Which Tony Banks solo CD should I get first ?

[JerseyJoker]

Originally Posted by Andrew Hamer

Steve Hackett's solo career is better than Tony's but Steve's is a full time solo career, Tony's is not.

Steve has had some blips. I personally would not buy "Cured" before "A Curious Feeling".

Each to his own!

Overall, I agree with Andrew here -- Hackett's solo career has been tremendous - diverse, interesting, and very listenable -- over Tony's AND Mike's. And I agree, there have been a few blips with Hackett, although I don't agree "Cured" is one of them. I think Steve's 'blips' are limited to the occasional track here and there. I'm not sure why "Cured" consistently gets panned by fans; I think the 8 tracks on that record are all excellent tunes, and well-performed. And Steve's vocals are really good! Of the 3 (Mike, Tony, and Steve), I think Steve is a much better vocalist. Maybe "Cured" gets the "thumbs-down" because it gets compared to his first 4 solo albums, which were even better!

But I have to say, of Tony's output, I think "A Curious Feeling" is the best, even with Kim Beacon's vocals -- probably the weak link of that record. "The Fugitive" comes a close second; after that, Tony's solo output goes downhill fast.

As for Rutherford's solo material, I don't agree with Jeb at all -- "Smallcreep's Day" is, in my opinion, a masterpiece. Brilliant writing and playing, with Anthony Phillips playing great keyboard parts (great sounds, too -- a lot in common with "And Then There Were Three"), and Simon Phillips on drums (his playing alone is phenomenal, even though Simon indicated in an interview that he thought his drumming was low in the mix!). The vocals by Noel McCalla are powerful -- absolutely excellent. And on "Smallcreep's Day", the Taurus Moog Bass Pedals -- an important element of early Genesis, from 1973-1978 -- are very prominent. I suppose I can't argue that Mike's 2nd solo album "Acting Very Strange" was bizarre, and even Mike was none too pleased with his own vocal performance -- although I really like "Couldn't Get Arrested", and "Calypso" was actually a pretty good B-side (maybe because it was an instrumental). But the Genesis element is not really there at all.

Just my thoughts on the Solo stuff.

Jersey Joker

[jebho62]

Originally Posted by JerseyJoker

I don't agree with Jeb at all

Exsqueeze Me? Baking Powder??? Well then. I guess all that remains to be said is "This is the Central Scrutinizer - The white zone is for loading and unloading only. If you have to load or unload, go to the white zone. You'll love it. It's a way of life".
Keep on rockin'!

[JerseyJoker]

Originally Posted by jebho62

Exsqueeze Me? Baking Powder??? Well then. I guess all that remains to be said is "This is the Central Scrutinizer - The white zone is for loading and unloading only. If you have to load or unload, go to the white zone. You'll love it. It's a way of life".
Keep on rockin'!

Well, on THIS I can agree with you, JEB: Music Is THE BEST!