TWELVE DREAM OF DR SARDONICUS 5/23/1998 and LIVE AT NEWPORT '58

and LIVE AT NEWPORT '58 captures him in his prime

Those who might have pegged quintessential R&B balladeer Toni Braxton as a monochromatic artist in the past will be taken up short by the variety of sonic colors on offer throughout MORE THAN A WOMAN

a full eight months after its English release on Creation

with a little less grit than usual

Jay Malloy

TWELVE DREAM OF DR SARDONICUS 5/23/1998 and LIVE AT NEWPORT '58Spirit: Randy California (guitar); John Locke (keyboards); Mark Andes (bass); Ed Cassidy (drums). Includes liner notes by Marty Pekar. After three albums with producer Lou Adler (who had also signed them on his label, Ode), the band brought in David Briggs, who'd previously worked with Neil Young. A real sense of camaraderie and experimentation runs through this entire work, which took longer to record than any previous Spirit effort. "Nature's Way"