CORDS

Out of the scads of electronic music albums that peppered the entire '70s, none moved me quite like the third Synergy album, Cords. Unlike his previous one (Sequencer), Larry Fast, a/k/a Synergy, had a full album's worth of terrific material this time. Plus, having worked closely with Peter Gabriel on several PG albums and on the road, Fast incorporated much Gabriel-esque inspiration and invention into this project - Gabriel, I believe, also put the titles on all the tracks here.

The first Synergy album usually gets the most acclaim; well deserved, too. But Cords shows a melodic maturity only hinted at on that initial album. And it is indeed melodies that sets Synergy apart from literally 95% of other '70s electronic artists - no confusing Synergy with Klaus Schulze or Tangerine Dream, that's for sure! Beautiful, sweeping and soaring compositions with clearcut beginnings, middles and endings. And LOTS of mellotron quite seamlessly threaded into the compositions, I should point out. The sparingly used electronic percussion is perhaps the most dated aspect of most Synergy projects, however even that's so big in the whole sonic swirl here that you don't really pick up on its late '70s recording date.

The original Passport release of this came out on clear vinyl which, although it looked pretty cool, sure didn't sound that way after a few plays. The CD, now deleted (of course), sounds quite good and is well worth a thorough search if you're up for it.

Essential listening for me. Five stars, easy.