SPIRIT

A masterful release by Spirit and a perfect snapshot of the strange transition period when psychedelic rock's time in the sun was coming to an end and progressive rock was emerging from its elder sibling's shadow, these Twelve Dreams of Dr Sardonicus take the listener on a wild and diverse trip, held between folky acoustic gentleness, psychedelic head trips, and some downright rocking numbers, often within the same song (just check out that incredible transition in Prelude - Nothin' to Hide!). Nature's Way is an absolutely incredible song which I could just listen to over and over again forever, but the whole album is an essential for psyche- prog fans.

Spirit - Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus (1970)

Who can resist a good song?

The American group Spirit had already released three psych albums in the late sixties before this relatively 'normal' rockalbum was released, which is often seen as their best. The band impresses with it's long list of songs that all work really well, being both melodic and atmospheric. Perhaps Supertramp had a good listen too. When it comes to style it reminds me of same period The Who and Blue Oyster Cult. Rock with melodic twists, dual vocals, use of effects and keyboards and tiny bit of American glamour (which I'm not too fond of myself). Moreover, without the few progressive moments on the album I wouldn't have thought this had been a psychedelic rock act.

All songs flow into each other very naturally, exploring many emotional landscapes and varied ways of arrangements possibilities. Artistically, the broadness of ideas reminds me a bit of the better moments of the Beatles. Not a single song stands out for me, because I like all of them almost equally much. Sometimes the music has that typically American 'feel-good vibe', but it still works for me - which is saying a lot.

Conclusion. Not too much to say here except that it's a great early seventies rock album that should be engaged as such, not as a progressive work. Four stars and recommended to fans of the named bands and those who appreciate seventies quality song-writing and style in general. This album also has some 'missing-link'-like qualities.

I first heard the band Spirit through their acclaimed opus, THE TWELVE DREAMS OF DR. SARDONICUS, and it is still a jaw-dropping psych-pop album with trace influences of jazz and classical ideas. That album sounded very carefully constructed with great hooks, a serviceable yet tasty sense of variety and great replay value. SPIRIT, the album, is more aligned with jazz-pop with heavy psychedelic influences (of the times).

The big difference between this album and DR. SARDONICUS is the writing. DR. SARDONICUS was more evenly split between guitarist Randy California and singer Jay Ferguson (for the most part; keyboard player John Locke got some of his stuff through), and the quality of the output shows. Here on SPIRIT, the writing is almost entirely Ferguson's. While I'll get to the goodies in a bit, many of the songs like ''Topanga Windows'' and ''Uncle Jack'' sound rather unsure of themselves and amass to nothing.

The opener, ''Fresh Garbage'' is a treat with a memorable piano/bass hook, simple yet effective lyrics (particularly to those with a green agenda), a crisp, smooth vocal delivery and even a divergence into swinging jazz in the middle third of the tune. The tune ''Gramophone Man'' (a complete band effort) is similar, but with a tongue-and-cheek stab at radio-inclined music executives and more of a groove in the verses. Randy California's only solo contribution, ''Taurus'' is an okay guitar instrumental that's cute for five minutes because it sounds like the opening to one ''Stairway to Heaven''.

Other than the sinister mood of ''Mechanical World'', the rest of the album is a dud. Even the lengthy ''Elijah'' can't do anything to put SPIRIT on the upswing. In fact, it's the reason my rating is harsh because despite the jazzy melody, the tune pointlessly muddles into the ''everyone-gets-their-turn-to-solo'' snorefest that gets tiring fast.

If you love Spirit or West Coast '60s psych pop, get SPIRIT. Don't be too disappointed if you find this as mundane as I do.

A record with an interesting story. A goofy concept album originally recorded in 1974, it was shelved for years before it was cleaned up an finally released on Rhino Records in 1981. The original lineup of Spirit was long defunct by 1974, but Randy California and Ed Cassidy had still been putting out quality material as a duo (albeit much different from the original Spirit sound) for a few years.

The concept itself is pretty light, just a science fiction thing depicting a world in which the people are potatoes and carelessly march to their own demise in the fryer, or something like that. Within this scenario, our heroes, adventure seekers Kaptain Kopter (California) and Commander Cassidy (Cassidy) wander the landscape and comment on what they see. Bits of dialogue and sound effects come between some fully-fleshed out songs. Nothing really happens, though - it's just kind of goofy fun. On the other side of the record, we just have a few stand alone songs, including one that had to have been recorded in the 80s, the corny synth-dance piece "Potatoland Theme". On the whole, the album is mostly just a curiosity, not really the "lost classic" that true believers maintain it is, but it's a bit of fun and the songs are generally good to great - the best being the insanely catchy instant classic "Turn to the Right" and the even more jangly melodic "My Friend".

The "swan song" by the original, "classic" lineup of Spirit. Has the feel of a concept album, with songs linked together, and with 12 songs representing the 12 dreams, I guess. Randy California really comes into his own as a songwriter/singer here, setting the stage for his eventual domination of the group's direction. After this album, the group split for a while, with Ferguson and Andes forming Jo Jo Gunne. The group would eventually reform as Spirit, but for the most part, Randy California and Ed Cassidy remained the only consistent members from here on.

This is a delightfully diverse album, so why not take it track by track:

Side A

Prelude-Nothin' to Hide (R. California) - Short acoustic "prelude" (reprised at the end of the album) soon kicks into a lively rock tune with some pretty sick slide playing. Slightly odd lyrics like "We've got nothing to hide / We're married to the same wife"

Nature's Way (R. California) - After "I Got a Line on You", probably their best known song. The eco-rock anthem par excellence. Based on a solo acoustic performance, but with percussion and heavenly backing vox added on.

Animal Zoo (J. Ferguson) - Let's all throw off our shackles and inhibitions and get down and dirty like animals! Let's forget to pay the rent, shower only occasionally, and par-tay all the time! Let's quit the group and start an even smellier group! Excellent "chicken-clucking" guitar hook in this one.

Love Has Found a Way (R. California / J. Locke) - Hey! Woozy psychedelia all of a sudden! Locke is all over the synths in this one, and the drums are played backwardsAnd the vocal harmonies TOTALLY rule. This one gets more and more amazing, until it cuts abruptly into ---

Why Can't I Be Free (R. California) - Brief 1 minute ballad, kind of a conclusion to the prior track.. Pretty, but not too incredibly substantial.

Mr Skin (J. Ferguson) - This one's funky! Lotsa horns providing pithy "answers" to Jay's surly verses. Dedicated to Cass Cassidy, the bald drummer.

Side B

Space Child (J. Locke) - Total keyboard feature, an instrumental fading in and out of different dream-sequence-like sections. More cool Mini-Moog. If I recall right, this was one of the earliest albums to use the Mini-Moog.

When I Touch You (J. Ferguson) - As the prior song fades out, distorted voices slowly fade and get more and more frantic, until it climaxes and California comes in with the slow but powerful riff that anchors the song. This song has Jay's best vocal on the album too, and the extended outro has some excellent guitar soloing, a section reminiscent of Yes's outro to "Starship Trooper".

Street Worm (J. Ferguson) - A bouncy, elaborate arrangement that only needs a couple of verses and chori until they give the 2nd half of the song to Randy, who turns in some truly dazzling solos.The song, I guess, is about personal freedom and free sex and taking off all your clothes and all that dated hippie stuff.

Life Has Just Begun (R. California) - Emotional, sad ballad with lovely vocal effects, harmonies (again; I sometimes take it for granted, but these guys really nail their harmonies on this record).

Morning Will Come (R. California) - Hit single material! Was this a single? I think it was. Kind of a rhythm and blues feel to this one, with horn punctuations again, and a truly joyous performance from Randy.

Soldier (R. California) - But the good mood was not to last. A sullen, almost dejected closer, probably about that disappointing Iggy Pop album mentioned in the title. Or maybe Randy was just mad that album wasn't going to be released for another few years.

IN TOTAL, I feel this album is an excellent addition to any prog rock collection, and it really deserves classic status for "classic rock" in general. It was a commercial disappointment upon release, probably contributing to the band's subsequent breakup. But I think it's kind of the "Dark Side of the Moon" of an alternate universe... a futuristic album that could have been a game changer for intelligent rock music. It's not perfect, but it comes awfully close in spots. 4.5 stars.

The concept album without a concept.

This is the only album that I have ever heard where ever single some just goes together absolutely perfectly and they just work and fit together perfectly, but with nothing at all to really tie them all together, they just go together, it is like magic.

All the songs on here are top-notch in every regard, from song writing, to muscianship, to production. It really is the most underrated psychedelic albums from a band that never got the atention that they deserved. All the different styles that are incorporated into this album never sound wierd or out of place, and they all meld together perfectly, unlike a lot of other psych albums from around this time.

There is not a soft spot at all on this incredible album. For me this album is up there with other prog greats like Dark Side Of The Moon, and Relayer.

A absolute must have album.

West coast, man

I remember being disappointed with this album when I finally heard it. With the trippy cover and its reputation I was expecting something really mind-blowing in the spacey-psych tradition but what I heard was something far more conventional. Indeed Sardonicus is just another West coast California hippie-rock album blended with mild psych, jazz, and bits of funk and folk. The album fits well alongside the other California bands of the day, though for my money is less interesting than much Grateful Dead, Airplane, or even The Doors.

David Briggs, famous for his work with Neil Young, was brought in and you can hear his "refined roughness" all over the place?gritty music but a professional sheen. The album's themes are the usual counter-culture concerns of the day, the playing and singing more than competent. "Nature's Way" is a beautiful acoustic number, sad, longing. "Animal Zoo" is a cute dittie like Arlo Guthrie would play for the kids. "Love Has Found a Way" is a cool track with vibes and backward rhythms, along with some early Moog experimentation. Still, pretty tame stuff for 1970. I'm amused when people talk about this as a heavy Acid album when Piper and Strange Days were already three years old, and by 70 there was some seriously weird stuff going on, stuff that makes this album sound like backing music for The Brady Bunch by comparison. "Mr. Skin" is where they throw in some funky guitars and horns for yet another flavor. "When I Touch You" is nice and heavy. The album closes with "Soldier" which is a truly lovely song, almost a spiritual which connects emotionally like Procol Harum or a good Band song would. Very slow with some pipe organ in the background. Great ending.

Despite some very memorable moments the album does not excite me like an American Beauty or Strange Days, let alone getting into English stuff. That said, it's a good album worthy of three stars and it should please many rock fans provided you don't have the high expectation I had going in.

The biggest mistake they made was to call this band Spirit. All the dedicated Spirit followers immediately rejected this wonderful album and have campaigned against it for nearly 40 years. The album has also been compared to the Jo Jo Gunne album, and even though their styles are similar, I find Feedback to be far superior to anything Jo Jo Gunne ever released. If you are wanting to hear classic Spirit, you won't find it in this album. What you will hear is an absolute classic rock album with superior musicianship. I love every song, especially the instrumental pieces Puesta Del Scam and Trancas Fog-Out. To quote a line from the song Darkness, "What is this place that we're living in?", great question. The only criticism I have is that the background vocals are a bit too gospel choir-like. But don't listen to me, and certainly don't listen to the Randy California fans, listen to the album.

That's the spirit.

One of the best proto-prog acts that isn't vomitrociously over-hyped, Spirit gave the world a spectacular crossover pop/rock/psych/prog album with their fourth effort and showed us, the listeners, how they can stretch pop music beyond our imagination.

Various jazz, psych and pop elements creep their way into every song, yet Spirit gives us enough variety in the songs to prevent boredom. The genre checks aren't too widespread, and the changes are not too abrupt, so we don't get a wasted aural exercise here.

John Locke and Randy California are the key contributors here as their performances are dynamite. Progsters might recognise Locke moreso as his ''Space Child'' contributions are splendid from the floating piano lines to the Moog solo. Yet, California's responses and solo squeals in ''Street Worm'' more than match. Jay Ferguson also gets a special mention for his impressive vocal control and power without being too overwhelming.

DR. SARDONICUS is not short of great tracks. Some are very catchy like the post-Bo- Diddley ''Animal Zoo'', the upbeat ''Morning Will Come'' and the funky ''Mr. Skin''. Others are more poignant and touch your sould like ''Soldier'' and ''Nature's Way''. A few others can satisfy your intellectual stimulation such as the vibes-induced psych-fest ''Love Has Found a Way'', the synthesizer infested ''When I Touch You'' and the aforementioned ''Space Child''. The opening cut has various amounts of those elements complete with an orchestra fueled closing riff.

Only the short ''Why Can't I Be Free'' is not up to par with the rest of the album. The music may not be the most overwhelmingly dominating you've ever heard (the reason for the reserved rating), but make no mistake, DR. SARDONICUS is a force to be reckoned with.

— First review of this album —

I'd like to think I'm as jaded as anyone when it comes to compilation album releases by off- brand labels that are just trying to capitalize on a big artist's name to schlep off a few sub- grade collections of covers, b-sides, outtakes and obscure live recordings. And Spirit has been as much a victim of that sort of pandering as any band, partly because of their lackadaisical approach to management over the years and probably a little of their own doing as well. So I was skeptical when I heard about this release from 2005, nearly a decade after Randy California's death and long after the band had ceased to be anything resembling a relevant musical force. Coming on the heels of the very weak 'Blues from the Soul' and the Mojo white-label collection I didn't expect anything better from this one, issued on the Evageline label but actually part of the Acadia catalog. This record sort of reminds of me the way Marc Bolan's 2002 'Futuristic Dragon' Rhino Records compilation/ reissue was put together; a combination of discarded gems, filler and alternate versions of an older record but tastefully and lovingly arranged for fans by someone who is himself clearly a fan.

So to my surprise independent producer Mick Skidmore has put together a really excellent collection of songs (yes, some are covers and some are outtakes) that present a side of Randy California and Friends that is quite a bit different than the stoner blues or proto-prog nostalgia that dominate most of the other releases since California's 1996 death. Yes, there are the obligatory Dylan covers Randy had a tendency to crank out throughout his career, in this case including an earthy, reverent version of "The Times They Are a Changin'". California and drummer Ed Cassidy covered the same song on 'Spirit of 76' but this version is much more crisp, well-executed and almost devoid of cannabis residue which makes it even more memorable.

And there are quite a few original tracks as well, although pretty much all of them are from California as was most of the band's output from the late-seventies and onward. Some like the opening "Space Jam" are typical Randy fare consisting of virtuoso trippy-hippy guitar with Cassidy's always perfectly-matched drum work (and in this case bass and some backing vocals courtesy of the band's first bassist Mark Andes). In fact every one of the original band members including the elusive guitarist Jay Ferguson get in on the act at one point or another, these tracks having been collected from the last ten or fifteen years of California's life. The 'Sai Jam' trio of interludes fit this category as well, as does the throwback dirge "2007".

But there are some really surprising gems here as well. One comes early on the first disc with the character sketch "Thomas Q and Jennifer" which shows that despite all his persona as a Woodstock-era relic, the guy could still write a poignant and relevant, poppish tune with some real meat to it even long after his name had faded from the limelight (the late John Locke, himself an original Spirit member, delivers a gorgeous piano recitation on this song). And "Gopal" combines Randy's extensive psych and Eastern musical experiences with a fairly melodic punch.

The second disc is quite odd. Most of it comes from alternate versions of the songs that ended up on 'Cosmic Smile', one of the more obscure Spirit records and really more of a Randy California solo collection. "The River" comes from 'California Blues' and is one of my favorite songs from that album; this is a slightly different version but retains the loose and casual feeling of the original. "Denise" is another original tune which I'd not heard before and is a great and rare example of a keyboard-driven California instrumental. There are other oddities on the second disc as well but for the most part just hearing different versions of 'Cosmic Smile' make the few extra dollars worth it.

This isn't a masterpiece of course, and I don't know of any compilation that is, not even any Greatest Hits albums except possibly the Eagles 2-disc epic. But it is definitely a better collection than most of the other stuff I've seen pushed out under the Spirit banner over the past decade or so. Mick Skidmore has put together other Spirit collections as well as a couple of large Randy California compilations, and of them all this is the best one I've heard yet. Three stars out of five for sure, probably four if you are a hardcore fan ("Space Jam" alone will likely nail it for true fans). Well recommended if you are even a casual Spirithead.

peace