This is a new reissue of The Syn's Syndestructible album on vinyl. I have to say that to me, this is probably the medium on which you should be listening to this set. Sure, the CD is fine, but there is just something about the experience of spinning vinyl that suits this release so well. Add in the fact that this thing just sounds great. I'd say I prefer the sound of the vinyl to the CD really. It comes in a nice gatefold cover, and everything about this is class. I love how the label to side one includes just the art from the cover, while the second side's label shows the tracks for both sides of the record. This is a great release. I originally reviewed this on CD, and since the music hasn't changed, I'm going to include that overall review here along with the track reviews, for the sake of consistency. Suffice it to say, though, as good as that was, this is better. It should be noted that I have made some edits to that original review, most notably moving one of the tracks which changed something in the overall review, but that's because the track sequence is different here than it was on the CD, presumably to make it better fit the vinyl time constraints.

This is a reunion album from the band called "Syn." Haven't heard of them? Well, you probably will be familiar with their bass guitarist. Syn was an early variant of the band that eventually became Yes, and while Syn in the 1960's featured both Yes' original guitarist Peter Banks and Yes bassist Chris Squire, this incarnation finds the band with only the bass man. The music here seems to combine a psychedelic garage band sensibility with the prog rock that Squire is known for in Yes. The only element of the disc that takes a little getting used to are the vocals. I would say that the closest comparison on that aspect is that they sound to me quite a bit like the Kinks. Musically, this one covers quite a bit of territory. As one might expect, there are Yesish moments here. There are also textures that remind this reviewer of bands like Flower Kings, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, King Crimson, The Doors and The Yardbirds. Put all of this into a blender with different elements taking the fore at different points on the album, and you have a pretty good picture of what to expect. While there is only one track, side one's closer, that I would consider to be awesome, there are definitely a lot of very good songs on show and no real dogs.

This review is available in book (paperback and hardcover) in Music Street Journal: 2019  Volume 5. More information and purchase links can be found at: garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-2019.

This incredibly short introductory piece starts with several acapella measures, then instrumentation takes it and moves straight into the next cut.

Acapella vocals start this. Eventually a dramatic, tentative, pounding progression accompanies it for a time til Squire's bass takes us on a new journey that is bouncy and potent. They work within this theme, but burst out into a new jam for the chorus. They move the whole cut after a time into an expansive and very powerful soaring progression that feels a lot like Yes. After running through like this for a time, it drops back to just keys. Then vocals and other elements enter in a Beatlesesque movement that grows ever so slowly. They change this after a time to a retro psychedelically tinged prog excursion, then reform it again by another twist around to a great sing along vocal arrangement. At the end of this the guitar stomps in and the whole cut reforms to a faster paced progression that feels just a small bit like yes. This gets incredibly powerful, then thy twist it around to move a psychedelic sound again. They crescendo out, then carry it into a slower plodding movement that is quite potent. They work this out to fade to end.