Genesis’ Tony Banks Talks Elusive Solo Success, New Box Set

In October, 1983, Genesis released their blockbuster self-titled LP, a slick set of artful pop-rock that went quadruple platinum in the U.K., spawning massive singles like “That’s All.” Four months prior, keyboardist and founding member Tony Banks issued his second solo album, The Fugitive, a slick set of artful pop-rock that barely cracked the U.K. top 50, withering into obscurity.

Banks, now 65, has spent the majority of his career walking that tightrope. In Genesis, working with dynamic singers like Phil Collins and Peter Gabriel, he packed stadiums, but his criminally underrated solo albums became discount-bin staples.

In 2014, the classic Genesis prog-rock lineup — Banks, Collins, Gabriel, Mike Rutherford and Steve Hackett — united to compile the R-Kive box set, a blend of band staples and cherry-picked solo pieces spanning the past four decades. Now, building on that momentum, Banks is releasing his own four-disc solo compilation, the cleverly titled A Chord Too Far, on July 31st via Esoteric. The material, curated by the musician, showcases every facet of his compositional style, from Romantic prog (his 1979 debut, A Curious Feeling) to modern classical (2012’s Six: Pieces for Orchestra).

Banks spoke to Rolling Stone about the joys and frustrations of his solo career, transitioning from the rock to orchestral realms, Genesis’ Seventies “rivalry” with Yes and his plans for the future.

You have such a varied and rich catalog of solo material. Had you been approached to do this kind of collection before? What made you decide to do it now?
I hadn’t really been approached. After we did the Genesis R-Kive compilation, I sort of felt it was time to do it. The record label, Esoteric, concentrates on progressive music, and they’d been very keen for a long time to do it. I was originally thinking of a shorter compilation, but they wanted us to do this four-CD thing, so I was up for it. I’ve really enjoyed doing it — it’s nice to go back and see all this stuff.

Did you have any guidelines for yourself when you were structuring the track list? There’s a really nice flow to the whole thing.
My feeling was that I was putting it together like all the songs are from the same period. There are 15 years or so between the albums on the first three discs, but production values didn’t change much between 1978 and 1995. You can put the tracks together like that, and that gave me a chance to highlight certain tracks that weren’t highlighted when I did the records originally. I obviously put out singles, none of which did too much, but I’ve put them a little further back on the records and tried to emphasize one or two tracks I think are strong. It’s just a way of balancing with light and shade — an old-fashioned thing to do since not many people worry about the order anymore.

I’ve always just done what I do, really. Interesting harmony has always appealed to me, but I know it doesn’t appeal to everybody. Once you get your foot in the door, it’s easy. With Genesis, once we had the hit with [1978’s] “Follow You Follow Me,” it made it easier to put out more complicated things like “Turn It On Again.” It just never really happened for me with the stuff I did solo. Maybe I never had a song that was quite strong enough to be a definite single. That’s the way it is. It’s an incredibly competitive world, and to get noticed is a very difficult thing. I’m also not very pushy myself, which doesn’t really help.

But when it’s all said and done, I don’t really mind that much. I had the chance to make all this music, even though it wasn’t terrifically successful, because I was with Genesis, really. Now it’s all out there, and I thought it would be nice to put it all in one place for this box set. People who wondered what I was up to while Phil [Collins] and Mike [Rutherford] were doing what they were doing, now they’ll have a chance to listen.