mostly concealed by Banks' keyboards and only noticeable on Looking For Someone and The Knife, making the album's instrumentation questionable. Otherwise, the album is well orchestrated and John Mayhew deserves some recognition for his drumming. Compared to the rest of the album, possibly the rest of the band's discography, The Knife is unusual for being a heavy rocker with a revolutionary tone. The song epically ends the album certainly aware of what is to come and is the best recommended song.
The album is rather hard to pick up unless the listener is well aware of latter albums like Nursery Cryme or Foxtrot, but is a rather pleasant listen that rewards overtime. Contrary to the AllMusic rating, this album is more deserving of sympathy than From Genesis To Revelation or Calling All Stations. This album combines meaning and awareness to provide a fine product of music that may be appreciated.

A Singles Collection covers the material that Marillion had released from Script for a Jester's Tear(from 1983) to their recent - at the time - pop fest Holidays in Eden. The compilation features six tracks from each side of the band, yet the math shows that the selections aren't quite equal. The Marillion with Fish had released four albums while Marillion with Hogarth only released two and were quite early into their present career. H's generation also gets a little longer with the addition of two tracks, I Will Walk on Water and Sympathy, which were both released exclusively with this compilation.
The songs from the Fish era are of notice as some are single versions(Kayleigh and Warm Wet Circles without segues from Pseudo Silk Kimono and Hotel Hobbies respectively) and others, like Assassing, Incommunicado, and Garden Party, are actually as long as they are on their albums. So the versions of the songs aren't the single versions but they sample those albums. Even more collect worthy, the version of Assassing is an alternate mix with a slight difference from the version from Fugazi.
Given the recent release of Holidays of Eden, the new Marillion focuses on that album and Seasons End for how young it is. While the former album's additions Cover My Eyes and No One Can aren't quite listenable, they're offset by the emotive Easter and the rocking Uninvited Guest and Hooks in You.
Overall, this is probably the way to go when it comes to introducing Marillion. The compilation is not quite as complete of the band now that H's band has gone on for over two decades from here and plenty more compilations have been released. But this one pleases with the full length tracks from Fish albums that give the listener an acquisition to those albums before picking them up. It's a special way to acquaint the listener to the era of Marillion that was quite popular and stormed Europe, if not the band in general.

Bankstatement is the Tony Banks' fifth album(considering A Curious Feeling, The Wicked Lady, The Fugitive and Soundtracks to be his previous albums). The album sees Tony attempt to replicate the success of Mike and the Mechanics by getting additional singers. The first singer is Alistair Gordon, known for producing Russell Watson records; the second singer is Jayney Klimek, vocalist for The Other Ones. Tony himself sings on Big Man, one of the few songs his voice is attributed to that is by any degree listenable. I feel that Bankstatement is not a proper band album given that Banks holds writing credit for all songs with no co-writing credits. The album is still one of his best efforts, of the few good things of his career. I feel that Tony's recurring mistake - the ambiguity and incomprehensibility of his songs' lyrics - is as relevant here as ever, keeping it level with his other albums. I do like the instrumentation and musical skill on his songs, especially determinable on the song Thursday the Twelfth(some pun on Friday the Thirteenth). I feel that if there is one Banks effort to investigate, this is one of the most considerable but not one of his most successful.

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.

From Genesis to Revelation is the rather frigid beginning of one of Progressive Rock and Pop's greatest bands, and it fails either description.
The album is not quite the child of Genesis as it is of Jonathan King, the producer later known for 10cc. The entire band were high school students from Charterhouse and they chose King in particular given his alumni from the university and his hit status "Everyone's Gone to the Moon." By choosing King, they agreed to adopt his musical idea, a biblical album similar in style to the Bee Gees or Moody Blues.
The album is not entirely a religious affair as it was meant to be; the biblical concept disappears sometime after Side Two begins. In fact, the concept is hardly distinguishable given only two religiously titled tracks, "In The Beginning" and "The Serpent." It is very hard to recognize the voice given to this album is indeed Peter Gabriel's. Most of the album doesn't feel like a quintet effort given the orchestral overdubs. "The Conqueror" is a harder affair given the rest of the album and somewhat features Phillips' guitar, "Am I Very Wrong?" has a choral section that may be more mystifying than it is annoying.
The album may be enjoyable at some times but it is very likely that you could enjoy much more by listening to Trespass or Nursery Cryme and understand how the band came to be the same way. It has very little to contribute to the band's sound but more to the band's existence itself.