Spirit - Spirit (1968)

Dan:

Spirit's first eponymous album was a revelation to me when I first heard it in 1968, the year of its release. It's been in my possession (in various formats) ever since. It's initial appeal for me was the jazz influence, but quickly I grew to appreciate everything about it (tracks, lyrics, instruments, production, cover, etc.). It's kind of like a best friend who never leaves you (like some human best friends do). I didn't need to understand Spirit's members, their inspirations, and their legacies. All of that was irrelevant to what I considered to be a perfect album.

As years passed, I acquired the next Spirit albums, The Family That Plays Together, Clear, and Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus. All of them had great tracks, but they were more like my best friend's siblings - close but not the real thing. Later, Steve (who has researched and written about the band elsewhere) fed me some of the later Spirit albums - Spirit of '76 (1975), Son of Spirit (1975), and Farther Along (1976). I enjoyed listening to them during a single afternoon, but they were like hearing a different band. I blame myself for only wanting one best friend, but what's a boy to do?

Without getting too far into the weeds of analyzing every track, Spirit consists of ten short songs, ranging from 2:11 to 5:14 minutes, followed by "Elijah," a jazzy jam that lasts 10:49 minutes. Each of the single-length songs is perfect. They're each musically unique, loaded with clever lyrics, and performed at medium intensity - neither over- nor under-cooked. Most of them appear to be written about strange people - "Water Woman," "Girl in Your Eye," "Uncle Jack," "Straight Arrow," "Mr. Gramophone Man." The first track, "Fresh Garbage," makes a political statement ("The world's a can for your fresh garbage"), a theme revisited on Sardonicus' wonderful "Nature's Way."

The closing "Elijah" gives each band member a chance to show off their talents as soloists. Perhaps predictably, there are no pyrotechnics on display from this laconic ensemble, which knows how to reach the listener without bombast. Compare Spirit's "Elijah" with Blind Faith's "Do What You Like" and you will understand the point. 

Steve:

I remember being fascinated by Spirit from the moment I heard this album. Dan was playing it for me when I was in my early teens, and I was very amused by "Fresh Garbage" ("look beneath your lid some morning / see those things you didn't quite consume") and the band photo on the back (see above), where it looked like each guy was from a different band. The band's music was equally eclectic - was it blues rock, folk rock, jazz rock, classical rock? All of these elements are here on Spirit, in combinations few bands have attempted since.

Unlike Dan, I have become attached to each of the first four classic albums equally, and in recent years my fandom has expanded deeply into the 70s edition of the band (with only two original members) and beyond, including a spinoff band called Jo Jo Gunne that produced three fine (and one so-so) albums of their own. But Spirit always comes up when deciding which is my absolute favorite. It's totally unique, even in the context of the Spirit discography, and that gives it a magical aura none of their other albums can match.