A Curious Feeling

With Phil Collins in Canada sorting out his personal life, Genesis entered 1979 on hiatus. Both Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford turned their attention to solo projects, with Banks's being the first out of the gate. A Curious Feeling was produced with David Hentschel at Abba's Polar Studios, with Banks handling all instrumentation—only Chester Thompson assisted on drums and percussion. Based loosely on the novelette Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, the album is a relatively uniform set of songs. Since Banks was always one of Genesis' main songwriters, it should come as no surprise that A Curious Feeling gives a good approximation of his contribution to that band; and conversely, the album also sheds light on the other members' contribution to Genesis by what it isn't. Banks is a lyrical songwriter; his compositions are flowing, with an emphasis on beauty and romanticism. Both "The Lie" and "After the Lie" are typically expressive, while the second side's "You" and "Somebody Else's Dream" contain a harder edge. Throughout, the production is flawless, though perhaps a little too contrived. Banks's instrumental "The Waters of Lethe" (also the working title of the album) is flush with that trademark Yamaha CP70 piano tone; it's also no wonder that the album sounds a lot like the previous Genesis record, And Then There Were Three. The opening "From the Undertow" and another instrumental "Forever Morning" are obviously from the same well. Kim Beacon from Charisma labelmate String Driven Thing provides the vocals for the album—a quite controversial choice, in retrospect. His smoky tenor is by no means a distraction, but it might be too familiar a match for the music: It's typical of the kind of voice that Genesis (and ex-Genesis) members would select for their solo albums. Regardless, the album was a success, rising to No. 21 on the UK charts.