b o b

Despite the miserable reviews that this album, and Tony Banks' work outside Genesis in general, gets from progressive rock fans — I have to say that I kind of like this disc. It's certainly no classic of the genre, and is actually far more pop than prog, but it's not bad. Maybe it's because I found a copy really cheap and had low expectations going in, but I find this CD to be a decent listen. The two vocalists are pretty good. Alistair Gordon's vocals aren't as bad as I've heard on other prog musician's solo albums, and the female vocals provided by Jayney Klimek are crystal clear and beautiful. Banks even sings a song ("Big Man") himself and while his singing isn't terrible, it could best be described as "weak." I doubt Banks was ever in the running for the spot of Genesis lead singer when Peter Gabriel left, but if so then it's no surprise that Phil Collins won. As mentioned above, the music here is mostly poppy, with Banks' usual penchant for crafting catchy keyboard melodies. The standout track on the album for me is "Queen of Darkness," which recycles one of the more memorable pieces of music from Tony's soundtrack work (note for note), but adds sultry vocals from Klimek. "The Border" is another good one, built in layers around a strong keyboard line. The only vaguely proggy song is "Thursday the Twelfth," an instrumental that sounds similar to "The Brazilian" from Invisible Touch, without the Latin influenced percussion. In fact, a lot of Bankstatement sounds like a middle-of-the-road version of Invisible Touch, without ever matching that album's high or low points. Of course, if you don't think Invisible Touch HAD any high points, then Bankstatement probably isn't a CD for you. review by Bob Eichler — 4-26-06 —

j o e

Another Exhibit A for submission in the case of "Phil Collins did not single-handedly destroy Genesis," this Tony Banks solo project couched as a band, arrived sandwiched in between the Invisible Touch and We Can't Dance albums. So go ahead and guess how it sounds. It would be enough to simply state that Bankstatement is a textbook example of mediocrity, but I will go further and say this album is practically the Millard Fillmore of late 80s pop music albums. For this album, Banks hired two vocalists: Alistair Gordon and Jayney Klimek. People tend to be harsh with Gordon, probably because of his Michael Bolton-like 'do on the back cover. In truth, he's not that level of unbearable, but does sound generic. Jayney Klimek was the lead vocalist for a German-based band called The Other Ones (not the same as the post-Grateful Dead band), who scored a few minor late 80s hits in America (the B-52s influenced "Holiday" and "We Are What We Are"). I am a fan of her voice, which was actually pretty distinctive; too bad she is underutilized here. Each song on here has lyrics written in Banks' style, where lines are conversational and more often than not do not rhyme. I like his lyrics, but let's face it: they are not the stuff of pop music hits or mainstream breakthroughs. There are a few tracks that almost lift off. Klimek gives a good performance on "Queen of Darkness," a song with music recycled from Soundtracks and with temptress-femme fatale lyrics that somewhat bring to mind "The Lady Lies" from And Then There Were Three. They even makes use of octave-separated vocals to heighten the sense of mystery in Klimek's voice, but it can't save the overall stiffness of the music. "That Night" has good music, comparable to one of the better tracks from the Abacab era, but is compromised by its dull, vocal duet 80s love ballad setting. There is only one song that I fully enjoy here: the anti-war "The Border," which succeeds by its music and the lustrous rippling of Banks' keyboards. As for the rest, the music and all the fixin's are way too stifled within that late 80s early-digitalized period to lend any sense of vivacity or enjoyment. You glance at the phoned-in, Hipgnosis-lite cover, then peruse the back with the song titles and the group photo, and you know almost instinctively before even hearing a note that this is going to be completely devoid of charisma. A disorienting observation is that ex-Gong guitar god, Steve Hillage, co-produced this one (though he chooses to be a non-entity throughout; wise decision). The pot head pixies donning their grey corporate suits? Well, at least Hillage went on to System 777 a few years later, and whatever you might feel about it, it was surely better than this crap. In retrospect, it beggars belief to look back on this era and think of these kinds of projects on which the major labels like Atlantic were throwing their money. In my opinion, this was really the era when the majors truly and irrevocably lost the plot, never having recovered since. review by Joe McGlinchey — 3-26-06 —