Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus

While I don't typically listen to Psychedelic Rock, I found this album to be quite interesting and cool.

Vähän geneeriseksi jäävää psykeä ilman kunnon proge-jytää. 2/5

I generally greatly dislike 60s psychedelic rock but there were a few tracks on here that I quite liked. Not all of it though - there were a few that grated (like Life Has Just Begun). A high two.

Dieses Album ist wie ein gut gemachter Burger: solide, aber ohne die extra Portion Käse, die es unvergesslich machen würde.
Die Songs sind ordentlich und rocken, aber sie haben ungefähr so viel Tiefe wie eine Pfütze nach einem leichten Sommerregen. Kein Track sticht wirklich heraus, um als Highlight zu glänzen – es ist eher wie ein Konzert, bei dem alle Bandmitglieder gleichzeitig ein Solo spielen wollen, aber keiner so richtig den Ton trifft.
Für Fans von klassischem Rock der 70er ist es definitiv hörenswert, aber man sollte keine musikalischen Offenbarungen erwarten. Es ist wie ein Besuch bei einem alten Freund: vertraut und angenehm, aber ohne die Überraschungen, die das Herz höher schlagen lassen.
Insgesamt ein solides Album dem aber ein einzigartiger „Spirit“ fehlt.

I’m at a 5.

I just deeply enjoyed that; I thought the instrumentals were off the charts and the ingenuity in the production for 1970 was super cool. A lot of blended synth work here, in a way that made everything feel super sonically pleasing – “Love Has Found A Way” impressed me in particular. Lyrically, while there was some repetition, that repetition never fully extended to the vocals, and I think they were pretty damn good on this album too.

Seriously, I don’t have a complaint about any track; I enjoyed this from top to bottom, and for 1970, it feels a bit ahead of schedule. Super fun album, really good vibes, great variety, and it nails down the “12 dreams” thing it’s going for. Pretty solid 5.

This album was not for me. It's rare to hear LPs with such dry, uninteresting sounds. This has no personality and none of the songs stood out. I really don't think I can give this higher than a 1. 1/5.

After the second and third listen I started to really enjoy this album more and more. A good cross between psychedelica and the start of prog/symphonic rock with some soul influences.

Clear influence on and of Led Zeppelin, although it doesn't have the one they ripped off! Very prog at points, but also exceptionally folky. I liked it, and will listen to more of their stuff after the list, but there is room for other work to be better, so I can't really give this full marks!

It's quite a strange record, with unusual production and song construction, as well as some quite varied tracks. It is interesting though, I'll give it that. I'm kind of digging the vibe here and there's some good jams. It's definitely unique and doing it's own thing, which I respect.

3.5 rounded up.

This is quite a far out album and definitely a product of its time. In places it reminded me a little of The Who, particularly in the more energetic sections and the slightly ambitious, conceptual feel.

It is a fun listen overall. There is creativity and variety throughout, and you can hear a band trying to stretch beyond straightforward rock into something more expansive. That said, there is quite a bit of filler for me, and too many instrumental passages that interrupt the flow rather than enhance it.

When it locks into a strong melody it works really well, but it does not quite sustain that level across the whole record.

Favourite song: When I Touch You
Least favourite song: The instrumental sections tend to drag for me
Album artwork: Completely mental. Psychedelic, bold and very memorable

70s prog with a goofy sci-fi style title, not an auspicious begining. Randy California is an all time great name so +1 for that. Some of it pretty basic blues guitar rock - fine but boring and done better by others. The more original stuff is more exploratory, combining that ye olde acoustic folk sound that English bands loved for some reason with wierder instruments/arrangements in a vague approximation of Zappa. Some of that stuff suffers from the prog tendency to shove way too many ideas into a song. Some songs are doing that theatrical Ziggy Stardust thing, very annoying. The best parts are the kind of trippy spacey songs that eschew those fussier prog elements and let the fuzzier riffs breathe. But this is basically the turd that you can polish enough to turn into Boston.

Favorites: When I Touch You, Street Worm, Rougher Road

Psychadelic! They found so cool ways to make big transcendental sound. Love Has Found a Way is an incredible standout!

I had big hopes for this album, and the opening of the first track had me thinking this was going to be a lot folk-ier than what the genres had told me, but I was okay with that, as it sounded nice, but that was ripped away from under me mere moments in, and it never really returned to that sound. There was a repeating motif throughout the album that sounded nice, and they started getting somewhere with the final couple tracks, but it was too little, too late, as I was already pretty bored out of my mind. None of it is BAD, per se, but psychedelic rock in its lightest form comes off now more as dad rock than anything with actual edge, and they would've, quite frankly, been better off just going the folk route I so desperately hoped they would aim towards.

🤷

Spirit is severely underrated. You can usually find their records pretty cheap, even in bargain bins, and I'm honestly sort of baffled by this. I consider this album a lost gem, and am glad to see it on the list. Spirit have a very unique brand of psychedelia that brings many influences together. They definitely get a little weird from time to time, as is customary in psychedelia, but it's not overdone, and they keep it all grounded with tasty hooks underlying everything. One thing I'm absolutely loving while listening to this album on headphones is that muted bass tone! So deep and rich. Definitely a P Bass. My platonic ideal. Brings so much power to the songs. This is their last great album before they fell apart. Absolutely top tier psychedelia. If you like this, definitely check out their first three records.

Parts of this was good, parts all over the place, not sure I’ll be back.

Not quite sure why this album made the list. I feel it was almost the definition of average in every way. 2/5

HL: “Life Has Just Begun”, “Nature’s Way”, "Love Has Found a Way/Why Can't I Be Free"

Likeable-enough folky prog