LPCDreissues: Looking forward to the past

Originally released in 1971, Alice Coltrane's fifth solo album for Impulse! Records sees a reissue on vinyl, mastered at 45rpm for the best possible sound. The production is astounding, the quality of improvisation is riveting, the string arrangements are apocalyptic rather than saccharine, the balance of turbulence and calm a genuine dialectic that later mystic/exotic post-jazz copped out of pursuing. Her lack of constraint was dimly regarded by adherents of '70s jazz and its masculine orthodoxies, yet Alice deserved better credit for virtuosity, originality and the sheer willpower needed to realize her vision.

Track Listing

• Universal Consciousness 5:05
• Battle At Armageddon 7:22
• Oh Allah 4:54
• Hare Krishna 8:16
• Sita Ram 4:48
• The Ankh Of Amen-Ra 6:12