Best of [Extra tracks, Original recording remastered]

Spirit | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 15, 2003)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Extra tracks, Original recording remastered
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B00008WT4L
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #106,299 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

No one took the late-'60s East Coast sound further than (the aptly named) Randy California and his band mates in Spirit, who brought jazz, blues and classical into the psych-rock mix. Here's their 1973 ''best-of'' remastered plus five bonus cuts 'Silky Sam', 'Aren't You Glad', 'I'm Truckin', 'So Little To Fly' & 'Taurus'. 16 tracks in all! Epic/legacy. 2003.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

52 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars These FM radio heroes never sounded better, April 30, 2003

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Best of (Audio CD)

I'm pretty sure it was not Martha Stewart who once said, "Remastering is a GOOD thing."

But regardless of who said it, I agree, especially when it comes to the CDs of Spirit, one of the more talented and eclectic American bands to emerge from the late 1960s. Devoted fans already have Spirit's entire CD catalogue (remastered or not), but if you're unfamiliar with this great band that sported one of rock's truly unique guitarists in Randy California and his superbly gifted bandmates (Jay Ferguson, Mark Andes, John Locke and Ed Cassidy) and need an introduction, here's your chance.

This remastered version of the old "Best Of" CD sounds so much better than its forebear, plus it features five bonus tracks, some solid liner notes, and a track listing. But just to make sure my ears weren't deceiving me after first listening to this newly remastered version, I A-B'd a few passages of the two CDs through my headphones (and then immediately stacked the old 11-song version in the pile of "stuff I'm selling to the used CD shop").

For those of you who've never heard Spirit (or even heard OF the band), the original quintet meshed elements of rock, jazz, late British Invasion pop and other musical styles across four albums that FM rock radio programmers quickly embraced and the band's growing legion of fans championed. And for my fellow aging baby boomers who don't have ANY Spirit CDs in their collection, put away that "easy listening" junk you THINK you're supposed to be listening to these days and get back with the program.

Thank you, Epic/Legacy, for remastering this "Best Of" collection of a fine, fine band. (I could add, "It's about time!" but that would be ungracious of me.)

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not your Average 60s west coast band!, March 25, 2006

By 

Shelby Lambert (Bethany, Oklahoma USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Best of (Audio CD)

Listening to this disc from beginning to end, there is nothing about this band's music that would ever suggest to you that they hailed from California--or even the US, for that matter! These guys were obviously not listening to fellow L.A. bands like the Buffalo Springfield or The Doors (the closest they ever come to sounding anything like Jim Morrison and Co., is "Fresh Garbage"--which does sound somewhat like a Doors outtake upon first listen!) No, this west coast band had their ears plastered to the speakers listening to all the Beatles albums--post 1965, to gain their musical insight. Of course, the liner notes keep putting forth the argument that this band was "America's Pink Floyd". I don't know that I would ever go that far. To me, Spirit is more like America's version of Traffic. The smart-and-witty, sing-along lyrics, the sweet melodies with occasional soul-and-jazz leanings, and a hot, horn section all lean more toward Traffic as Spirit's prime influence, rather than Pink Floyd. Pink Floyd had none of that, and always came off as more "up in the clouds", musically and lyirically, while Traffic was more down-to-earth, and easier to understand. So was Spirit. And while guitarist Randy California could make his guitar wail-on forever like David Gilmour on a number like "Aren't You Glad", it is the funky chops of Steve Winwood he more closely resembles on a song like "I'm Truckin'". Certainly, some British musicians could relate more to the sophistication of the band's musical stylings--not the least of whom was Jimmy Page--who, because of the influence of Randy California, a man much younger than himself, decided to take on the idea of having acoustic solo performances in Led Zeppelin's shows--even going so far as to claim a portion of Mr. California's Opus, "Taurus", for himself--in the form of (you guessed it!) "Stairway to Heaven". Yes, the newly-expanded "Best of Sprit" does include that song, "Taurus", as a bonus track at the end. Take one listen to the opening licks on the acoustic guitar, and you're tempted to start singing: "There's a lady who's sure..."
One more thing that makes Spirit unique among their comtemporaries is, while most American bands were trying to get the most out of their organ as the primary keyboard instrument, Spirit's music is mostly piano-based.
But I defintely hear a band on this album striving for more musical sophistication than the average American group in the sixties. And although Spirit's music throughout this collection conjures up more images of the dark-and-dreary, rain-dampened sidewalks of Carnaby Street, and tall buildings of downtown London, rather than the palm trees, surf boards, sunny skies, and convertibles cruising down the Sunset Strip of this band's native L.A., you can still hear a band seeking to be original, with a good dose of humor. A band with more musical ambition than the average west coast band. And to that, I salute them!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The absolute best, August 21, 2009

By 

R. L. Anderson "buenodude" (longview tx.) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Best of (Audio CD)

Having been an usher for most concerts in Dallas in the sixties, i saw many bands and have to say that Spirit put on the most professional show of the time. This Best of Spirit CD displays the bands tight and bouncy style that makes it a must have for everyones collection.