Peter Banks- Reduction

278

5 Stars

*The artwork for Peter Bank’s album Reduction.*

Audio CD (paid link)

“Sometimes there is consolation in isolation.” These are the words printed on the inside cover of this marvelous electric guitar solo album from that brilliant musician Mr. Peter Banks. Very apt they are, too. Although Peter Banks was at the creation of the band Yes, and indeed the bands that were its forbearers (SYN’ and Mabel Greer’s Toy Shop), he remains the only band member not to have been invited back at some stage or other.

His replacement on the guitar, Steve Howe, has joined and left the band an incredible four times. Even when they recorded, then toured with the “Reunion” album with an incredible and quite farcical eleven man line-up, Peter Bank’s talents were regarded as surplus to requirements.

*The man in red, Peter Banks on stage where he belongs. (Photo by George Mizer.)*

In fact, when once Peter was invited by the rest of the band to make a guest appearance on the encores with the band at the end of a U.K. tour, Steve Howe threatened to leave the band! Peter Banks wasn’t allowed on the same stage as the obviously very insecure guitarist. So what can be the reason behind this entire skullduggery? Almost alarmingly simple, the story goes like this.

In the formative years of Yes, way back in 1968, Peter Banks was not only lead guitarist but also inspirational in creating the Yes sound. This was the distinctive diamond edge guitar solos, the granite hard riffs coupled with Jon Anderson’s soaring vocals, the brilliant musicianship of the back line of Tony Kaye on keyboards, Chris Squire on bass (one of the first people to play the bass as if it were a lead instrument rather than just a backing device), and the drummer’s drummer Bill Bruford.

*Peter Banks in rehearsal with a 12-string Rickenbacker.*
*(Photo by Sylvia Calloway.)*

The band was obviously tipped for stardom. After two albums, the amazing debut album “Yes,” which has just been re-released digitally re-mastered with four outstanding bonus tracks, and the equally polished second album “Time and a Word,” musically everything was looking great, but whilst the others were all rather taking themselves terribly seriously, Peter Banks was enjoying the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle just a little too much. An ultimatum was sent down by the management. (It must be said not with the backing of the entire band.) Keyboard player Tony Kaye was to leave the band in similar circumstances after one more album, to be followed by drummer Bill Bruford an album later. Over the years, these two have been in and out of the band’s revolving door whilst it has remained firmly shut to Peter Banks. Either clean up your act or out, they said.

Well, there was no choice, really. Peter Banks left Yes, forming his own band Flash. Its music could only be described as progressive rock meets punk rock while retaining the Banks’ guitar sound. Yes brought in the far more controllable Steve Howe to copy Banks’ licks for their breakthrough album, the “Yes” album.

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Flash went on to success in the U.S.A., releasing three albums before disbanding and going their own way. Peter Banks went on to enjoy life as a session musician and toy with the idea of forming a band called Empire, which went through as many musicians as his former colleagues in Yes would go through.

The incredible Peter Banks collection, “Be Well Be Safe Be Lucky” (which was Peter Banks’ way of saying goodbye) with songs selected from his back catalogue all spliced together. The effect is resounding.

Several solo albums have been recorded along the way, with “Reduction” being the third. Released in 1997, it is full of all the usual Banksias that you come to expect from the man, including an amusing and unique little opening to get you in the mood before a blistering seven minutes of ‘Tone Down’ where the guitarist shows off all his talents at one hundred notes a second! The next minute, he bends one note right round your player and straight out the other door.

I’m not saying you have to have a decent player to listen to a Peter Banks recording, but it certainly helps. Voice samplings are used to string each instrumental together, my favorite being, “What gives you the inspiration to write a song like that?”

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“Usually the Landlady knocking on the door” makes the whole thing flow sublimely from one track to another. Although every track is a guitar instrumental, there is more variety on a Peter Banks album than there are colours in a box of Smarties. They range from the sledgehammer licks of ‘Fathat’ to the delicate acoustic work on the delightful ‘Fade to Blue,’ or the tragic beauty of a song like ‘As Night Falls.’ With songs like this, you do not need lyrics to display the emotions of the music.

*Flash, Peter Banks’ band directly after Yes. From left to right: Ray Barrett, Mike Hough, Colin Carter and Peter Banks.*

The riffs of ‘Dirty Little Secret’ will bury themselves in your subconscious and drive you nuts trying to recall where you have heard them before. The overdubbed guitars here become more and more menacing as the song progresses, implying the perfect soundtrack to a particularly nasty repetitive nightmare. Fair sends a tingle up and down your tail.

“Reduction is the way to production” is printed on the back cover. If this is the way of producing music of this caliber, so be it. One can only ponder what would have happened if the boys at Yes had stuck with their wayward son. I do not think they would have turned into the sorry parody of themselves they have now become. But we shall never know. The best thing to do is get yourself a copy of Reduction, press play and be whisked away on one of Mr. Banks’ musical journeys.