Released Late June 1983 Release date June 1983 | Recorded 1982-1983 Length 52:35 | |
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Genres Rock music, Art rock, Soft rock Similar A Curious Feeling, Bankstatement, The Wicked Lady, Strictly Inc, A Chord Too Far | ||
The Fugitive is the second solo studio album by Genesis keyboardist Tony Banks. It was originally released in June 1983, on Charisma (UK), and Atlantic (US). It was produced by Banks himself, and co-produced by the Grammy Award–winning Stephen Short. The album is the only album in which Banks sings the lead vocals on all of the tracks. On the previous concept album, A Curious Feeling all of the vocals were done by Kim Beacon. When that album did not turn out too successfully, Banks thought that it was pointless to continue that project. As compared to A Curious Feeling, the songs on The Fugitive were much more commercially accessible and less experimental.
Contents
- Tony banks the fugitive this is love
- Recording
- Promotion
- Reception
- Track listing
- Personnel
- Songs
- References
When the album was released in late June 1983, it received mixed reviews and peaked at number 50 in the UK, lasting within the Top 100 for only two weeks. "This Is Love" and "And the Wheels Keep Turning" were released as singles, but they both failed to chart.
The album was re-issued on CD in the UK. In 1999 a CD re-issue was released in Russia, unofficially. The Fugitive was reissued in early 2016, remixed by Banks and Nick Davis.
Tony banks the fugitive this is love
Recording
In October 1982, Genesis wrapped their two-month tour of North America and Europe in support of their live album, Three Sides Live. The band then went on a brief hiatus, and during this time Banks recorded the album. Like bandmate Phil Collins, Banks recorded all of the basic tracks at his home on a professional 8-track tape machine, added to and mixed at The Farm, the band's recording studio in Chiddingfold, Surrey. Genesis reconvened a month before the album's release, in May 1983 to start work on their next studio album at the same studio.
Three guest musicians (mostly Steve Gadd) played drums, while a Linn LM-1 was used in place of a live drummer on the instrumental "Thirty Three's". Daryl Stuermer (guitar) from Genesis' and Phil Collins' backing band was recruited, as was Mo Foster (bass) who played on Collins' solo album Hello, I Must Be Going!. The two bonus tracks "K2" and "Sometime Never" were recorded in the same sessions but were not included on the original album.
Banks later commented, "The Fugitive was a slightly different approach, where I sang everything. I wanted to do that once in my life! I purposely kept the vocal lines straightforward, so that I could sing them. The album has quite a strong instrumental bias, but it was a little more stark. I like the record very much."
Promotion
Upon release, the "This Is Love" single had a music video created to promote it. "And the Wheels Keep Turning" had no video, as Charisma Records chose not to commission one.
Marketing for the album relied heavily on Banks's fame as a member of Genesis, and the advertising slogan used in print ads stated simply "Tony Banks."
Reception
In his retrospective review for AllMusic, Geoff Orens praised the album for being sparser and more accessible than most of Tony Banks's solo work. He also approved of his singing the songs himself, saying that his voice "works far better with his music than many of the other more bombastic vocalists he has recorded with as a solo artist." However, he commented that some of the songs have not aged well.
Track listing
All tracks written by Tony Banks.
Personnel
Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.
Songs
1This Is Love5:10
2Man of Spells3:46
3And the Wheels Keep Turning4:48