Bankstatement (1989)
Could Tony Banks copy the success of Mike + The Mechanics or would Bankstatement stall on the charts?
Kronomyth 5.0: Anthony + The Accountants.
Bankstatement is Tony Banks’ attempt to cash in on the success of Mike + the Mechanics. That’s not me being snarky; the man has admitted as much. As someone who has scooped up several M+M albums just hoping for a whiff of the old magic, I’m happy to report that Bankstatement is almost as fragrant as The Fugitive. The instrumental Thursday the Twelfth and the single I’ll Be Waiting are the obvious winners, and Banks’ fans will warm up to Queen of Darkness, That Night and A House Needs a Roof. The involvement of Steve Hillage is bound to catch the eyes of progwatchers, but he has little audible effect on the music. In fact, I don’t recall a single instance where you can single out the guitar. The main collaborators in Bankstatement are Alistair Gordon and Jayney Klimek, who serve as singers in residence much as M+M’s pair of Pauls. Now, there are some graybeards I suppose who will take umbrage with Tony Banks following in the path of Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins, expecting Banks to be the last bastion standing against the slings and arrows of commercial fortune. But you have to ask yourself what you’re preserving here: another soundtrack or meandering concept album? The Fugitive is the best thing he’s ever done and Bankstatement, like it or not, is the second-best thing. I’d rather hear MOR than less from the man. That said, Bankstatement isn’t an album I return to that often. It’s good for a dusting off every solar eclipse or so, just to hear “I’ll Be Waiting” again, which is about as often as I listen to A Curious Feeling for “For a While.”
Original elpee version
A1. Throwback (4:37)
A2. I’ll Be Waiting (5:56)
A3. Queen of Darkness (4:25)
A4. That Night (4:39)
A5. Raincloud (4:39)
B1. The Border (5:50)
B2. Big Man (4:15)
B3. A House Needs a Roof (4:06)
B4. The More I Hide It (4:29)
B5. Thursday the Twelfth (4:51)
CD bonus track
11. Diamonds Aren’t So Bad
All tracks written by Tony Banks.
The Players
Tony Banks (keyboards, bass synth, lead vocal, synth lead guitar), Geoff Dugmore (drums), Alistair Gordon (lead vocal, backing vocals), Steve Hillage (guitar), Jayney Klimek (lead vocal, backing vocals) with Martin Ditcham (congas and tambourine on A5), Dick Nolan (bass), Pino Palldino (bass), The Phantom Horns [Gary Barnacle (sax), John Thirkell (trumpet), Pete Thoms (trombone), Derek Watkins (trumpet)], Martin Robertson (soprano sax on B1), John Wilson (additional vocals on A1). Produced by Steve Hillage and Tony Banks; additional engineering by John Gallon.
The Pictures
Design by Halpen Grey Vermeir. Cover photography by Andrew Olney. Portraits by John Swannell.
The Plastic
Released on elpee, cassette and compact disc on August 21, 1989 in the UK (Virgin, V/CDV 2600), the US (Atlantic, 82007-1/4/2) and Europe (Virgin, 787096).
