Spirit — Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus
album review

LYRICS FROM "MR. SKIN"
Oh, I'm rolling, flowing through the whole population—
(Mr. Skin, you know where you've been)
Oh, The high- and the low-born are my friends and relations—
(Mr. Skin, you know where you've been)
I can bring you pain, I can bring you sudden pleasure;
Your life will only gain if your love's final measure—
Ah Mr. Mr. Skin, you know where you've been . . .

Album Review: Spirit's 1970 album Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus is a classic of the melodic progressive rock era, a concept album that blends thoughts about peace and love into an overall nature theme, all washed with tones of jazz, blues, and classical. The album opens gently, with Randy California playing acoustic guitar and singing softly on "Prelude" with the inspiring lyrics, "You have the world at your fingertips; no one can make it better than you..." But this quickly bursts into the full-bodied "Nothing to Hide," with fat chords, sardonic lyrics, and a driving sound that sets the tone for most of the album. The next song is "Nature's Way," a beautiful, haunting warning to humanity that Mother Nature has a way of telling Man how to correct his mistakes—if only we would listen to her warnings. "Animal Zoo," a quirky, up-tempo song with a hook that you simply can't help but sing along with once you've heard it a few times. "Mr. Skin" is another up-tempo tune that saw a fair amount of FM airtime in its day. The standout song on the album is probably the spooky and lovely "Life Has Just Begun," an aching love song if there ever was one. Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus is quite excellent all the way through and is considered by many Spirit fans to be their most accessible and best work. This CD version of the album also features some bonus tracks, including the previously unissued songs "Rougher Road" and "Red Light Roll On."

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