Spirit Twelve Dreams Of Dr Sardonicus (1970)

From progarchives.com

Review by Sean Trane

After the superb Clear album, Spirit was really flying in a class of its own which allowed them to make THE psychedelic album that not even The Beatles would managed to do. Up until this album, Spirit was one of the most advanced psych-proto-prog groups (two members were jazz veterans), but songwriting-wise they were still a step bellow Jefferson Airplane and The Beatles. But with 12 Dreams, Spirit would surpass both with this flawless album that strikes by its awesome construction, its incredibly tight songwriting, aligning the brilliant ideas and impeccable melodies one after the others, bridging them magnificently together and implacably stunning you with awe and stupor and forced admiration.

Graced with a superb psychedelic artwork (trafficked shots of the disguised band members), this loose concept of Dr Sardonicus’ twelve dreams in twelve songs (not am accident, uh?;-) is one of the top twenty albums list of all times, and if it is not in yours, get yourself a shock treatment, you are not sane and even less insane. As a logical continuation, guitarist Randy California has now taken over the majority of the songwriting – Ferguson has never been stronger while John Locke has no space for his jazz influences but still contributes two beauties – and again Spirit is way ahead of schedule on their era with their ecological preoccupations.

Although the album is not long, from the first second of the acoustic guitar intro of the Prelude, until the final notes of Soldier, Spirit will not give a single second of rest and you will come out of this dream sequence breathless. This is even more so true with the Cd reissues since you are not allowed to flip side. Nothing To Hide gives a good idea of what lays ahead with its incredible vocal harmonies behind Ferguson’s, but as you think the tracks is one its way out, out comes from hidden the groups stepping up tempo for a bit of sparring bouts complete with brass section. The track slowly dies down to reach the horrifyingly beautiful Nature’s Way, where California and Ferguson create heaven on earth (no need of fallacious gods) and the whole group is right behind them with flabbergasting backing vocals harmonies. Way too short, NW ends with an incredibly polluting engine sputtering its toxic fumes and in comes Animal Zoo with its superb humour and infallible bass line.

Just as you walk out of the park, an electronic whizzing sound is taking you to a trafficked backwards tape intro, Love Has Found A Way is divided in two by another infallible bass line, before allowing the ultra-short but orgasmic Why Can’t I Be Free. A reggae rhythm (in 1970?) gives the perfect intro into Mr Skin, where the band unleashes all its power while remaining in control of your mental ejaculations with ultra tight songwriting.

Once the slice of wax has been flipped quicker than a pancake, a spacey piano takes us by the hand into a quiet but ever-changing twirl of melodies and ambiances where the myriad of chord succession gives you the thrill of a lifetime. Some prog groups used less cord succession throughout their whole career than spirit did in this tune. As the track cedes ground to electronics sounds very reminiscent of 2001’s Space Odyssey (the psych trip around the end), a raunchy guitar takes over and When I Touch You does touch you, you cannot be anything but floored in amazement, wondering how this album is still not in everybody’s household. The track is halfway between a Floyd space track and a hard rocking Beatles (Come Together-style).

Street Worm is another superb tracking worming its way into your brains and California sometimes-fuzzy guitar is close to Trower’s contributions in Procol Harum and Hendrix (he’s a pupil) bravery. Probably the least immediately accessible track on the album, Life Has Just Begun as its title tells you will sink in time (but since it only began, you got plenty of it, right?). Another highlight is in sight with the horn-inflicted Morning Will Come (suggesting you the end of your dreams are about to end), but the track is one scorcher, but as usual a bit short. Funnily, Soldier (an excellent quiet tune, is closing the album, but I would’ve switched the last two tracks of place for a more effective ending.

Unlike its three preceding albums, the remastered version does not come with bonus tracks that honour the album (but could that have been possible?) even if Rougher Road could provide the suitable to the album it yearns. Alternate takes of two tracks mar a bit the re-issue, while the closing bonus Red Light is rather interesting live track, but a bit out of context with the album.

As incredible as it may seem, after such an immense album, and for rather still unclear reasons (I am not really convinced by the explanations given), the group will explode with singer Ferguson and bassist Mark Andes (and his brother Matt) will form Jo Jo Gunne which will never live to the expectations (promising debut, but lacklustre following two), while Randy California is diving into drugs, leaving Locke alone in the group to record the awful Feedback. Yes, Sardonicus is simply the best album to come out of LA (much better than The Doors or Love or other consorts) and although not prog per se, the album is one of those proto-prog gems every proghead simply must have if he wants his life to be completely fulfilled.

Spirit Twelve Dreams Of Dr Sardonicus (1970)

From starling.rinet.ru

I don’t quite get the deep hidden secret of this record. It is widely regarded as Spirit’s finest hour before their dissolution, given excellent marks by all the critics and even more, this record was the only testimony to Spirit’s spirit that could be found in print in the US for a long time.

Actually, I’m beginning to wonder if it was that factor that implicated Sardonicus being hailed as the band’s masterpiece, and not vice versa – people only could get a grasp at Spirit through that one release, and the rest of their career was subconsciously treated as a footnote.

Well then again, maybe not. There is one major advantage to this album: the guys sound completely mature and self-assured, with a special, unique sound that they have finally developed instead of running all over the place. There is one major flaw to this album, as well: the guys sound way too mature and self-assured, with a special, unique sound that replaces the diversity of old and makes most of these songs sound the same. No Britpop – jazz – folk – country – blues – psychedelia distinctions any more, just a special little brew of their own: mid-tempo jazz structures with moderately distorted virtuoso guitar and complicated rhythm textures, at times spiced with various psycho effects and gimmicks.

Randy California is now obviously at the forefront, pushing all the other players away, and he now also dominates the songwriting, contributing seven of the twelve numbers; Ferguson throws in another four, and Locke gets to ‘shine’ with a random psychedelic collage (‘Space Child’) that I don’t particularly find very engaging. And not coincidentally, Ferguson’s numbers are once again by far the most effective: ‘Animal Zoo’ is hilarious, a refreshing stab at country-pop that’s one of the very few pieces of ‘diversification’ on the record.

Just one note: the lyrics on the record suck throughout, with the band going for a ‘profound’ conceptual kind of message but failing – well, I suppose they were just pretending. Occasionally they find some pretty simple hippie mini-concept for a song, but much too often they’re just unintelligible. I don’t blame them, though – they were clearly going after the music rather than the words.

Okay, so ‘Animal Zoo’ is a highlight, but Ferguson’s main claim for fame on here is doubtlessly ‘Mr Skin’, one of the band’s best rockers – listen to it begin quite innocently, with quiet organ/guitar interplay and the band’s sly soulful harmonies, but then they go for a rip-roarin’ funk groove with a wonderful call-and-answer vocal arrangement and a brass section that would kick the bottom out of old Sly. Ferguson also contributes ‘Street Worm’, one of the hardest numbers on the album that to me, however, sounds more like a launchpad for these finger-flashing guitar solos from Randy than an actual song.

Randy himself, however, is in a relatively quiet mood: his songs are generally softer and moodier than Ferguson’s, and that’s including ‘Nature’s Way’, the album’s main minor hit single and the best known song from here in general. ‘Moody’ is the best description for the song; its instrumental melody is way too simplistic and repetitive to put it on a pedestal, but it gives a chance for the band to brew up some really powerful, mournful harmonies as they sing about… about… well, about ‘nature’s way of telling you something’s wrong’. Quite emotional, if you ask me.

Other highlights are ‘Life Has Just Begun’, a gorgeous acoustic ballad with some more beautiful harmonies with the band, and especially the upbeat rocker ‘Morning Will Come’: the two songs form a magnificent ‘optimistic anti-dote’ to some of the more gloomy overtones on the record’s first half. But I really can’t say anything else about any other song, because, frankly, I don’t know what to say. I don’t see too many hooks in these songs: I admire the mastery and the perfectionism, and, of course, no California band in 1970 ever sounded like this, but I’d like the songs to have just a wee bit more edge to match the band’s nearly-immaculate debut record.

The four or five classics I have mentioned are all classics, no doubt about that, but the rest of the album is just a bit too sludgey, with instruments buried under each other and rather pedestrian vocal harmonies that don’t seem to go anywhere – and I couldn’t remember how the main melody of ‘Soldier’ or ‘When I Touch You’ goes upon the five hundredth listen. Missing the hooks and the diversity, I can’t but give Sardonicus a wee bit lower rating than Spirit; I seriously think that looking at the band’s output without a bias must lead to the same conclusion from everybody.

Oh, and by the way, this isn’t actually even COMPLEX stuff. At least, it’s by no means more ‘complex’ than their first records, unless ‘boring’ means ‘complex’, of course. It’s far from ordinary and generic, of course, but so was Spirit. And the conceptual elements – the album title, the pretentious lyrics, vocal and instrumental links between the songs, etc. – just don’t make the record any more special than it already is; after all, it’s no Sgt Pepper, even if it’s obvious that the band seriously intended for the record to become one.

That said, the album is still very good – and an easy eleven on the overall rating scale. Consequent listens bring out several interesting musical ideas initially buried down in the depths of sound, and at least half of the songs are extremely well-written, whatever that might actually mean.

Bonus tracks on the recent CD re-issue include a couple alternate mixes, a weak rocker (‘Rough Road’) and a hilarious piece of goofiness in ‘Red Light Roll On’, perhaps the most campy track ever recorded by Spirit – of course, they take that dumb approach completely tongue-in-cheek, and it guarantees you a good healthy laugh to conclude the listening process to. Because, to tell you the truth, a good healthy laugh is what the original release of the album seriously lacked.