Comments for Banks, Tony, Still

Banks shares writing credits with Fish and Nick Kershaw, among others, and the material is less Banksy than usual. The solo Banks compositions are very strong, especially "Still it Takes me By Surprise," and "Water Out Of Wine." The last track, "The Final Curtain," is reminiscent of the Banks-written Genesis tune "Afterglow," but Nick Kershaw's voice is a little too boyish and cheery to carry the effect.

The only reason why I bought this album is because my all- time favourite pop artist, singer, songwriter, musician - NIK KERSHAW - appears on the album. It shows the real class that Nik possesses and livens-up what would otherwise be just an average album. Pity only three tracks feature Nik!! p.s. Tony has recently formed a new band 'Strictly Inc.' with the lead singer of Wang Chung. The single 'Walls of Sound' has an excellent 'b' side - "Back to You" - which is performed by NIK!!! - BUY IT NOW!!!!

Well, Nik Kershaw and Fish are both fantastic choices for this kind of project, but somehow it doesn't all hang together, even though the individual songs are fine. The Andy Taylor and Jayney Klimek (whose voice I like a lot) tracks lend a more consistent feel. The worst track is definitely the one that Banks himself sings. The 9 min. Fish epic, "Another Murder of a Day," is a great work in its own right, and should be reason enough for most Marillion fans to buy this album, but the rest is likely to disappoint them. Equally, the Nik Kershaw songs are great pop efforts, but his fans might dislike other tracks. Perhaps a concept might have helped to consolidate all these fine talents on a cohesive album. (Ian C. Thomas)

I own more CD''s than I care to admit, and I can safely say that this one is my all-time favorite. Maybe it''s the fact that I was already a Fish and Nik Kershaw fan going in, but I''ve listened to this disc at least 200 times and I''ve never gotten bored of it. I suppose five different lead singers over ten songs might make this album seem incohesive, but there just isn''t a weak track in the bunch. Because Americans are too busy listening to rap and hip-hop, this album received virtually no airplay on this side of the Atlantic. I found this CD by accident in the discount bin. If anyone else out there can actually find it, buy it! You will not be disappointed.

Tony Banks plays keyboards for Genesis. The main reasonthat I bought this album was that Fish does vocals on 2of the tracks.