''Clear'' is the third

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Spirit Spirit or spirits may refer to: Liquor and other volatile liquids * Spirits, a.k.a. liquor, distilled alcoholic drinks * Spirit or tincture, an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol * Volatile (especially flammable) liquids, ...

. It was released in September 1969 by

Ode Records Ode Records (also known as Ode Sounds and Visuals) was an American record label, started by Lou Adler in 1967 after he sold Dunhill Records to ABC Records. It was distributed by CBS's Epic Records except between 1970 and 1976, when the label was ...

. The album was written largely in the wake of Spirit's work on the soundtrack to the 1968 film '' Model Shop''. Several of the band members have said that they felt there wasn't enough time for developing the album after releasing two albums in 1968, recording a soundtrack and constantly touring. The album contains "So Little Time To Fly", "Dark Eyed Woman" and "New Dope In Town", as well as three instrumentals.

Critical reception

Reviewing for ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...

'' in 1969,

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

called Spirit "a talented group with guts of cellophane" and lead vocalist/guitarist

Randy California Randy Craig Wolfe (February 20, 1951 – January 2, 1997), known as Randy California, was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter, and one of the original members of the rock group Spirit, formed in 1967. Life and career California was bo ...

"the rock equivalent of the cool,

progressive jazz Progressive music is music that attempts to expand existing stylistic boundaries associated with specific music genre, genres of music. The word comes from the basic concept of ":wiktionary:progress, progress", which refers to advancements thr ...

man of the '50s". He commended the album for focusing the better songs on side one of the LP, saying its "mostly excellent rock" shows Spirit "can be very good", but found songs like "Ice" on side two indicative of how "incredibly empty" the band can be as well.

1996 re-release

The original

recording of ''Clear'' would be later restored by

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

in 1996. The second edition includes both sides of the "1984" single, the song "Fuller Brush Man" (which hasn't appeared elsewhere), and a piece entitled "Coral", which is also available on the ''Model Shop'' soundtrack but is present here in an elaborately produced version. "Coral" is a dedication to

groupie The term groupie is a slang word that refers to a fan of a particular musical group who follows the band around while they are on tour or who attends as many of their public appearances as possible, with the hope of meeting them. The term is usu ...

Coral Shields, the 11-year-old sister of

Sable Starr Sabel Hay Shields (August 15, 1957 – April 18, 2009), better known as Sable Starr, was a famous groupie, often described as the "queen of the groupie scene" in Los Angeles during the early 1970s. She stated during an interview published in the ...

whom Randy California was dating at the time.

Track listing

Personnel

Spirit

* Jay Ferguson –

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

and backing vocals,

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

–

guitars The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

, backing and lead vocals *

John Locke John Locke (; 29 August 1632 – 28 October 1704) was an English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential of Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment thinkers and commonly known as the "father of liberalism ...

–

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

Mark Andes Mark Andes (born February 19, 1948) is an American musician, known for his work as a bassist with Canned Heat, Spirit, Jo Jo Gunne, Firefall, Heart, and Mirabal. Early life Andes was born in Philadelphia, but grew up in Los Angeles, one of ...

–

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

, backing vocals *

Ed Cassidy Edward Claude Cassidy (May 4, 1923 – December 6, 2012) was an American jazz and rock drummer who was one of the founders of the rock group Spirit in 1967. Biography Ed Cassidy was born in Harvey, Illinois, a south suburb of Chicago on May 4, ...

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

, percussion

Production

Lou Adler Lester Louis Adler (born December 13, 1933) is an American record and film producer and the co-owner of the Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood, California. Adler has produced and developed a number of iconic musical artists, including The Grass Ro ...

– Producer *Vic Anesini – Mastering, Mixing *Stachowaik – Engineer *Steiner – Engineer *Weinbang – Engineer *Adam Block – Project Director *Jeff Smith – Design *Tom Wilkes – Design *Guy Webster – Photography

Charts

Album

References

External links

* {{Authority control Spirit (band) albums 1969 albums Epic Records albums Legacy Recordings albums Albums produced by Lou Adler Ode Records albums