Guybrush

Thank you all for the nice words of encouragement! It's criminal how long I've gone without writing up anymore reviews, but with awards and comps and other things to do around here, I've needed a period of calm to reignite my passion for doing reviews. Anyways, I think I've rekindled the flame and from now on, I'm going to try and shorten down my reviews and not describe every track. We'll see how it goes. After a few months hiatus, I give you my review of :




Introduction

Members :
Mark Andes - Bass, Vocals
Randy California - Bass, Guitar, Vocals
Ed Cassidy - Percussion, Drums
Jay Ferguson - Percussion, Keyboards, Vocals
John Locke - Keyboards

Spirit first emerged in 1967 from a different band called The Red Roosters which had the members Mark Andes, Jay Ferguson and the semi-legendary guitarist Randy California in it. Randy, who was born in 1951, was really just a kid at the time, but had already done things now considered big like playing with Jimi Hendrix in the band Jimmy James and the Blue Flames in 1966 when he was 15.

Anyways, with the addition of Ed Cassidy (drums) and John Locke (keyboards), Spirits Rebellious was born, soon to be shortened down to just "Spirit". Their first self-titled album was a jazz flavoured psychedelic rock record which became an underground hit. Their second album was released the same year and featured their best selling hit, I Got A Line on You. The band then started touring and were supported by Led Zeppelin. Spirit is regarded as a major influence on LZ, from the playing of Jimmy Page to the making of songs like Stairway to Heaven. In 1969 after the release of their third album Clear, they were offered a spot right before Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock, but they turned it down because they thought it would be smarter to tour more and promote their latest album. Had they played at Woodstock that year, Spirit could've been a household name today. Who knows?

This review is about their second album, The Family That Plays Together. At their core in the 60s, they are a psychedelic rock band, but their second release goes well beyond the artistic boundaries of their first. We get jazz and bluesy jam rock influences with a large song to song variety. The album also has rather good production value and lush instrumentation, from guitars to pianos, trumpets, lush strings and flutes. The album has been rereleased with bonus track and while I do have a rerelease, as a rule I leave bonus tracks out of my reviews. Here we go!


Detailed Review :

The opening track is one of their biggest hits, I Got A Line On You. While it was a selling point, it's not the most interesting track on the album. Rather, it's an uncomplicated rock song with a lot of catchy refrain. While it is certainly enjoyable, the music turns much more compelling as the song reaches it's end and slides gently onto the second track, It Shall Be. It's a jazzier and slower song where the wide instrumentation of the band really shines. The verses are mysterious sounding with flute and piano while the refrains are warm, catchy and feature horns. Check it out!



My girlfriend has no particular love for it, but I used to listen to this while spending a lot of time by myself up in the arctic winter and it's one of those songs that take me back to that time and place, walking through the freezing cold and dark while listening to Spirit with my little mp3 player. Associations or not, I think it has a lot to offer.

While the next couple of songs are enjoyable, the next highlight for me is the song Drunkard, a sad song about a poor lowlife who doesn't get the meaning of it all. It has a couple of sad verses before it descends into an outro.

Darlin' If is a more upbeat thoroughly enjoyable love song and another high point that lightens the mood after it's slightly depressing predecessor. While we're now leaving my album favourites behind, the rest of the tracks are all mostly good and bring more jam, blues and psychedelic rock to the table. The only track I don't like on the whole album is the song "Jewish" which I can't help sounds a lot like pretentious drivel. By the way, Aren't You Glad, the last track on the album, sounds a bit like a good natured and lusher Stranglehold Is this where Ted Nugent's inspiration for his classic song comes from?


Review Summary :

Aside from one song which I don't particularly like, Jewish, this album is all good. I would still not call it a brilliant record because it has a couple of flaws. First of all, many of the songs are just too short. The whole album clocks in at about 34 minutes and half the tracklist is under 3 minutes long. The other problem is that while there are occasional glimpzes of brilliance, most of the songs by far don't quite achieve that level of quality. They are good, but that's it.

Still, there's a lot to recommend about this one. What I love is just the sound of Spirit on this album. Compared to later albums, they sound slightly unpolished, but definetly more unique and organic. As mentioned before, the wide instrumentation gives a lovely flavour to most of the tracks here. I also like the variety between the songs. The album keeps you interested from start to finish which, alright, admittedly is only about half an hour.

It was either gonna be a 5 or a strong 4. If there had been just one more song approaching awesome on this one, I would've gone for the 5er, but it's gonna be a 4 for me. Still, if you have an interest in this kind of stuff, you should get this album. It's a truly interesting album, highly regarded by many and a worthy addition to any music collection.

Toretorden's Treasure Trove score : 4/6

Favourite tracks : I Got A Line On You, It Shall Be, Drunkard, Darlin' If, Dream Within a Dream

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