Clear (album)

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Professional reviews
Clear

Studio album by Spirit
Released	1969
Recorded	1969
Genre	Rock
Label	Epic Records/Legacy Recordings
Producer(s)	David Briggs
All Music Guide link
Spirit chronology
The Family That Plays Together (1968)	Clear (1969)	Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus (1970)

Clear was the third Spirit album, written largely in the wake of their 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, but a growing number of fans feel that it is one of their finest, if not the finest, album the group would ever make. Possibly because of the rushed work on the album, there is a larger reliance upon instrumental work and the jazz backgrounds of several members than any of their other albums, perhaps most exemplified by the three instrumental pieces penned by John Locke. It also features their sound gaining depth and sprawling out even more than it previously had, as they even attempt everything from straight-ahead pop ("So Little Time To Fly") to tightly constructed multi-part songs like "Dark Eyed Woman" and "New Dope In Town". Admittedly, the album isn't as tightly assembled as Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus, but it definitely shows the band moving in that direction.

The original Ode Records recording of Clear would be later restored by Sony 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 (and quite intriguing) version.