100 Great Songs to Publish a Book to, #97: Tony Banks, After the Lie

All of the members of Genesis embarked on solo careers, with wildly varying commercial success.  At the top is Collins, followed by Gabriel, Rutherford (mainly with Mike + The Mechanics), Hackett and Banks.  I believe that the genius of Genesis was seldom replicated in the individual work, and in me their solo albums usually provoke the tired refrain: “Just imagine how good that would’ve been if Genesis had done it.”  However, there are flashes of the same brilliance if one looks hard enough.

Banks’ first solo album, 1978’s A Curious Feeling, must rank as the greatest “lost” Genesis album, as Banks along with Hackett are the two members who have got the closest to recreating that elusive magic which only fully emerges on Genesis albums.  A Curious Feeling is a story album, during which an average nobody makes a deal with the devil to be clever and wealthy.  The condition is that he must not fall in love.  You can probably guess how the plot turns out.  In this track, our hero has just gained his improved intelligence, and revels in how nice it is to be smarter than those around him.

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