Tony Banks - The Fugitive

The Fugitive is the second solo studio album by Genesis keyboardist Tony Banks, originally released in June 1983 via Charisma Records in the UK and Atlantic Records in the US.

Tony Banks second solo album was recorded during a break between Genesis commitments in 1982. On his first solo album, A Curious Feeling (1979), the lead vocals were sung by Kim Beacon. For his second album, Banks decided to sing the lead vocals himself. It remains the only album that Banks has sung lead vocals to date.

The songs on The Fugitive were much more commercially accessible compared with his debut album, and perhaps because he was writing melodies to sing himself, he kept them relatively simple.

Tony Banks recruited Mo Foster to play bass and Daryl Stuermer to play guitar, and Steve Gadd, Tony Beard and Andy Duncan played drums. The album was co-produced by Tony Banks and Stephen Short.

Two singles were released from the album, the reggae styled “This Is Love” and the rocker “And The Wheels Keep Turning”, both of which failed to chart. The album reached #50 on the UK Albums chart.

Tony Banks has commented about the album as follows:  “…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…”.

Check out the tracks:  “This Is Love”; “And The Wheels Keep Turning”; “By You”; and “Charm”.

This LP record is a 2016 reissue on 180 gram heavyweight vinyl with remastered audio, pressed in Europe via Esoteric Recordings.