It is, perhaps, inappropriate for a music review site to have favourites, but Inner Prospekt, the vehicle of the supremely talented Italian musician and songwriter, Alessandro di Benedetti, most certainly counts amongst that number.

Alessandro has reworked his 2014 release, Dreaming Tony Banks, and you can see this on his Bandcamp page at https://innerprospekt.bandcamp.com/album/dreaming-tony-banks-2025

The first thing to state is that this is not a cover album, rather a set of songs played in tribute to the master of the keys (I have always counted Banks as such, my favourite musician from my formative listening years).

Incidentally, the Bandcamp page quotes in full the original Prog Archives review from my very good friend, The Prog Rogue, Thomas Szirmay. Thomas is rarely wrong in his assessments, and hits the mark here, but I will share some of my thoughts with you as well on the six pieces of music presented.

Pinballs starts us off, the beloved sound of the eponymous object bouncing off the features reaching our ears. There is the most delicious bass melody on this track, absolutely underpinning everything above it, the multilayered keys, the drums, incidentally, very much inspired by some of the work which was being produced by Banks and Genesis in the 1980’s, when the drum machine became king. There is an Italian and jazz infused core here, playful, alongside bursts of sounds which take one into the heart of the game, as opposed to a mere spectator. The final minute is nicely expansive.

Slow Scopes is an epic track over twelve minutes long. The voices amongst the dreamy opening notes are interesting, suggestive of a dream, before the piano takes a forceful lead above the continuing effects, soundscapes pretty, another immersive bassline, the title perfectly describing a piece which slowly, but surely, draws the listener into a sound bath, more and more seductive as it moves forward, notes carousing between each ear. It is embedded below for you. Stop your work. Get your coffee. Sit down. Headphones on. Enjoy the children playing. Relax and marvel then at the explosion of sound as the track moves to its close, a stunning change in volume and pace.

Airing the Flow opens in a minimalist fashion, a thudding underbelly with some very pretty melodies developing, keys and guitar before the main segment scores forceful synths above robotic effects, notes swirling between the ears, and Thomas rightly refers to the Fugitive era Banks as the template for the main synth solo here (which is, incidentally, one of my favourite albums by Tony), but interspersed with some pure electronica, making for an interesting contrast, and by the close, we are inducted into a keyboard washing disco, sound and imaginary lights swirling around us, surrounded by the happiness of life.

Gem opens in a bar, or café, or restaurant, the hubbub palpable, single urgent notes before the musician urges the diners and guests to hush up and listen to the cocktail of jazz-infused piano, synths, and dreamy rhythm section played before them. I close my eyes, and I am transported back to the fortnight I spent in Rome in the late 1980’s, some of the finest social venues I have had the pleasure of visiting, with the music here a performative joy, very much influenced by Banks in the manner of the talking, growling, suggestive synths on offer. It was this track, incidentally, I played on my Progzilla Radio show this last Saturday. Podcast available by clicking on the link on the homepage of this website, or by going to www.progzilla.com/podcasts and look for “Steve Lazenby’s Lazland”.

Internal Clock is the penultimate piece and is embedded for you to enjoy below. The core noise underpinning this is the sound of our lives, as measured by the vibrations our heart, bowels, our very being demonstrate, some rather disturbing, even in the healthiest of men. It is an opportunity for Alessandro to demonstrate his mastery of layering sounds, intensity creeping up on you, parts of it I believe influenced by some of the instrumental work on The Lamb, especially the darker final couple of sides, others carrying with them distinctive soul and disco vibes (Banks, as with Gabriel adored Motown back in the day), and orchestral rock. There really is so much going on in this.

We close with White Skies, the second epic of the album. There is a lovely lightness of touch, di Benedetti faithfully recreating the ability of Banks to create moods so effectively, and here, I think the template is somewhere around Wind & Wuthering, where tracks such as One for the Vine could carry you away one minute with its sweeping panoramas, and the next, place you wholly in reflective mood, the thoughtful notes here forcing one to look inward and contemplate feelings, loving ones, active ones, sad ones, angry ones, belly laughing ones, the range of human emotions, including, I think, a wee bit of a wedding march just short of seven minutes in and reprised in the final movement. Fans of mellotron craft will find much to enjoy in this. Terrific musicianship and huge fun to listen to.

This is a fine reworking of an early creation. It is a lovely album, full of his usual character, and, to these ears, creating the perfect tribute to a master without ever sounding derivative. If nothing else, a fine appetiser for his next album of original material.