Peter Banks – The Self-Contained Trilogy (The Peter Banks Musical Estate/Cherry Red Records, 2018)
This 3CD boxed includes remastered versions of all three of Peter Banks’s solo studio albums from the 1990s in a single package.
Disc one features Instinct, a great instrumental album that showcases Peter Bank’s talent as a guitarist. Banks played practically all instruments, bringing together progressive rock, blues, funk and world music influences.
The second CD includes Self-Contained. Again, Banks played all instruments except keyboards on one track. Self-Contained is a little more exploratory, with numerous short vignettes that range from beautiful solo guitar pieces to excursions into rock, electronica, sound experimentation and ambience.
The third disc is Reduction. Banks continued his sound experimentation, combining guitars with electronic beats and sound effects, incorporating rock, funk and electronica along with exquisite acoustic guitar melodies.
Peter Banks was a remarkable guitarist and one of the original members of progressive rock band Yes. He passed away in 2013.