A real worthwhile book by Mario Giammetti focused solely on Tony Banks. It is basically the story of Genesis through the eyes of Tony, plus all of his solo efforts. I would say this is truly essential for any Tony fan, as this may be the closest we get to an autobiography by maybe the most private Genesis member.

The author pulls no punches when evaluating Tony's efforts, being both highly complimentary and highly critical, which is necessary for a book like this. It is the kind of book that makes you want to play the music while you read all the highly detailed analysis and stories.

The big theme in the book (and the great shame, if you will) is that Tony evaluates the success of his efforts by the success in the market. Genesis never started as a band seeking commercial success, as they really only wanted to be song writers.

But then Tony saw the success of Genesis, and the success of Peter, Phil, and Mike's Mechanics and was disappointed at his record sales, time and time again. But the measure of success cannot simply be record sales. We as fans should hope he writes simply for the joy of writing, making music he likes, without worrying about the music charts.

In addition, there is absolutely no way to compare any band to bands with the singing talents of Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins, or Paul Carrack. They are simply some of the best to ever hold a microphone. Just because Tony didn't have a vocalist of this caliber in any of his band iterations, doesn't make his music any less worthwhile.