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BIG SKY - A CHANCE TO GET IT RIGHT

The Syn

Psychedelic/Space Rock


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The Syn Big Sky - A Chance to Get It Right album cover
3.29 | 18 ratings | 3 reviews | 11% 5 stars

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Studio Album, released in 2009

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Big Sky (5:57)
2. Devils and Demons (5:26)
3. New Reality (7:37)
4. Universal Witness (4:48)
5. Kings, Clowns, Cardinals (5:39)
6. Milo (5:07)
7. Running Out of Time (5:01)
8. Madonna and Child (5:07)
9. The Reason (4:39)
10. Big Sky Reprise (2:14)

Total Time 51:35

Line-up / Musicians

- Steve Nardelli / lead vocals, guitar
- Francis Dunnery / guitars, bass, vocals
- Tom Brislin / keyboards, vocals

With:
- Brett Kull / guitars
- Paul Ramsey / drums & percussion
- Dorie Jackson / backing vocals

Releases information

CD Umbrello Records ‎- UMBCD0016 (2010, UK)

Thanks to ClarifyAmbiguity for the addition
and to projeKct for the last updates
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THE SYN Big Sky - A Chance to Get It Right ratings distribution


3.29
(18 ratings)
Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music(11%)
11%
Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection(44%)
44%
Good, but non-essential (33%)
33%
Collectors/fans only (11%)
11%
Poor. Only for completionists (0%)
0%

THE SYN Big Sky - A Chance to Get It Right reviews


Showing all collaborators reviews and last reviews preview | Show all reviews/ratings

Collaborators/Experts Reviews

Review by Marty McFly
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
3 stars Beautiful artwork, optimistic music, but unfortunately not Prog (well, there's another possibility, my ears are bad). I also would see this record more fitting in Crossover genre, it sounds like that. Nevermind, bands transcends genres very often (for a good of the thing).

One particular thing bugs my mind. Steve Nardelli, lead vocalist, sings in the same tone all the time. It's like he lacks more bass and high pitched directions, but actually, this is advantage here and this record gets nice, raspy feeling.

This album is very acoustic, humble and almost pastoral. However, this all changes when we're closing towards the end of album, where we get some keyboards soundscapes, more prominent bass work and even though that acoustic guitar is still prominent instrument (through all the album). Truly grower in literal meaning of this word.

4(-), what can I say.

Review by SouthSideoftheSky
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Symphonic Team
3 stars More flower power

The history of The Syn is truly remarkable and full of surprises. Among Prog fans, the group is mostly known for featuring Chris Squire several years before he co-founded Yes and found much greater fame and success with that band. But The Syn are also known for a couple of local hit singles they had all the way back in the mid 60's. Despite never having had any substantial success in their original days and despite the fact that they never even released a full length album back then, they decided to reunite in the new millennium. This was the first surprise and I think this is a strong candidate for the most unlikely come-back ever to have materialized. It is doubtful that this would ever have happened had not Squire achieved such success elsewhere.

This reunion resulted in the band's first full length album, Syndestructible, in 2005, as well as a 2CD compilation called The Original Syn featuring material from the 60's including the group's original singles as well as demos, a new epic song and an interview. A tour followed that would result in a live concert DVD called Syndestructible Tour 2006 (that also features Yes drummer Alan White). Both the studio album and the DVD are very good and recommended to all Chris Squire fans. The compilation too holds some good moments (and some not-so-good ones).

After this Chris Squire left the band and everyone expected this to be the end of The Syn. But no, and this was the second surprise, singer Steve Nardelli has tasted success and was not willing to give up just yet. He replaced Squire with ex-It Bites leader Francis Dunnery and recorded Big Sky. He also recruited keyboard player Tom Brislin, known from his live work with Yes (Symphonic Live DVD) and Camel. Without Squire's distinctive bass guitar sound and equally distinctive backing vocals you might expect The Syn to fall rater flat, but Dunnery in not a bad replacement. As such there are traces here of the It Bites-sound (mostly in Dunnery's distinctive backing vocals) in the otherwise 60's-orientated sound. The sound is not fully retro though, but also not fully contemporary.

While no longer particularly progressive, Big Sky might appeal to fans of old-school, mellow symphonic Rock by the likes of The Moody Blues and perhaps Barclay James Harvest. The tempo is mostly slow and the mood is mellow but optimistic. The songs are driven by Nardelli's somewhat raspy vocals and there seems to be no room for Dunnery's expressive guitar solos (as we know them from It Bites) or Brislin's flashy keyboard work. Rather, the band is relegated to the background where they create a nice backdrop for the vocals and acoustic guitars.

The songs are well written and agreeable, but I fail to be impressed by any of them. Big Sky is a pleasant listen, but an underwhelming one; enjoyable, but hardly remarkable in any way. If you are looking to explore the band, I would strongly recommend to start with the much better Syndestructible album or with the live DVD I mentioned above.

Big Sky is good, but certainly not essential

Latest members reviews

4 stars Beautiful uplifting music. The addition of Francis Dunnery (ex It Bites) has brought the Syn's sound further into its own. Steve Nardelli's compositions manage to conjure up the optimism and innocence of early 70's prog whilst fully inhabiting the hi-tech recording systems of today. Echoes of e ... (read more)

Report this review (#232790) | Posted by barp | Thursday, August 20, 2009 | Review Permanlink

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