Customer Reviews

Reduction

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Peter Banks is a sadly overlooked and underrated guitarist, every bit the equal of the other guitar wizards who claimed all the accolades and magazine covers over the past thirty years. Reduction is another welcome addition to his solo catalog from the last few years. From sparkling cool atmospheric jazzy stylings to razor sharp funk grooves, this album shows many of Banks' guitar mastery. The songs are more about composition than showboating, like most guitar albums, however there are plenty chops for those who are unaware of Banks' skills. Also, check out his earlier albums Instinct and Self-Contained. My favorite guitarist - and I'm a drummer!

I found the UK import on Transatlantic/Castle out of the blue at the dollar store. It's mainly instrumental, but worth a listen. It's a lot like some of the solo albums Banks' Yes replacement Steve Howe makes, if that was intended as revenge of some sort.

Great album...it shows off Peter's multi-faceted talent very nicely. Jazz, funk, rock, you name it, it's here...
While it is true that Banks is sorely underrated, I would like to say that Kim Fletcher's review of this album is a cheap shot at another YES alum, Steve Howe. Her review is sadly full of untruths, rumors and innuendo that date back to 1991. Too bad she couldn't just talk up Banks' work without trashing other musicians. In fact, Steve Howe never nixed Peter Banks involvement in the "Union" tour of 8 Yes Men(not 11). There are numerous interviews that discount this trash talk. In fact, Steve Howe has said repeatedly that "Time & A Word" by Yes is a great album and that Banks got a raw deal on that transaction. Next time, speak truth.

"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 Greers Toy Shop"), he remains the only member of the band 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 and 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. 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. 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. 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 entire 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 bands 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 break through album 'The Yes Album'.

"Flash" went onto enormous successes 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.

Several solo albums have been recorded along the way with 'Reduction' being the third. Released in 1997 it is full of all the usual Bankism's that you come to expect from the man. 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 minute one hundred notes a second. The next bending 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'. `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 rang 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. The rhythms of 'Dirty Little secret' will bury themselves in your subconscious and drive you nuts trying to recall where you have heard it 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 producing music of this caliber, so be it. One can only ponder what would of happened if the boys at "Yes" had stuck with their wayward son. I do not think that they would of turned into the sorry parody of themselves that 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.
Mott the Dog.