Reunion
The Syn reunion grew out of two events. In 2003, Martyn Adelman contacted the webmaster of a Yes fan site and agreed to do an interview. Steve Nardelli saw this and was put back in touch with Adelman. With Banks too, they met up for lunch and discussed a reunion. Around the same time, Andrew Jackman died, and there was a desire to mark his passing.
In 2004, the new band started rehearsals. Banks had brought in keyboard player Gerard Johnson, with whom he had worked on several previous projects. John Wetton was originally to have played bass, but pulled out at the last minute and was replaced by Steve Gee (bassist in progressive rock band Landmarq). The sessions produced new versions of old Syn songs "Illusion" and "Grounded" and an extended new version of Yes' song "Time and a Word". Recordings were carried out at the studio owned by guitarist Paul Stacey. However, Banks did not continue on with the group, and gave an explanation on his web site which was later removed.
Nardelli continued with the band and, in late 2004, he and Johnson had begun recording on a new song "Cathedral of Love" when Nardelli asked Squire if he could play on the tune. Squire did and went on to join the band. Paul Stacey became the guitarist and his twin Jeremy Stacey, the drummer. Adelman had chosen to step away from performing, although he remained associated with the band for a period as a photographer—photography rather than drumming having been his career for over 30 years.
The band released their first full studio album Syndestructible in October 2005, with Cathedral of Love coming out beforehand as a single. The lineup of musicians performing on that album is
- Paul Stacey - guitars, engineer, co-producer
- Gerard Johnson - keyboards, co-producer
- Steve Nardelli - vocals
- Jeremy Stacey - drums
- Chris Squire - bass, backing vocals
An interviewer for 20th Century Guitar magazine described Syndestructible as "one of the best prog-rock albums of the new century" and "a masterpiece of beat-prog." Richie Unterberger for Allmusic said, "It's rather like hearing a slightly middle-of-the-road version of Yes, with plenty of multi-sectioned song structures and progressive rock interplay between the instruments. It's well executed and well recorded. But it should have been credited to Steve Nardelli and Chris Squire, or a different band name than Syn, as the links to the '60s Syn sound are virtually absent."
The More Drama Tour, scheduled to begin in North America in August 2005, was to have seen three acts, The Syn, White and Steve Howe touring together, with Squire, Howe, Alan White and Geoff Downes playing Yes material at the end of the evening (with Kevin Currie of White handling lead vocals). However, the tour was cancelled shortly before it was due to begin. The Syn line-up for the tour was to have comprised:
- Francis Dunnery - guitars
- Gerard Johnson - keyboards
- Steve Nardelli - vocals
- Gary Husband - drums
- Chris Squire - bass
The Syn album line-up debuted live at a show in London at the end of 2005 (assisted by Husband), but for live dates in January 2006, the band was:
- Steve Nardelli - vocals
- Chris Squire - bass guitar
- Gerard Johnson - keyboards
- Shane Theriot - guitar
- Alan White - drums
A UK tour in May that year was cancelled through poor ticket sales and, on 16 May 2006, Squire announced his departure from the group: "Chris has decided to leave the Syn, and is no longer involved with that band despite reports to the contrary."
Nardelli assembled an album, Armistice Day, combining a new studio track ("Armistice Day", recorded with Johnson and P. Stacey) with live work from 2006. Although Johnson recorded and mixed the track, he was never paid for his work. In an October 18, 2006, in a message on Yesworld.com, Chris Squire discouraged fans from purchasing the album. The album was released without the permission of any of the artists, save Nardelli himself. Both Johnson and P. Stacey left the band. While a release date in November 2006 was initially announced, legal action saw the album delayed until 2007.
Meanwhile, Johnson and the Stacey brothers are continuing to work with Squire. Chris Squire, Gerard Johnson and Jeremy Stacey worked with two of Andrew Jackman's brothers (Jeremy Jackman and Gregg Jackman) on Chris Squire's Swiss Choir album, while Squire, Johnson and both Staceys have been working on another Squire solo project. Work on this has stalled, but Jeremy Stacey appears on a forthcoming album by Squire and Steve Hackett.
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