Banks; Tony: A Chord Too Far (4 CD Box Set)

One of only two Genesis members to run the full course of that band, Tony Banks is already prog rock royalty and yet as his band mates, Anthony Phillips, Peter Gabriel, Steve Hackett, Phil Collins and Mike Rutherford, have all gone on to achieve critical, or popular (or for some, both) solo acclaim, the Banks output outside of the big G has gone largely ignored. With talk of a full reissue campaign, Cherry Red Records look set to try and put that straight, this four CD collection a welcome gathering together of some of the highlights as chosen by Banks himself. All nine of his solo, project, or soundtrack albums are represented and while the choice to place the songs out of chronological order does involve flitting from singer to singer, it does add an interesting new flow and balance that might otherwise have been compromised. Obviously for such a high profile member of the musical society, attracting big names to contribute has never been an issue for Banks, hence across these discs the likes of Fish, Toyah and Nik Kershaw stand behind the mic, Steve Gadd, Vinnie Colaiuta and Chester Thompson sit on the drum stool, Pino Palladino handles bass, as Daryl Stuermer provides guitar. Interestingly Banks also offers up vocals on the tracks from The Fugitive album and it has to be said with reasonable success, "At The Edge Of Night" a prime example. A personal favourite comes round in the shape of "Shortcut To Somewhere" where Banks and Fish (then still of Marillion – as the single cover where Fish wore a Genesis shirt and Banks a Marillion one, attests); not because it is a hugely memorable piece, but because of the furore that Banks working with a member of a band long derided for being Genesis clones caused. Oddly the results sounds more like a cheesy piece of 80s pop fluff rather some prog epic! Although the two Fish tracks from Still, "Angel Face" and "Another Murder Of A Day" fare much better. One of the highlights across this collection is the confident vocal performance Toyah provides on "Lion Of Symmetry", which initially appeared on Soundtracks, while "Charity Balls", featuring Jack Hues of Wang Chung on vocals, from Strictly Inc., highlights one of the main issues often found with Banks' solo output. Namely that too much of it simply sounds like budget Genesis. Much though casual followers often confused Genesis and Phil Collins solo work in the 80s and 90s, fans could easily tell them apart, whereas the other members genuinely offered something more than a little different outside their main (or departed) band. As shown here, too often Banks utilised similar sounds, themes and arrangements to his main band – and as Genesis found to their cost on the much underrated Calling All Stations album where Ray Wilson took vocal duties, without Collins or Gabriel, the effect for many of Banks' ideas was diminished. Or in the case of the interesting Bankstatement band, simply a little too mainstream and indistinct to make a lasting mark. Although it was maybe a project worth persevering with, "I'll Be Waiting" and "The Border" showing up well here.

Disc four takes things in a different direction, the Six Pieces For Orchestra, Seven and The Wicked Lady albums plundered. These orchestral/soundtracks pieces offer a genuinely different and underrated aspect of the Banks canon and personally I find this the most interesting and memorable side of this talented songwriter's solo output. Four unreleased tracks also show up here, three being keyboard demos from the orchestral suites and "Poppet", a piece originally written for Still, with all four adding interest and value to this pack.

Unfortunately, as is often the way these days, the promo pack of this collection comes without any of the artwork or the lengthy liner notes especially written for this release. However the opportunity to gain a little more insight and context into this vast and eclectic selection would be a welcome one. With many of the tracks included here also being "exclusively remixed" there's new life brought to the earlier selections, while across the four discs the sound quality remains universally high. Many of us may approach the Tony Banks solo canon with preconceived prejudice and while I'd happily argue that the output from all the other ex-Genesis members has more to say and a longer lasting impact, A Chord Too Far goes some way to redressing the balance.

Track Listing
CD 1
1. Rebirth (Soundtracks)
2. At the Edge of Night (The Fugitive)
3. Walls of Sound (Strictly Inc)
4. Lion of Symmetry (from Soundtracks)
5. The More I Hide It (Bankstatement)
6. Shortcut to Somewhere (Soundtracks)
7. The Waters of Lethe (A Curious Feeling)
8. I Wanna Change the Score (Still)
9. Water Out of Wine (Still)
10. Something to Live For (Strictly Inc)
11. By You (The Fugitive)
12. Never Let Me Know (Strictly Inc)
13. Thirty Three's (The Fugitive)

CD 2
1. Charity Balls (Strictly Inc)
2. An Island in the Darkness (Strictly Inc)
3. The Border (Bankstatement)
4. Lucky Me (A Curious Feeling)
5. Another Murder of a Day (Still)
6. Moving Under (The Fugitive)
7. Still It Takes Me by Surprise (Still)
8. Red Day on Blue Street (Still)
9. After the Lie (A Curious Feeling)
10. Redwing (Soundtracks)

CD 3
1. Queen of Darkness (Bankstatement)
2. A Piece of You (Strictly Inc)
3. Big Man (Bankstatement)
4. Angel Face (Still)
5. This Is Love (The Fugitive)
6. I'll Be Waiting (Bankstatement)
7. Back to Back (Still)
8. For a While (A Curious Feeling)
9. Throwback (Bankstatement)
10. You Call This Victory (Soundtracks)
11. And the Wheels Keep Turning (The Fugitive)
12. You (A Curious Feeling)
13. The Final Curtain (Still)

CD 4
1. Blade (Six Pieces for Orchestra)
2. Black Down (Seven: A Suite for Orchestra)
3. Siren (Six Pieces for Orchestra)
4. Earthlight (Seven: A Suite for Orchestra)
5. From the Undertow (A Curious Feeling)
6. Spring Tide (Demo version; originally from Seven: A Suite for Orchestra)
7. Neap Tide (Demo version; originally from Seven: A Suite for Orchestra)
8. City of Gold (Demo version; originally from Six Pieces for Orchestra)
9. The Chase (The Wicked Lady soundtrack)
10. Kit (The Wicked Lady soundtrack)
11. Poppet (Previously unreleased; oriiginally written for Still)
12. The Wicked Lady (The Wicked Lady soundtrack)

Added: March 22nd 2016
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: A Chord Too Far at Cherry red
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Language: english

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