I'm the kind of person for whom upselling was invented. While trolling iTunes for some
John Wetton-led U.K., I was tempted to look at The Syn. Being a Yes omnivore
from my teenage days, I knew that bassist Chris Squire was a member of a group called
"The Syn" in his pre-Yes days (being in sales, we have a lot of pre-yes days). Original
keyboardist Peter Banks is gone, leaving only Squire and singer Steve Nardelli. But
the result isn't bad. It's not quite the long, "audio painting" style of classic Yes, nor
is it the pop meanderings of Asia or late lifecycle Yes. It's also lot more accessible
than "Flag", the Squire-Bill Bruford collaboration. A good return on $10, commission
of a nice Syn to my iTunes library and iPod.
Here's the recording industry's Syn of omission: I probably wouldn't have spent $18 on this CD. I certainly wouldn't have found it filed under "S" for "The Syn", or perhaps "Squire," avoiding Billy Squire without severe 80s withdrawal symptoms. But the suggestion offered by a perfect long tail of music -- iTunes driving demand from one small distribution curve (of British progressive rock fans) to an even smaller one (those who knew Chris Squire when...) -- incented me to spend money unintentionally.