Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus was a largely successful, and decently grossing, album released by the psychedelic rock ensemble Spirit. Produced by David Briggs, who is best known for his work with Neil Young, its 1970 publication, undertaken by record label Epic, came shortly before the original group disbanded. Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Psychedelic music draws its inspiration from the experience of mind-altering drugs such as cannabis, psilocybin, mescaline, ecstasy and especially LSD. Characteristic features of the style include modal melodies, lengthy instrumental solos, esoteric lyrics and trippy special effects such as reversed, distorted, delayed and/or phased sounds. ... Spirit was an American jazz/hard rock/psychedelic band founded in 1967. ... Neil Young with guitar (from the 1991 Weld tour) Neil Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian musician and filmmaker. ... Epic Records is a record label launched originally as a jazz and classical label in 1953 by CBS. Its bright-yellow and black logo became a familiar trademark for many jazz and classical music releases. ...

A diverse yet cohesive effort, and long considered by fans, critics and musicians alike to be one of the finest albums ever recorded. The album's 2nd song is the keynote track "Nature's Way", the most notable hit (along with "I've Got a Line on You") the band would ever produce. "Mr. Skin" also became a hit single in the U.S., three years after the album's release. The album also includes several other lesser-known tunes which are considered to have had an impact on the genre of experimental rock in the United States.

The album evidently had an influence on other groups -- the track "Morning Will Come" presaged the emerging glam rock trend and sounds strkingly similar to the music of Marc Bolan and T-Rex. The piano figure that opens the instrumental track "Space Child" so closely resembles the piano intro of the 1978 Steely Dan hit "FM" that it is almost certain that Steely Dan were making a musical reference to Spirit. Glam rock (less commonly glitter rock), a style of rock music popularized in the 1970s, was mostly a British phenomenon and confined to larger cities in the U.S., such as New York and Los Angeles. ... Marc Feld (September 30, 1947 – September 16, 1977), better known as Marc Bolan, was a singer and songwriter for the band Tyrannosaurus Rex and later T. Rex, from 1967 until his death in a car crash in 1977. ... Walter Becker (left) and Donald Fagen accepting the Grammy Award for the album Two Against Nature Steely Dan is an American jazz rock band based around musicians and songwriters Walter Becker and Donald Fagen. ...

Just as in previous attempts, Spirit fused aspects of jazz and folk together with their traditional rock stylings, but unlike them, they introduced added elements of space rock, or popular music's science-fiction subset. This inovative LP is also notable as one of the first rock albums to use the newly-developed Moog synthesiser. Jazz is a musical art form characterized by blue notes, syncopation, swing, call and response, polyrhythms, and improvisation. ... Folk music, in the original sense of the term, is music by and of the people. ... Rock and roll (also spelled Rock n Roll, especially in its first decade), also called rock, is a form of popular music, usually featuring vocals (often with vocal harmony), electric guitars and a strong back beat; other instruments, such as the saxophone, are common in some styles. ... For space rocks, see asteroid. ...

More than 20 years after its original 1970 release, the 1996 re-issue of Twelve Dreams by Sony brought the creation back to life. Remastered and featuring previously unreleased material, Sony's move rekindled an interest in the unorthodox and innovative band. Sony Records is a record label courtesy of Columbia; Epic; and American Recordings. ...

Track Listing

1. "Prelude - Nothin' to Hide"
2. "Nature's Way"
3. "Animal Zoo"
4. "Love Has Found a Way"
5. "Why Can't I Be Free?"
6. "Mr. Skin"
7. "Space Child"
8. "When I Touch You"
9. "Street Worm"
10. "Life Has Just Begun"
11. "Morning Will Come"
12. "Soldier"
13. "Rougher Road"*1
14. "Animal Zoo (Mono Single Version)"*
15. "Morning Will Come (Alternate Mono Mix)"*1
16. "Red Light Roll On (Additional Single)"*

*Tracks specific to the 1996 reissue

1Previously unreleased material