Description:
Anthony George Banks was born March 27, 1950, in East Hoathly, located in southern England. The youngest of five children, Tony Banks was encouraged to play music by his parents John and Nora at a very young age. Banks eventually developed a talent for the piano, which became the focus of his musical endeavours. In 1963, Banks left a local preparatory school for Charterhouse, a prestigious public school (what North Americans would refer to as private school) founded in 1611 just outside Godalming. While Banks allegedly did not care for boarding school, he excelled in his studies with a particular interest in mathematics and phys
Anthony George Banks was born March 27, 1950, in East Hoathly, located in southern England. The youngest of five children, Tony Banks was encouraged to play music by his parents John and Nora at a very young age. Banks eventually developed a talent for the piano, which became the focus of his musical endeavours. In 1963, Banks left a local preparatory school for Charterhouse, a prestigious public school (what North Americans would refer to as private school) founded in 1611 just outside Godalming. While Banks allegedly did not care for boarding school, he excelled in his studies with a particular interest in mathematics and physics.
Banks continued to study the piano with interests ranging from classical to pop music of the era. Interestingly, Banks' early classic influence meshed with his interest in pop music would radically impact his future in ways that he could not possibly have imagined. During his tenure at Charterhouse, Banks met fellow schoolmate Peter Gabriel who came to the school around the same period. Peter Gabriel shared Banks' love of music, with a particular passion for soul artists of the period, like Otis Redding. Gabriel had an interest in making music but was a mediocre drummer at best. It was young Gabriel's unique voice; however, that proved to be quite exceptional. The two boys would spend much of their time together and by 1966 formed The Garden Wall.
In early 1967, The Garden Wall joined forces with fellow Carthusians Anthony Phillips and Mike Rutherford, who had been performing together for nearly two years as The Anon. They recorded some demos together with Peter Gabriel on drums and vocals, Tony Banks on piano, Anthony Phillips on guitar, and Mike Rutherford on bass. This new band managed to pawn off a cassette copy of their amateur demos to Jonathan King, former Charterhouse alumni, who had recent success on the pop charts with the 1965 UK hit “Everybody’s Gone to the Moon.” King listened to the tape while driving home that day and liked what he heard on the demo tape, especially the voice of the singer, Peter Gabriel. King later signed the young, yet unnamed band, to a publishing contract in 1967. The band enlisted the help of drummer Chris Stewart to allow Peter Gabriel to focus on being the lead vocalist, and with that, the band lineup was complete.
The band recorded additional demos that failed to gain the interest of King, so the band went back to record a song in the vein of one of King’s then-favorite bands, The Bee Gees, known as “The Silent Sun.” The song would reinstate King’s interest in the group, and would later be released as the band’s first single in 1968. The band still needed a name and despite many recommendations, including Peter Gabriel’s suggestion of Gabriel’s Angels, they ended up settling on King’s moniker for the group, Genesis.
In 1968, the band released two singles “The Silent Sun” and “A Winter’s Tale” followed by the release of their debut album, 'From Genesis to Revelation', in March 1969. From Genesis to Revelation featured the original line-up sans drummer Chris Stewart who had been replaced with percussionist John Silver. Commercially, all three efforts proved to be fruitless. Jonathan King, who tended to be more singles orientated, became increasingly frustrated with Genesis’ tendency to prefer longer compositions, and the group and their producer eventually parted ways.
Genesis spent the next year writing new material and hitting the road, refining their live performances at smaller gigs at universities and technical colleges. During this period, the band felt the need to move away from a softer acoustic sound and focus more on a louder electric sound. This dramatic change was driven by the issues at the time with the amplification of softer music in a live concert setting. The result caught the attention of Tony Stratton-Smith, who signed Genesis to his Charisma Records label in April 1970.
The band returned to the studio to record their next album. Unfortunately, with the completion of the second album, more personnel changes were needed by the summer of 1970. Co-founding member and guitarist Anthony Phillips quit the band due to an increasing bout with stage fright, which had developed significantly over the past year. Genesis used Phillips’ departure as an opportunity to seek out a new drummer and gave new 'Trespass' drummer John Mayhew his walking papers. Given their very close relationship, Mike took Ant’s departure from Genesis very hard, but the band carried on and began their search for a new drummer and guitarist.
In October 1970, the band released their second album, 'Trespass'. The band had managed to quickly fill the constantly revolving drummer’s seat with child actor and percussionist, Phil Collins. Collins had come to Genesis from the group Flaming Youth and quickly impressed Gabriel, Banks, and Rutherford with his abilities as a drummer. Genesis struggled to identify a guitarist strong enough to replace Anthony Phillips. The band auditioned many musicians for the spot including former Flaming Youth guitarist Ronnie Caryl and Mick Barnard, the latter of which held the guitarist chair for a couple of months while a permanent replacement could be found. By the end of 1970, Genesis had replaced Barnard with Steve Hackett, a young guitarist who had just recorded an album with the group Quiet World.
This newly revamped line-up would remain intact for five years. During this period, Genesis released four studio albums ('Nursery Cryme', 'Foxtrot', 'Selling England By The Pound', and 'The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway'), one live album, and toured almost non-stop. It was also during this period that the band began experimenting with art-rock. The group gained a major cult following in Europe and parts of North America with their powerful progressive music and elaborate stage shows.
Lead singer Peter Gabriel's stage presence and flair of ornate costumes, along with the band's dedication to musical perfection in the live setting, quickly gained Genesis some much-needed attention and acclaim, but the band continued to fail, commercially speaking. Despite this, the band's momentum continued to rise.
In November 1974, Genesis released what would be their final album with this line-up, 'The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway'. The conceptual double album remains one of the group's most critically heralded projects to date. The Lamb eventually earned gold certification in the U.S. for sales in excess of 500,000 copies and peaked at #41 on the U.S. albums chart. In May 1975, by the end of 'The Lamb' tour, the band received their most devastating loss yet. Vocalist Peter Gabriel had decided the leave the band for personal reasons.
Despite rumors to the contrary, Genesis chose to carry on. The band returned without a lead singer to the studio to begin work on a new album. After auditioning a number of potential singers, Genesis bandmate Phil Collins decided to take the job while maintaining his role as drummer. Collins had sung lead on a few tracks previously and supported Gabriel on backing vocals since joining the group, so he seemed like an obvious choice to some. Others thought Collins would lack the ability to successfully carry off signature Gabriel sung tunes like "The Musical Box" which were staples of Genesis live shows at the time.
At this point, Genesis was still not without conflict. As democratic as Genesis was in selecting each other's songs for album inclusion, Steve Hackett started to feel that some of his compositions were being unfairly overlooked. Hackett had used the gap of time the band needed to locate a new lead singer to record his first solo album, 'Voyage of The Acolyte'. But the artistic freedom of one solo album did not permanently relieve his dissatisfaction with Genesis. In fact, the creative control Hackett experienced during the making of that solo album only intensified his desire as a songwriter and musician.
Genesis' next album, 1976's 'A Trick of The Tail', restored their underground following's faith in the group but started to take the band in another direction musically. While the art-rock style of Gabriel-era Genesis disappeared, Collins proved to be a suitable replacement as lead singer and a consummate showman. On the 1976 Genesis tour, the need for Collins to get in front of the audience as lead vocalist forced the band to add a second drummer. Genesis enlisted progressive-rock drummer Bill Bruford, best known at the time for his work with bands like Yes and King Crimson. While Bruford provided adequate support while Collins took center stage, he was not satisfied simply supporting the band on the road and left at the conclusion of the tour.
For the next album, 1977's 'Wind & Wuthering', Genesis once again found themselves seeking a touring drummer. This time, the band hired Chester Thompson, best known for his work with Frank Zappa and The Mothers and the jazz supergroup Weather Report. After completing the 1977 world tour, Genesis was mixing their second live album, 'Seconds Out', when Steve Hackett announced his departure from the band. Rather than replace Hackett, bassist Mike Rutherford decided to take on the task of guitars and bass, making Genesis a trio. Unbeknownst to the band at the time, this new line-up would remain intact for more than 15 years.
The three remaining members, Collins, Banks, and Rutherford returned to the studio to record their eleventh (and aptly named) album, 1978's '...And Then There Were Three...' Although beyond their comprehension at the time, this album served as the catalyst for Genesis' explosion into the mainstream. The album effectively bridged the transition from progressive rock to radio-orientated pop, earning the band's first RIAA-certified gold record for 500,000 plus copies sold in the States and yielded their first big U.S. hit, "Follow You Follow Me," which reached #23 on the singles chart.
Years later, '...And Then There Were Three...' would go on to earn platinum certification for more than one million copies sold and peak at #14 on the albums chart in the United States. With the departure of Steve Hackett, another guitarist was needed for touring purposes. For this reason, the band chose Daryl Stuermer who was best known for his work with jazz greats like George Duke and Jean-Luc Ponty. As Genesis began to evolve musically, some fans felt that the group's departure from the progressive sound of the early to mid-1970s was a form of selling out, commercially speaking. Despite this, the band continued to follow their artistic vision and eventually gained public acclaim (although, critical acclaim typically alluded the band throughout most of their career). Following the 1978 world tour, the band took time off to work on a variety of outside projects and to deal with personal matters.
During this hiatus, Tony Banks began work on his first solo album, 1979's 'A Curious Feeling'. For his solo debut, he enlisted the help of Genesis' touring drummer Chester Thompson along with Kim Beacon on lead vocals. All other instrumentation was performed by Banks himself. The album, which was co-produced with then Genesis producer David Hentschel, had a very strong Genesis-sounding quality, musically speaking, but failed to attract an audience.
Genesis regrouped to release 'Duke' in April 1980. The trio found that they had produced their most successful album to date. 'Duke' featured two popular hit singles: "Misunderstanding" and "Turn It On Again". It was during this period that Genesis swept Melody Maker Magazine's poll in Europe, ranking #1 in a total of six categories. The 'Duke' album and the success of the two singles fueled a very successful world tour.
Genesis' first U.S. top ten and RIAA-certified platinum-selling album, 'Abacab', was released in September 1981 and peaked at #9 on the U.S. albums chart. By this point, each album seemed to follow the pattern of more commercial success than its predecessors. 'Abacab' featured three U.S. hit singles, "No Reply At All", "Man On The Corner" and "Abacab." Following 'Abacab', which had by this point sold more than two million copies in the U.S. (earning double-platinum status), the band released their third live album, 1982's 'Three Sides Live', which peaked at #10 on the U.S. albums chart.
In North America, 'Three Sides Live' was a double LP set with three sides of material recorded live in concert and one side of non-LP studio recordings, including the U.S. hit "Paperlate". The version currently available is identical to the European issue, which is completely live (The majority of the non-LP studio recording from the original U.S. version of Three Sides Live would later resurface in 2000 on the second Archive box set and again in 2007 on the 1976-1982 box set). 'Three Sides Live' went on to sell more than 500,000 copies in the U.S. earning yet another RIAA gold album certification for Genesis.
Following the 'Abacab' world tour, Tony Banks returned to the studio to record his second solo album, 'The Fugitive'. For the project, Banks needed a new drummer and contacted respected session drummer Steve Gadd, who he greatly admired for his ability to take odd time signatures and make them sound ordinary. Gadd, who happened to be coming to England to do some session work with ex-Beatle Ringo Starr, joined Banks in the studio for three songs that appeared on the album. Other musicians on the project included Genesis touring guitarist Daryl Stuermer, acclaimed session player Mo Foster on bass, and Tony Beard and Andy Duncan on drums. Banks assumed lead vocals on 'The Fugitive' along with keyboards and synthesizers which, in retrospect, may not have been the ideal choice given Banks' limited abilities as a lead singer. Much like 'A Curious Feeling', 'The Fugitive' and its singles, like "This Is Love," did not garner any commercial success.
That year also saw the brief return of Peter Gabriel and Steve Hackett for a one-off reunion concert in England. The now-legendary concert was not officially recorded, but the now infamous and widely circulated audience-recorded bootleg of the show is probably one of the most sought-after unsanctioned recordings ever made from a Genesis concert.
In 1983, the Warner Brothers film, The Wicked Lady, starring Faye Dunaway was released. The film featured a soundtrack by Tony Banks. The soundtrack included songs Banks recorded in his home and mixed at Genesis' studio, The Farm, along with additional themes performed by the National Philharmonic Orchestra of London conducted by Stanley Black with musical arrangements and orchestration by Christopher Palmer. The film did not do well in the theaters, which probably attributed to the fact that despite being a digital recording, 'The Wicked Lady' soundtrack was never officially reissued on compact disc until 2013! In fact, it was the last Genesis solo project to be re-released on the digital format.
1983's self-titled Genesis album, which went quadruple platinum in the U.S., gave the band their first top ten American single, "That's All." The album also spawned several other hit singles, reaffirming Genesis' superstar status. At the end of the 1984 world tour, the band went on hiatus, and all members pursued solo projects.
During his third break from Genesis, Tony Banks released 'Soundtracks' in 1985. The album was a compilation of music written and performed by Banks for the films Lorca and the Outlaws and Quicksilver. The largely keyboard-driven, largely instrumental album, featured three tracks with vocals, "Shortcut to Somewhere" featuring Ex-Marillion vocalist Fish, "You Call This Victory" with Jim Diamond, and "Lion of Symmetry" with Toyah Willcox. Focused around epic instrumental pieces like "Redwing Suite," the album lacked much commercial appeal. Interestingly, "Redwing Suite" was actually written for the film 2010, the sequel to the classic film 2001: A Space Odyssey, but remained unused until Banks recycled the unused track for the Quicksilver soundtrack. When the "Shortcut To Somewhere" single failed to chart, the album quickly faded into obscurity.
In 1986, the 'Invisible Touch' album was released and went on to reach number three on the Billboard album chart. The Genesis album went on to sell more than six million copies in the United States alone. This unprecedented achievement made U.S. pop history, with Genesis becoming the first group (and foreign act) to earn five top-five singles from an album. Later that year, Billboard Magazine honored Genesis and its members for having the most singles by one group (and as solo artists originating from one group) on the publication's Hot 100 Chart (Steve Hackett with GTR, Peter Gabriel, Mike Rutherford with Mike & The Mechanics, Phil Collins, and Genesis all had singles near the top of the chart).
The 1986/87 Genesis world tour in support of the 'Invisible Touch' album was massive. The ten-month tour took the band to 111 shows, 59 cities, 16 countries, and a total of more than three million fans. After completing the tour, the band went their separate ways to recuperate and, once again, work on outside projects. Genesis was paid further tribute that year when Rolling Stone magazine named the group "Band of The Year" in their annual reader's poll.
Following the cues of his Genesis colleague Mike Rutherford, who had opted to use the band name Mike and the Mechanics to guise his successful solo project in 1985, Tony Banks thought a similar strategy might help his next project gain more commercial exposure. For the project, Banks enlisted Alistair Gordon and Jayney Klimek as vocalists, again similar to the Rutherford model of using more than one vocalist to best meet the individual needs of his compositions. Also part of Banks' new ensemble were producer/guitarist Steve Hillage and renowned session bassist Pino Palladino. With this new line-up, in 1989, Tony Banks released his next solo endeavour, 'Bankstatment'. Despite being a much more "radio-friendly" release than past solo efforts, singles like "Throwback", "Raincloud," and "I'll Be Waiting" lacked commercial recognition. Following the release of 'Bankstatment', Atlantic Records dropped Tony Banks from its label in North America.
After the tepid commercial response to the 'Bankstatement' project and signing a new recording contract with Giant Records (which, like Atlantic, was a subsidiary of the WEA label), Tony Banks decided to release his 1992 solo project, 'Still', under his own name. The process of pursuing a new recording contract in North America caused the 'Still' release to surface nearly a year after its original European release in 1991.
For the 'Still' album, Banks re-enlisted the help of vocalists like Fish and Jayney Klimek along with Andy Taylor and Nick Kirshaw. Tony Banks crafted a pop-orientated, commercially accessible album featuring singles like "I Wanna Change The Score" and "The Gift." Unfortunately, once again, Banks' solo effort failed to gain commercial success.
It had been four years since Genesis released their next studio album, 1991's 'We Can't Dance'. The album was another record-breaker for the group featuring five-hit U.S. singles: "I Can't Dance", "Hold on My Heart", "Never A Time", "Jesus He Knows Me" and "No Son of Mine." 'We Can't Dance' eventually earned multi-platinum status, selling in excess of four million copies in the U.S. alone. In Europe, rather than release "Never A Time", the band chose to put "Tell Me Why" out as a single, which also did respectably on the charts overseas.
Like their previous tour, the 1992 concert tour generated the highest average gross per venue of any act that year. At this point in the band's career, Genesis was a musical juggernaut and arguably had become one of the most successful acts in existence, if not music history. At the conclusion of the tour, the band released their fourth live album, 'The Way We Walk'.
'The Way We Walk' features two volumes sold individually. The first part, 'The Shorts', which went gold in the U.S. selling more than 500,000 copies, focused on the group's more pop-orientated songs. Believe it or not, 'The Shorts' also marked the first time the band ever put their faces on the front of one of their albums. The second volume, 'The Longs', sold only 260,351 copies in the U.S. and included some of the band's more epic material (and a drum duet between Phil Collins and Chester Thompson). The tour was also released on video on both VHS and laserdisc as 'The Way We Walk'. The video of this tour resurfaced yet again on the DVD format in 2001.
In 1993, Genesis reunited to perform at a charity concert co-organized by Mike Rutherford in England. For this charity event, Genesis performed alongside the equally legendary rock group, Pink Floyd. Unbeknownst to the band or the audience, it would be the last time Phil Collins would be performing live with Genesis in front of a public audience for 14 years.
Shortly after the charity concert in 1993, Phil Collins informed Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford that his personal life, solo career, and other outside projects had become too difficult to manage around the band's schedule and officially tendered his resignation as drummer and front-man.
The news of Collins's departure would remain a well-guarded secret only shared with the closest members of the Genesis camp. Banks and Rutherford informed Phil Collins that the band would carry on without him. Both Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford decided to take time off from Genesis to work on outside projects before potentially looking for a new lead singer and drummer for Genesis.
During this period, Tony Banks began working on a new solo album. Much like 'Bankstatement', his new project, 'Strictly Inc.', was more like a solo album than a genuine group project. This time out, Banks enlisted ex-Wang Chung vocalist Jack Hues and guest musicians like Genesis touring guitarist Daryl Stuermer and Phil Collins' former touring bassist, Nathan East.
The 'Strictly Inc.' album was Banks' most commercial release to date, but despite a number of catchy tunes and the longer, fan-favorite, "Island In the Darkness," it failed to capture any commercial interest. To date, the 'Strictly Inc.' album has never been released in North America.
No announcement of Phil Collins' departure from Genesis was made public until March 26, 1996, when Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks announced the news for the first time. Banks and Rutherford confirmed that the search was on to replace Collins who, like Peter Gabriel before him, left very "big shoes" to fill.
When he heard of Phil's departure, Chester Thompson contacted Mike Rutherford about permanently taking over the drummer's chair. Much to Chester's disappointment, the band opted not to add any additional permanent members of the group, splitting drumming chores between two session players, Nick D'Virgilo and Nir Zidkyahu.
D'Virgilo was best known for his work with acts like Tears for Fears and the modern progressive band, Spock's Bread. Nick D'Virgilo heard through the grapevine that Banks and Rutherford might be looking for a new drummer and managed to get a demo disc into the hands of the band's management along with an invitation to see him perform at a gig in England. D'Virgilo got an audition at the Farm, Genesis' studio, but soon realized that he would be joined by Nir Zidkyahu, who himself, had built an equally impressive reputation as a session drummer. Zidkyahu has played with acts ranging from John Mayer to Billy Squier and had an aggressive playing style that caught the attention of the band's manager, Tony Smith.
Rumors began to spread wildly about Phil Collins's resignation and who would replace him. Fans and magazine writers speculated everyone from fellow Mechanic Paul Carrack to Fish (formerly from the progressive Genesis-influenced band, Marillion) to the return of Peter Gabriel... Obviously, none of which were true.
On June 6, 1997, Banks and Rutherford officially announced that Collins would be replaced by ex-Stiltskin vocalist Ray Wilson. Wilson had already earned success in his own right with the Stiltskin single "Inside" which had climbed to the top of the charts across Europe.
In September 1997, Genesis released what would be their final studio album, '...Calling All Stations...'. Rutherford touted that the new album would be "darker" than that of more recent projects", leaving fans to believe that the project would be reminiscent of Genesis' sound in the 1970s.
As it turned out, the release was not an extremely dark album, but rather slightly less commercial than what fans had come to expect in recent years. '...Calling All Stations...' met with a cold response, selling only 109,583 copies in the United States. The weak U.S. album sales later resulted in the scaling back and eventual canceling of the band's North American tour.
Genesis chose to carry on with a European tour using backing guitarist and bass player Anthony Drennon along with '...Calling All Stations...' session drummer Nir Z to support the new line-up in late 1997 and early 1998, but the response from fans was significantly less than that of their previous several tours. Shortly after the conclusion of the tour, Banks and Rutherford notified Wilson that the decision had been made not to record another studio album. Again, this decision would remain secret for some time.
On May 11, 1998, former Genesis members Steve Hackett, Phil Collins, Peter Gabriel, Anthony Phillips, and John Silver reunited with Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford for a press conference at Heathrow Airport in England to promote Genesis' first box set, 'Archive 1967-1975'. The box set was released in June of that year and included rare and previously unreleased recordings. The collection sold a mere 35,237 copies in the United States.
For the box set, Banks and Rutherford enlisted former members Phil Collins, Peter Gabriel, and Steve Hackett to re-record a new version of the song "Carpet Crawlers" from 'The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway'. While the track did not make the first Archive box set, it did surface in October 1999 on the band's first sanctioned compilation, 'Turn It On Again: The Hits'. 'Turn It On Again: The Hits' reached the top five on the UK album chart but failed to crack the U.S. top 40 chart. The collection did, however, sell more than 500,000 copies in the U.S. earning yet another gold album for Genesis.
In 2000, Genesis released 'Archive #2 1976-1992'. Like the first Archive collection, this box set included rare and unreleased material. Also, like the first Archive box set, its reception was brisk with only 21,031 copies sold in the United States.
On September 21st of that year, Genesis members Collins, Banks, and Rutherford reunited with Daryl Stuermer at the Dorchester Hotel in London, England for a private acoustic performance in honor of their long-time manager, Tony Smith, who was receiving the prestigious Peter Grant Award for his accomplishments in the music industry (Peter Gabriel was also in attendance, but did not perform).
Tony Banks' signature Genesis compositions always tended to have a very strong orchestral quality. Whether it be unusual combinations of chords or a chorus of sweeping angelic sounds. Using that orchestral style for a true classical project has been an idea Banks first contemplated when he recorded the soundtrack to 'The Wicked Lady' in 1983. When it came time for Tony Banks's seventh solo project (which also happens to have seven tracks), he decided to take on the challenge, enlisting the help of Mike Dixon and the legendary London Philharmonic for his first true orchestral album.
'Seven' was orchestrated by Simon Hale, who was referred to him by long-time Genesis Producer Nick Davis. Davis, who has been involved with the production of many Tony Banks solo efforts, also co-produced this release. This ambitious new classical album was recorded at Air Studios in England in July 2002.
The project, which was released through Naxos Records worldwide in 2004, received critical acclaim in classical music circles. Seven featured a combination of newer Banks compositions along with some older, unreleased material, including "The Gateway" which was actually initially developed as a demo roughly twenty years prior to this album's release.
In September 2005, Genesis released their seemingly posthumous 3-CD anthology, 'The Platinum Collection', in North America. This new multi-disc 40-song collection spanned the band's studio efforts from 1970's 'Trespass' through 1997's '...Calling All Stations...'. The release met with a weak response in America selling only 65,328 copies, primarily due to the fact that the European version was released almost a full year earlier in November 2004, and many copies had been imported for U.S. sales. In late November 2005, former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett confirmed that the band was to have a private meeting to discuss the possibility of a Genesis reunion with the early 1970s line-up of Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford, Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins, and Hackett.
The comments quickly circulated throughout the media with everyone from Rolling Stone Magazine to CNN reporting the news.
The news was quickly squashed by Peter Gabriel in December of that year, and Genesis' management released an official statement that there were no plans for a Genesis reunion in 2006 - however, there was no denial that talks had or were still taking place. Many fans have speculated that 2007, the band's 40th anniversary, seemed like an obvious time for a potential reunion.
On November 7, 2006, in London and on March 7, 2007, in New York City, Genesis held press conferences to announce an official 2007 reunion tour with members Tony Banks, Phil Collins, and Mike Rutherford accompanied by long-time touring members Chester Thompson and Daryl Stuermer, bringing back the vastly popular late '70s to early '90s line up of Genesis. The tour included 48 shows (23 European shows and 25 North American shows), climaxed with a free concert at the Circus Maximus in Rome, Italy, in front of an estimated crowd of 500,000 people. The Genesis tour earned $129 million worldwide, making it the second-highest-grossing tour of 2007.
In conjunction with the tour, in April 2007, the band released a 12-CD + DVD box set called '1976-1982', featuring newly remixed and remastered stereo and surround sound versions of the studio albums from that era along with rare video, period music videos, and new interviews with the band on each album.
In September 2007, Genesis released in North America 'Turn It On Again: The Hits - The Tour Edition', an expanded double-disc limited edition version of the album, which surfaced at the start of the North American tour (it was also released in Europe in June at the start of the European leg of the tour).
The second Genesis box in the series, '1983-1998', included comparable material from the studio albums from this period, and was released in November 2007.
November 2007 also saw the release of Genesis' sixth live album, 'Live Over Europe', which featured recordings from various nights of the European leg of the tour. 'Live Over Europe' peaked at #44 in Europe, but did not fare as well in the North American charts. This release was accompanied by 'When In Rome', a video release recorded at the Circus Maximus concert in Italy. The video was recorded in high definition and was released in 2008 on DVD (despite being filmed in high definition, the video has yet to receive a high definition release).
November 2008 saw the release of the 13-disc CD + DVD set, '1970-1975', spanning "the Peter Gabriel era" of Genesis. In 2010, for his work on the project, long-time Genesis Engineer/Producer Nick Davis received a Grammy Award nomination for 'Best Surround Sound'.
The string of archive releases continued in September 2009 with the 11-disc CD + DVD set, 'Live 1973-2007', and November 2009's 5-DVD set, 'The Movie Box', featuring the band's commercially released concert videos along with an updated version of VH-1's Behind The Music documentary on the band going up through the 2007 Genesis world tour. This officially ended the three-year flood of archive Genesis releases. While more unreleased live and non-album material remains "in the vaults", at least for the time being, there appear to be no immediate plans to release more archive-type products.
In November 2009, Tony Banks' first solo album, 'A Curious Feeling', was reissued in celebration of the album's 30th anniversary. A standard version of the album with newly remixed and remastered sound (courtesy of long-time Producer/Engineer Nick Davis) was issued along with a deluxe version of the album featuring both the stereo CD and a bonus DVD with 5.1 audio and bonus video content.
In March 2010, Genesis was inducted into the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City. Trey Anastasio, the lead singer from the band Phish, inducted the band saying: "Every musical rule and boundary was questioned and broken. It's impossible to overstate what impact this band and musical philosophy had on me as a young musician. I'm forever in their debt." On hand that night were members Tony Banks, Phil Collins, Steve Hackett, Mike Rutherford, and long-time touring members Daryl Stuermer and Chester Thompson. Mysteriously absent that night was Peter Gabriel who allegedly missed the event due to preparation for the European leg of his 2010 tour. While Genesis did not perform that night, it was the last time the group appeared on stage together as Genesis. In September 2012, Genesis was honored again with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the first Progressive Music Awards in England. Members Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford were on hand to accept the honor.
In March 2011, Tony Banks went to Smecky Music Studios in the Czech Republic to record his second orchestral project, 'Six Pieces for Orchestra', with the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor Paul Englishby. The album was eventually released in April 2012, earning high praise from the classical community and critics alike.
In April 2013, Tony Banks finally reissued his soundtrack to 'The Wicked Lady' on CD. The title, which was not only remastered but was the first time the album had been released in a digital format, received surprisingly little fanfare upon its independent release on Tony's Fugitive Inc. label. Later in 2013, Tony Banks was commissioned to write a new orchestral piece for the Cheltenham Music Festival in England. The piece, (Titled "Arpegg"), was premiered at the festival's 70th-anniversary concert on July 5, 2014. Banks commented, "I am very flattered to be asked to write an orchestral music piece for the 70th Cheltenham Music Festival. This will be especially exciting for me, as it will be the first time a classical piece of mine has been played live in concert."
In May 2015 it was released that there will finally be a best-of album from Tony's solo career. Something which was discussed off and on in recent years. Released by Esoteric 'A Chord Too Far' was released on July 31, 2015, and is a career spanning 4 disc box set of Tony's solo career and includes demos of some of his orchestral work and one unreleased track recorded in 1991.
Planned to begin in February 2016 Tony's back catalog was to be reissued through Esoteric starting chronologically with 'A Curious Feeling' and 'The Fugitive'. They were to be released in 5.1 surround sound deluxe CD/DVD re-issues along with vinyl re-pressings. All of Tony's rock albums would be reissued every few months after this two at a time. However, those plans came to a halt after the initial release of his first two solo albums. It would be a little over three years later in May 2019 when Esoteric finally organized the rest of Tony's solo albums to be released all in one box set under the name 'Banks Vaults: The Albums 1979-1995'. This box set contains all of Tony's solo albums, including 'The Wicked Lady', as well as a bonus DVD containing all of Tony's music videos. One difference in the original plan to re-release Tony's solo catalog though was the decision to scrap the 5.1 releases and vinyl re-issues of the rest of the albums. Instead, the remainder of the albums from 'The Wicked Lady' onward were remastered instead.
Following on from his work on the Cheltenham Music Festival in 2013/2014 Tony took "Arpegg" and used that as a starting point for what became his third orchestral album 'Five' which Tony recorded in March 2017 at CNSO Studio in Prague, Czech Republic with orchestral arrangements by Nick Ingman. It was released the following year in February 2018 to high praise once again from the classical community. Tony played piano on the demo versions of the pieces which were then used on the final versions.
While pop commercial success may continue to allude Tony Banks as a solo artist, he has remained one of the most influential artists in the sound of Genesis through the ages from the group's inception through to their final note on stage at the O2 Arena in London in March 2022. Banks may not have returned to the rock world (outside of Genesis' 2021/22 reunion) since the 'Strictly Inc.' album, but he has finally found his own, much overdue, critical, and commercial acclaim as an orchestral composer.
David Negrin,
November 2013
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