Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus by Spirit

Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus, Spirit's fourth album, came out on Epic in November 1970 with David Briggs, the producer best known for his work with Neil Young, at the desk. The Los Angeles band, Randy California among them, fold psychedelia and progressive rock into something warm, strange and song-shaped, a record that drifts dreamily and then suddenly bites.

It was their weakest chart showing yet, peaking at No. 63 and gone in fourteen weeks, but college FM stations kept spinning it and it kept selling, until in 1976 it became Spirit's only gold album. "Nature's Way" peaked at a lowly No. 111 on the Billboard pop chart yet grew into one of their signature songs, and its B-side, "Mr. Skin", got a second shot as an A-side in 1973. The reissues keep coming, most recently a 2022 two-CD set from Cherry Red that adds a 1970 Fillmore West show.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.