After releasing their first three albums Spirit started working on what is widely considered to be their best LP: Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus. By recommendation of Neil Young the band chose David Briggs as the producer, known for his work with Young. Like The Who's Tommy and Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon, Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus is critically regarded as a landmark of art rock. It offers some of their most melodic tunes and incredibly tight songwriting. An outstanding forty minutes of psychedelic infected music, essential for every music collection.

Between 1968 and 1977 Spirit was a highly regarded rock band achieving modest commercial success by charting no less than 11 albums in the U.S. The music of the Los Angeles based band consisted of a mixture of pop, rock, folk, blues, classical and jazz backgrounds. The band members ranged in age from 16 to 44 years old. Spirit's youngest member, Randy California, used to play alongside Jimi Hendrix (in 1966 known as Jimmy James) in Jimmy James and the Blue Flames.