Back in 2018, Cherry Red's Esoteric Recordings arm anthologized the early, seminal albums from Los Angeles rock band Spirit.  The group spun off from The Red Roosters, a group which included Randy California (real name: Randy Wolfe) on guitars and vocals, Mark Andes on bass, and Jay Ferguson on vocals and percussion.  When California's stepfather Ed Cassidy and John Locke joined on drums and keyboards, respectively, the members rechristened themselves Spirits Rebellious, and finally, Spirit.  The five-person line-up came to the attention of producer and impresario Lou Adler, who signed the band to his new Ode Records label.  After three albums on Ode and two on Epic - including the Gold-certified art rock landmark, Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus - Spirit looked to be on life support.  The band's final Epic LP, 1972's Feedback, lacked the participation of California, Ferguson, and Andes, with Cassidy and Locke joined by new members Al and Chris Staehely.  In 1974, after briefly touring with an entirely new line-up, Cassidy re-established contact with his stepson, and Spirit was reborn.  After reissuing various one-offs from the band's history, Esoteric has returned to Spirit with an impressive 8-CD box set including 102 previously unreleased tracks.  Sunrise and Salvation: The Mercury Era Anthology picks up, studio-wise, where 2018's It Shall Be: The Ode and Epic Recordings leaves off, with remastered versions of all four Mercury albums plus copious bonus material including live shows, demos, and studio outtakes.  This release greatly expands upon the 1997 release The Mercury Years on 2 CDs.

The only consistent members during this time period were Ed Cassidy and Randy California, though other original members including bassist Mark Andes (who went on to co-found Jo Jo Gunne and Firefall), keyboardist John Locke, and vocalist Jay Ferguson (Andes' bandmate in Jo Jo Gunne and a solo hitmaker with "Thunder Island") all were involved with Spirit at some point during the Mercury era and as such are represented on this collection.  Spirit - Cassidy, California, and new bassist Barry Keene - came to Mercury with a number of recordings already in the can; these were assembled as the double-album Spirit of '76 in 1975.  The eclectic album, featuring California/Cassidy originals as well as covers of Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, and Rufus Thomas, was unironically bookended by "America the Beautiful" and "The Star-Spangled Banner," and took listeners on a psychedelic journey of (mostly!) American music.  Spirit of '76 reached a respectable No. 147 on the Billboard 200 and reestablished the group to the FM rock audience.  The album, spread across the first two CDs on this set, is joined by a clutch of bonus cuts including California's re-edits for the 1997 anthology, a live version of the Stones' "Happy," an alternate edit of the opening "America the Beautiful/The Times They Are A-Changin'" medley, and a rendition of Gerry Goffin and Barry Goldberg's funky "I've Got to Use My Imagination."

Son of Spirit followed later in 1975, drawing in part on the cache of tapes the band had recorded.  There is still some mystery surrounding the recording of this album which archivist Mick Skidmore addresses in his comprehensive liner notes.  The album failed to chart despite some strong original material and a straightforward, understated cover of The Beatles' "Yesterday."  Son of Spirit is joined on the third CD of this box with 1976's Farther Along which welcomed both John Locke and Mark Andes (on a break from Firefall) back into the fold along with Mark's brother Matt Andes.  (Barry Keene had departed by this point.)  Spirit moved into decidedly more mellow territory on this LP under the guidance of veteran producer Al Schmitt and arrangers Nick DeCaro and David Blumberg.  Not that Farther Along was all balladry; it also incorporated jazz, country, rock, and even dance-oriented into its sound.  All of the members of Spirit contributed to the songwriting, and it felt like a true "band" record.  Session outtakes round out the disc.

Spirit took an entirely different approach to 1977's Future Games: A Magical Kahauna Dream, a Randy California solo album in all but name.  Ed Cassidy did play drums and contribute some material, and Hollywood scenester Kim Fowley shared a couple of songwriting credits with California.  Future Games, on CD 4, was as outré as Farther Along was accessible.  A vague concept album with sci-fi overtones, it does have appeal to fans of Spirit's most experimental work even if it was later acknowledged by California (per Skidmore) as not being very musical.  It's joined by demos, outtakes, proposed single versions, and some of the overdubbed/edited versions released in 1997 on The Mercury Years.

The fifth CD features a live-in-the-studio album recorded at A&M's Charlie Chaplin Soundstage in December 1982 but not released until 1984 as a belated return to the Mercury label.  The Thirteenth Dream reunited the original group - Randy California, Mark Andes, Ed Cassidy, Jay Ferguson, and John Locke - for a high-quality digital recording of new and old material alike that culminated in a new recording of their hit "I Got a Line on You."  Joe Lala, Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, and Bob Welch were among the guests for the sessions.  The original album has been reconceived and resequenced for its inclusion here with the blessing of Jay Ferguson.  Its 10 tracks have been supplemented by three bonus cuts from the same performances including "Elijah" (previously released on a 12-inch single) and the never-before-heard "Rasta Girl in a Ferrari" and "Give Me Your Number."  Also, "I Got a Line on You" is now unedited.  The disc is bolstered by a further six live tracks from Detroit 1985 featuring California, Cassidy, and Ferguson with keyboardist Michael Lewis and bassist Freeman James.

CD 6 culls material from the 2007 studio outtakes anthology Salvation...The Spirit of '74 plus a handful of Hawaiian-flavored solo demos from Randy California.  The seventh CD rewinds to 1975 for a Texas show with the trio line-up of California, Cassidy, and Keene, while the final disc returns to Future Games to reassemble the album in early demo form.  These demos provided the basis of the final album, but here they're heard sans overdubs and edits with different dialogue and other key variations.  Eight songs from a Cleveland show in 1975 (again with the power trio line-up), including an epic version of Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone," complete the box set.

Sunrise and Salvation: The Mercury Era Anthology does a fine job of distilling this period of the band's history into one digestible set, even if the sheer amount of material is still daunting.  (It's recommended to listen in small doses rather than all at once!)  The set has been remastered by Ben Wiseman, with the Mercury material sourced from the original tapes.  Mick Skidmore, in his excellent notes found within the thick 44-page booklet, describes throughout the various sources used for the bonus material.  Spirit's overall sound was harder to pin down during this period than during the Ode/Epic years, but there's still plenty of music for devotees to savor.  Click here for the complete track listing, and you'll find the box set at the below links!

Spirit, Sunrise and Salvation: The Mercury Era Anthology (Cherry Red/Esoteric ECLEC82776, 2021) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Includes:

CD1: Spirit of '76 (Mercury SRM-2 804, 1975)

CD2: Spirit of '76 (continued) plus bonus tracks

CD3: Son of Spirit (Mercury SRM-1 1053, 1975) / Farther Along (Mercury SRM-1 1094, 1976) and bonus tracks

CD4: Future Games: A Magical Kahauna Dream (Mercury SRM-1 1133, 1977) plus bonus tracks

CD5: Live at the Charlie Chaplin A&M Sound Stage, Hollywood, December 21-22, 1983 (issued in part on The Thirteenth Dream, Mercury MERL 35, 1984) plus Live in Detroit 1986

CD6: Spirit of Salvation bonus material c. 1974-1975 plus solo demos

CD7: Live at Armadillo Headquarters, Austin, Texas, June 19, 1975

CD8: Future Games: The Early Demo Version plus Live at The Agora, Cleveland, Ohio, June 30, 1975