Spirit

Spirit's second (The Family That Plays Together) and fourth (Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus) albums are combined onto one CD with this Australian release. Although these records are considered among Spirit's finest work, and although the playing time of 76 minutes for a single CD is certainly a good value, the reasoning behind this particular pairing is a little mysterious. Two-for-one combos usually pair albums that were released in consecutive order, rather than using a couple that were separated by a gap of even one LP. Too, both of these albums have already been issued individually on CD with bonus tracks, and it seems like the serious Spirit fan would certainly prefer collecting those instead of opting for this combo package, no matter how many minutes it squeezes onto one disc. If for some reason you just want to get these two albums without worrying about whether it's the most efficient way to collect a lot of Spirit's music in their prime, it's certainly a good deal, with informative liner notes and two of their most popular songs, "I Got a Line on You" and "Nature's Way." ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide