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Post by Slinger on Apr 30, 2023 21:59:32 GMT
Two giants of the guitar for you this time, but it's sort of (takes a deep breath) jazzy. Love Devotion Surrender is an album released in 1973 by guitarists Carlos Santana and John McLaughlin, with the backing of their respective bands, Santana and The Mahavishnu Orchestra. The album was inspired by the teachings of Sri Chinmoy and intended as a tribute to John Coltrane. It contains two Coltrane compositions, two McLaughlin songs, and a traditional gospel song arranged by Santana and McLaughlin. It was certified Gold in 1973. It's since been released on CD with various tracks Santana and McLaughlin toured together in 1973 and 1974 to support the album I was lucky enough to see John McLaughlin and the Mahnavishnu Orchestra (which, at the time, consisted of Billy Cobham on Drums, Rick Laird on Bass, and Jan Hammer on Keyboards) in September of 1972 but, sadly, I never managed to catch Santana live. Anyway, see what you make of it. It's pretty much off the beaten track as far as my usual tastes go, but this, and Birds Of Fire (Mahavishnu Orchestra 1973) are two of the relatively few "Jazz Fusion" albums I actually like, and enjoy.
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Post by MartinT on Apr 30, 2023 22:08:28 GMT
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Post by ChrisB on Apr 30, 2023 22:13:26 GMT
Thanks Paul. Good choice.
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Post by MikeMusic on May 1, 2023 5:39:43 GMT
Stunning music
Need to listen again to score accurately
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Post by MikeMusic on May 1, 2023 11:00:37 GMT
The start of the album is always such a delight. Love it Loud
Haven't played this for a year or two so the system upgrades giving the separation of instruments this album really needs makes it a different version of the album I know
Thom Jurek on Allmusic .... A hopelessly misunderstood record in its time by Santana fans -- they were still reeling from the radical direction shift toward jazz on Caravanserai and praying it was an aberration -- it was greeted by Santana devotees with hostility, contrasted with kindness from major-league critics like Robert Palmer. To hear this recording in the context of not only Carlos Santana's development as a guitarist, but as the logical extension of the music of John Coltrane and Miles Davis influencing rock musicians -- McLaughlin, of course, was a former Davis sideman -- this extension makes perfect sense in the post-Sonic Youth, post-rock era. With the exception of Coltrane's "Naima" and McLaughlin's "Meditation," this album consists of merely three extended guitar jams played on the spiritual ecstasy tip -- both men were devotees of guru Shri Chinmoy at the time. The assembled band included members of Santana's band and the Mahavishnu Orchestra in Michael Shrieve, Billy Cobham, Doug Rauch, Armando Peraza, Jan Hammer (playing drums!), and Don Alias. But it is the presence of the revolutionary jazz organist Larry Young -- a colleague of McLaughlin's in Tony Williams' Lifetime band -- that makes the entire project gel. He stands as the great communicator harmonically between the two very different guitarists whose ideas contrasted enough to complement one another in the context of Young's aggressive approach to keep the entire proceeding in the air. In the acknowledgement section of Coltrane's "A Love Supreme," which opens the album, Young creates a channel between Santana's riotous, transcendent, melodic runs and McLaughlin's rapid-fire machine-gun riffing. Young' double-handed striated chord voicings offered enough for both men to chew on, leaving free-ranging territory for percussive effects to drive the tracks from underneath. Check "Let Us Go Into the House of the Lord," which was musically inspired by Bobby Womack's "Breezing" and dynamically foreshadowed by Pharoah Sanders' read of it, or the insanely knotty yet intervallically transcendent "The Life Divine," for the manner in which Young's organ actually speaks both languages simultaneously. Young is the person who makes the room for the deep spirituality inherent in these sessions to be grasped for what it is: the interplay of two men who were not merely paying tribute to Coltrane, but trying to take his ideas about going beyond the realm of Western music to communicate with the language of the heart as it united with the cosmos. After three decades, Love Devotion Surrender still sounds completely radical and stunningly, movingly beautiful.
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Post by Tim on May 1, 2023 12:57:26 GMT
I gave it run through but wasn't in the right mood - so I'll return to it later
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Post by John on May 1, 2023 15:11:32 GMT
I enjoy the acoustic pieces. Unfortunately some of it just sounds like a Jam between the two artists and bands when they go electric. It's a shame as enjoy both artists. I am not sure how to score this I like to give Meditation a 5 and the electric jams a 1 I actually enjoyed the alternative version of a Love Supreme as to my ears flows a bit more. Totally confused around this album
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Post by Slinger on May 1, 2023 15:28:55 GMT
Totally confused around this album I consider my choice a success then.
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Post by Tim on May 1, 2023 17:11:22 GMT
Totally confused around this album That pretty much sums up my thoughts John after 1 play - I certainly don't love it, but can't decide if I hate it!
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Post by MikeMusic on May 1, 2023 17:52:54 GMT
Much how I used to feel about it
Grown to love it and the latest rendition on the wonder system
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Post by Barrington on May 3, 2023 11:42:47 GMT
Seen the album cover many a time , never listened to it because I think it's not my sort of music , so here we go .
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Post by rfan8312 on May 4, 2023 1:42:52 GMT
I never got into Santana simply just by not having much exposure to him.
I like McLaughlin, his style and tone are always instantly recognizable but it's really only his solo stuff I'd heard and his super group Trio Of Doom.
Now this album here has a bit too many guitar antics for me personally but it has some good moments in A Love Supreme. The Life Divine as well.
Such a cool starting point/base to each song but ultimately they're drowned out by ceaseless meandering guitar interplay imo.
I'll give it 3/5 because I'm curious if my ears will find their stride with this one over time.
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Post by MikeMusic on May 4, 2023 8:31:08 GMT
Keep playing occasionally, especially after an upgrade
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Post by ajski2fly on May 4, 2023 16:11:15 GMT
So I dug out my LP copy of this lovely record and sat back and listened, just as I remembered a great album with some wonderful guitar and compositions.
5/5 from me.
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Post by MartinT on May 4, 2023 16:44:24 GMT
My first time listening to this album.
Back later.
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Post by MartinT on May 4, 2023 17:03:34 GMT
OK, that's quite enough.
Every time they kick off a really good Santana-like vibe they then set to with the f*cking wailing guitars permeating everything. Compare this appalling noise with the wondrous Abraxas from around the same time period. No, just don't as it's embarrassing. 1/5
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Post by Tim on May 5, 2023 9:28:54 GMT
OK, that's quite enough. Every time they kick off a really good Santana-like vibe they then set to with the f*cking wailing guitars permeating everything. Compare this appalling noise with the wondrous Abraxas from around the same time period. No, just don't as it's embarrassing. 1/5 Phew, I'm not alone then - this is not for me for much the same reasons as Martin - I did enjoy the ballady slow numbers somewhat and I appreciate what they were trying to achieve as a tribute to Coltrane, but I listen to a fair bit of Coltrane and for me they totally missed the mark, but then I never listen to a lot of Santana - I do have Birds of Fire though, but don't know when I last heard that?
Sorry Slinger, an interesting experiment as I was unaware of this before, but 1/5 from me also.
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Post by John on May 5, 2023 11:50:13 GMT
I going to be generous and give a 2 It just becomes too disjointed when it goes electric
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Post by ajski2fly on May 5, 2023 11:57:10 GMT
I going to be generous and give a 2 It just becomes too disjointed when it goes electric I must listen or hear music differently, however I do remember it took me several listens to appreciate this album and enjoy it as I do now.
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Post by Slinger on May 5, 2023 13:04:50 GMT
2x 1/ 5 and 2x 5/5 excluding mine. I chose well. I try not to " defend" my choices, but as a couple of people have remarked, or intimated, it's not an " easy" album, and if you give it more of a chance it will, eventually pay dividends I think. That, however, is NOT to say you need to force yourself to play it over and over again. You have to want to discover its mysteries. I'll say no more, but I do, honestly love that it's split opinion so widely. That means it's " interesting" which is what I strive for in most of my choices.
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