TONY BANKS - (1992) STILL
Studio Album, released in 1992
Studio Album, released in 1992
This is really no further along the curve than "Bankstatement". As for the positive praise that well-meaning souls have laid at the foot of "Still", they’ve simply set the bar too low. True, it’s a professional affair, engaging the services of FISH, Nik Kershaw, Andy Taylor and a returning Jayney Klimek on vocals, but I don’t hear where this edges out something like Phil Manzanera’s Southern Cross on the road to respectability.
If you’re looking for BANKS to write pop songs with a certain amount of emotional soul wringing akin to the late ‘80s, then here you go. Not that the GENESIS keyboardist doesn’t have the right to solicit the same audience as Mike + The Mechanics, but he can do so much more. The second half of “Another Murder of a Day” or even the classy ballad “Still It Takes Me By Surprise” are the sort of payoffs I expected, not FISH lamely stating “You’re just a devil with a pretty angel face” (from “Angel Face”). The vocalists are all good (even BANKS acquits himself on “Hero For An Hour”), but like Steve HACKETT’s "Please Don’t Touch" the rotating cast breeds an air of arbitrariness. There are no instrumentals, which is sort of a shame, and no new ground is broken.
The inclusion of FISH will no doubt intrigue many, but honestly they only click at the end of “Another Murder of a Day” (easily the album’s highlight). The rest of the material is merely competent pop music with hints of GENESIS’ grandiloquence (a scent of “The Cinema Show” wafts through “Still It Takes Me By Surprise”) and nods to BANKS’ earlier work (“Hero For An Hour” does recall “And The Wheels Keep Turning”). Maybe I’m foolish to expect Tony BANKS to return to prog’s green pastures, since his solo work has never leaned to the left side of GENESIS. If I view "Still" as a further straying into commercial blandness, blame it on my intractable allegiance to earlier ideals that were left by the wayside with the ‘80s.
If you’re looking for BANKS to write pop songs with a certain amount of emotional soul wringing akin to the late ‘80s, then here you go. Not that the GENESIS keyboardist doesn’t have the right to solicit the same audience as Mike + The Mechanics, but he can do so much more. The second half of “Another Murder of a Day” or even the classy ballad “Still It Takes Me By Surprise” are the sort of payoffs I expected, not FISH lamely stating “You’re just a devil with a pretty angel face” (from “Angel Face”). The vocalists are all good (even BANKS acquits himself on “Hero For An Hour”), but like Steve HACKETT’s "Please Don’t Touch" the rotating cast breeds an air of arbitrariness. There are no instrumentals, which is sort of a shame, and no new ground is broken.
The inclusion of FISH will no doubt intrigue many, but honestly they only click at the end of “Another Murder of a Day” (easily the album’s highlight). The rest of the material is merely competent pop music with hints of GENESIS’ grandiloquence (a scent of “The Cinema Show” wafts through “Still It Takes Me By Surprise”) and nods to BANKS’ earlier work (“Hero For An Hour” does recall “And The Wheels Keep Turning”). Maybe I’m foolish to expect Tony BANKS to return to prog’s green pastures, since his solo work has never leaned to the left side of GENESIS. If I view "Still" as a further straying into commercial blandness, blame it on my intractable allegiance to earlier ideals that were left by the wayside with the ‘80s.
Track Listings
1. Red Day On Blue Street (5:48)
2. Angel Face (5:16)
3. The Gift (3:56)
4. Still It Takes Me By Surprise (6:25)
5. Hero For An Hour (4:52)
6. I Wanna Change The Score (4:31)
7. Water Out Of Wine (4:37)
8. Another Murder Of A Day (9:02)
9. Back To Back (4:30)
10. The Final Curtain (4:55)
Total Time: 54:06
1. Red Day On Blue Street (5:48)
2. Angel Face (5:16)
3. The Gift (3:56)
4. Still It Takes Me By Surprise (6:25)
5. Hero For An Hour (4:52)
6. I Wanna Change The Score (4:31)
7. Water Out Of Wine (4:37)
8. Another Murder Of A Day (9:02)
9. Back To Back (4:30)
10. The Final Curtain (4:55)
Total Time: 54:06
Line-up/Musicians
- Tony Banks / keyboards (all), bass synthesizer (1,3,5,9,10), drums programming (2,3,7), vocals (5)
- Nick Kershaw / vocals (1,6,10)
- Daryl Stuermer / guitars
- Vinnie Colaiuta / drums (1,5,8,9,10), Hi-Hat (3), cymbals (3)
- Luis Jardim / percussion (1,5,6,7,8)
- Martin Robertson / saxophones (1,5)
- Fish / vocals (2,8)
- Jayney Klimek / backing vocals (2), vocal (7,9)
- Pino Palladino / bass (2,4,7,8,10)
- Andy Taylor / vocal (3,4)
- James Heller / bass (6)
- Graham Broad / drums (6)
- Nick Davis / drum programming (7)
2 comments:
www.badongo.com/file/8638801
The Andy Taylor on this album is not the one that used to be in Duran Duran twice (no pun intended), Riveredge Resort in Alexandria Bay, NY, or Mayberry for that matter! Does anyone know who this Andy Taylor is? He has to be the most obscure vocalist Banks ever had on a solo album, along with Kim Beacon from the first one.
This was released in the UK in 1991, but not till the next year. It could be because he changed US labels or it didn't want to be released too close to We Can't Dance. Along with grunge in the way, this album only attracted the diehards.
Some see my blog sometime. The link's in my profile.
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