Customer Reviews

Spirit

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have been a huge supporter of John Denver and his music since I was 10 years old (28 years ago). I own all but his very first album, and "Spirit" is by far my absolute favorite. Someone else wrote about the last track, "The Wings That Fly Us Home", and I agree wholeheartedly. The whole album is good, very good, but this one song is exceptional. Words cannot describe the feeling I get whenever I hear it. I can almost feel my own spirit wanting to take flight with the music. When music brings tears to your eyes, that says something and this one did it long before John died. This is John Denver at his best.

The Spirit CD is one of the best, and by adding the songs from Whose Garden Was This only makes it better. The 12th cut The Wings That Fly Us Home brings back memories as it was played at John's funeral. Joe Henry wrote the words and is a beautiful piece of music. The songs from Whose Garden Was This, an early 70s album, hold very true to what John believed and lived for. This is a very FAR OUT CD.

This album was a good follow up to "Windsong" and there are some great songs here. I do give it 5 stars but I was not happy with what RCA/BMG did with this CD by putting half of the album "Whose Garden Was This" on it. Having said that, I will concentrate on the music on this CD. The song "The Wings That Fly Us Home" is one of the best songs John ever did. Back in 1984, as a new fan, I saw him in concert and heard the song for the first time and I was amazed at this masterpiece. It has become one of my all time favorites. "Like A Sad Song" is a great example of John doing what he did best...singing ballads. "Pegasus" and "In The Grand Way" are also good songs, but "Wrangle Mountain Song" is classic JD. If you're a big fan of John Denver's music then, by all means you'll need to have this one too.

This is a wonderful example of John Denver's wonderful talents as a singer and a songwriter, one produced at the height of his popularity in the mid-1970s. Here we see some of the monster hits that propelled him into amazing popularity and superstardom in the early 1970s. In his heyday no one was outselling his albums or out-booking John for concert appearances, and considering the incredible talents on the scene at the time, that is a pretty good indication of just how popular he was, and just how universal John Denver's appeal was. No one else sang of the wide-open possibilities and seemingly limitless prospects for a good life awaiting those who would free themselves from the bonds that confined them and just dare to soar along with him in the wild open spaces.

All the tracks here are terrific, from "Come And Let Me Look Into Your Eyes", a lovely and sentimental love song, one often performed in live performances, to "Sad Song', another monster hit he became so famous for. His paeans to appreciating the beauties of nature and the natural life were modeled after a much earlier song included in this re-issue of the album, a lovely work called "Whose Garden Was This?". Denver more than any of his contemporaries actively caught the public's imagination regarding the wonders of the natural environment, and in a time when environmental concerns were splashed all over the headlines and the evening news, John's vision of popular concern for and stewardship of the natural world was immensely important. This album represents a wonderful example of the amazing talents of John, made even as he continued to thrill a whole generation with his own perspective of a meaningful life lived in the natural splendor of nature. I know you will enjoy this as well as all of his others. Far out!

John Denver had a pretty good year in 1975 with the release of the live album "An Evening With John Denver," "Rocky Mountain Christmas" for the holidays, and the popular "Windsong" album. "Spirit," a 1976 release, is a second level John Denver album but one of the better ones and an album often overlooked by those expanding their music collection beyond the greatest hits albums. This is a quieter album offering contemplative ballads such as "Like a Sad Song" and "In the Grand Way," which were always one of Denver's strengths as a songwriter. "Spirit" is a bit more country than you usually find on a John Denver album (e.g., "Baby, You Look Good to Me Tonight"),
including covers of some older country songs that a lot of listeners might not recognize as such (e.g., "San Antonio Rose"). This CD reissue of "Spirit" offers up a quartet of bonus tracks, including one original song by Denver, "The Game Is Over," and a surprising couple of Lennon & McCartney songs, "Eleanor Rigby" and "Golden Slumbers," the latter as part of a medley. Only those who really listened to John Denver know that he did several covers of songs by Paul McCartney, the best of which is still "Junk." Adding these treats to the end of "Spirit" makes it a prime choice for anyone who enjoys Denver's music and wants to get beyond the basics.

In reference to music fan from califoria's review: I DID buy the CD only for "The Wings That Fly Us Home". I had to special order it at the time, (shortly after his death). When they played it at his memorial service, I knew I had to have it, excellent other treasures on the CD as well. Add it to your collection..you wont regret it.

John Denver's music defined my life as a teen and a young man. While my friends were into Fraternity of Man, Led Z and Tarkas, John Denver's music resonated in me and matched the experiences I was having in my life. In my early adult years, beginning with Windsong and Spirit, he started moving from easygoing nature boy and peace advocate into the mystical and more radical side of things. His music after Spirit reflected this shift, and I got increasingly disenchanted with it. Someone gave me I Want To Live as a gift, but I think Spirit was the last JD album I bought with my own money.

In addition, his personal life at the time started clashing with the public image he had built over the years. The love and fidelity for his wife that he celebrated in "Back Home Again" turned out to be a sham. He wrapped his Porsche around a tree (once? twice?) while speeding drunk along dangerous mountain roads, and tried many times to beat the ticket -- so much for love of nature, preserving natural resources, respect for fellowman and so on. When he crashed his plane, he was doing what he loved, but he was doing it with a suspended pilot's license -- suspended because of his history of drunken driving.

So JD and I parted company after Spirit. I didn't even listen to my old albums until after his death, when my kids started living through the same experiences I'd lived through. Suddenly the old music was relevant again. Telling bedtime stories to my children turned "Pegasus" into something magical, and similarly, tickle fights with the kids in the living room redeemed "It Makes Me Giggle". Watching a 13-year-old boy grow up made "Come and Let Me Look In Your Eyes" suddenly relevant. Dancing with my daughters brought back images of "Polka Dots and Moonbeams." Traveling home from business overseas personalized "Like a Sad Song" and "The Wrangell Mountain Song" (and "Starwood in Aspen," surprisingly). And watching my children's spiritual awakenings evoked, as others have mentioned, the last chorus of "The Wings that Fly Us Home."

I have no use for "Baby, You Look Good to Me Tonight." (It is good music, written and performed well, and it's REALLY fun to parody, but I've grown to associate it with the later Denver, and so it goes to the bottom of the Suck-o-Meter, in my opinion.) But the rest of the album is good stuff, the last of the kind of music that won the hearts of so many people, made him famous, and made his concerts so much fun.

I love this cd..i had the album way back when..was very excited when it finally became avalible on cd. Wings That Fly Us Home..so beautiful and uplifting..it will make your soul soar..It has always been one of my favorite songs..its not on any other cd. I used to sing It Makes Me Giggle to my little ones..a sweet song.. Baby You Look Good To Me Tonight..great memories of John singing this one..a little 'naughty' song but fun..John always looked good to me..All in all, a great cd..i don't think it is as well known as some of his other ones..but it is well worth buying..I would buy it just for Wings That Fly Us Home...

This review pertains only to the 12 songs that comprise the original 'Spirit' (my only commentary on the bonus tracks from 'Who's Garden Is This?' is that they illustrate why that album was JD's least successful commercially). I am a huge John Denver fan, but will readily admit that most JD albums contain an equal number of classics, good songs, and throwaways. 'Spirit' is no exception. The album's opener "Come and Let Me Look In Your Eyes" is one of the great JD album cuts. This is a song that the general public would not know, but it is a song you should know. A very thoughtful lyric and an immediately catchy melody. "Eli's Song" and "Wrangell Mountain" are both solid, especially the former. Without going into them one by one, tracks 4-7 are the weakest songs on the album, especially "It Makes Me Giggle." Track 8, "Baby You Look Good To Me Tonight" is catchy, and improves with repeated listening. "Like A Sad Song" was the hit off of this album, and while not the 'minor masterpiece' proclaimed by the liner notes, it is a very good song and one you will recognize. Tracks 10 and 11 are a bit of a lull, and even the first bits of the final track, 'The Wings That Carry Us Home' are a bit lumbering. However, the final half, and especially the final minute, of this last song is among the highlights of the Denver canon. While it is hard to pick out the best 60 seconds of a 30-year career, the last minute of 'The Wings That Carry Us Home' would have to be in the top ten. It is that good. It is beautifully sung and the lyrics evoke those of the once-performed, never recorded Denver masterpiece "The Wandering Soul."

I'm so happy to find Spirit in CD form. I originally had it in 8 Track, then in album form. This is truly one of John Denver's best albums. Finding this on CD was like finding a dear friend after many, many years.