Vindication. 1974 Custom Fidelity
Vindication were a trio from Columbus, Indiana, who released only this one very obscure album. Once again we're dealing with American teenagers still in high school, similar to Tom Nehls and Richie Duvall. And like both those gentlemen, they were the good kids in class, not rebellious types that are usually rewarded in musical circles. Turns out that the members of Vindication were also all hardcore prog heads, very much into Yes, Gentle Giant, ELP, and King Crimson. And like a lot of youth in the middle of the country, they were also very much into exploring their Christian faith. And this is reflective in the lyrics, but not in the music. This isn't a lame progressive album so as to get the message out. No these kids really went for it, in the same manner as other Midwest bands of the era did such as Yezda Urfa, Xebec, and Graced Lightning. Perhaps not quite as accomplished as the great Yezda Urfa, but for certain they had talent to burn and some intriguing compositions. According to their bio, they recorded and released the album - in very limited quantities, which is most certainly true seeing how few have ever been spotted - between their junior and senior years of high school in 1974 (so the "accepted" date of 1973 seems to have been off by a year). Quite an accomplishment for 16 to 17 year old young men.
Unfortunately they let their faith get the best of them on the closing track 'You and Me and God', and it's a typical youth group sing-a-long (similar to Michigan's Earthen Vessel in that way). So skip over that (unless you happen to like Christian folk songs) and enjoy the rest!
No reissues exist, though the band has loaded MP3s of all the songs on the internet if interested.
5/28/10
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