Customer Rating: 
Summary: masterpiece
Comment: For those that get this album it is nothing short of a masterpiece. For those that don't it is anything but a masterpiece. Before judging this album one way or the other I recommend multiple listenings over a fairly extended period of time. Try listening to it 8 or 9 times over the period of a couple of weeks. I've actually known people who at first thought this album was awful, but after a while their ears opened up to it and they absolutley loved it.
Customer Rating:
Summary: First on my list of favourites
Comment: I resort many times to this record when I really want to get carried away with music. For me this record is medicine. So Coltrane, Tyner, Jones and Garrison are here like a group of therapists so to speak.
This one is truly unique. Never listened to something even similar and don't want to. Because "A love supreme" is just perfect. I have other Coltrane works like "Giant Steps" or "Blue Train" but these ones don't mean much to me. And I even don't like much John's way of playing: too many notes in such a little time space. Many times they don't tell me anything. And it is the same reaction that I get sometimes from Bird. "Ok, you're a virtuoso. Congratulations!. So what?".
But this record was really his cornerstone for me. He was in a different approach. He meant something to me in every note he blew from his sax. He really got into something. And he's here with the great McCoy Tyner. With his piano helps Elvin Jones to create a mystic atmosphere where you can feel they are in some kind of spiritual voyage. And everything is a wonder.
So if you are one like me who's not very fond of Coltrane, it doesn't matter at all. This is a must have. Who told you that "Kind of Blue" was the all-time best?. It is "a love supreme". It is about pure inspiration from four geniuses of Music. It'll change you. For good!.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Still supreme after all these years.
Comment: It's a testament to John Coltrane's artistic vision that a piece of uncomprimising music such as a 'A Love Supreme' can be heard for the universalism it stands for. Recorded in a studio in New Jersey in late 1964, Coltrane had spent a week alone in a room in his house away from his wife and children. During that time of contemplation and isolation, he put pen to paper to bare his soul to God and the essence of 'A Love Supreme' was born. I don't think it was a coincedence that at the time this album was recorded in the mid-60's, a new philosophy of spirituality and peace & love began to prevade popular music in general. The Church of St. John Coltrane still resides in that bastion of hippiedom, San Francisco.
The music on the album itself is powerful not just for Coltrane's playing itself but also for the fanatical interplay of the quartet. 'Acknowledgement' opens with Garrison's passionate bass line, leading into Coltrane's dynamic and ingenious playing, the quartet's spirited performance like a fervant, untamed emotion that has gripped them all. 'Resolution' blazes from the record with Tyler burnishing the track with some brilliant playing of his own. Jones's frantic drumming comes to the fore on the opening of 'Pursuance', a track where the meaning of 'Chasin' The Trane' becomes self-evident as Garrison, Tyler and Jones follow in hot pursuit of their leader's furious joy. Tyler's playing is again compelling as the quartet trade notes with such alarming velocity before Garrison's bass tip-toes and leads us like the pied-piper to the concluding 'Psalm'.
It's refreshing in this day and age to hear an artist whose sincerity and integrity shines through his work.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: talk about navel-gazing...
Comment: Okay already, I'm convinced you have chops! You don't have to keep trying to impress me...or each other...or yourselves... This album encapsulates the fatal flaw of jazz music, the element that is relegating it to the dustbin of history: form over substance. Nobody will care about the technical achievements of these guys in 100 years (not many do now except those who confuse self-obsession with depth). There are moments, especially the middle section, where Coltrane and co. hint at some melodic structure, some level of aesthetic appeal, but inevitably a stylized flourish ruins everything. I suppose it's good that someone pushed the 'repetitive droning and squawking' envelope, but do you really want to listen to him do it?
Art reaches out, speaks to the universal, appeals to the heart. Jazz excludes, speaks in code, demands analysis. I prefer art.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A Love Supreme
Comment: This is a deeply spiritual album. It is a glimpse into one man's soul and his journey to God.Part 1, "Acknowledgment," is to me an inner conflict given form in music. Coltrane is desparing, looking for a reason for life. His sax screams and whimpers in pain and turmoil. On and on it goes, him fighting against the pains of life, looking for an answer, but I also feel that part of him does *not* want to acknowledge it. Finally, however, after much soul-searching, he arrives at it. The answer is God: A Love Supreme. His sax repeats that phrase over and over and over again, as if he is overwhelmed by God's love. It goes on and on, until he puts down his instrument and begins chanting, "A love supreme. A love supreme. A love supreme." He has finally found the answer to life's difficulties, in acknowledging God's love and opening himself to it. This part is, I feel, the most powerful one. (Although that could change with further listenings.)
Part 2 is "Resolution". He has found God, now what? He resolves to live in God's love and according to His truths. He commits himself to God and resolves to walk in the light.
Part 3 is Pursuance. He has resolved to follow God, now he pursues that goal. There are difficulties, to be sure, and I think that that is expressed in the music. However, his entire soul is set on it, and he keeps true. In Part 4, "Psalm," he praises God, who has shown him true love.
*whew* Sorry if I waxed philosophical there. ;) This is more than just music, it is a window into a man's spirit. It is incredibly heart felt. Normally, using unusual effects on a horn annoys me, but Coltrane's screams, wails, whimpers, and cries are so heatfelt that I think they *add* to the music. They reflect the difficult life Coltrane had.
The sidemen were also excellent. I especially enjoyed the work of Elvin Jones (who gives a slight Middle Eastern feel to the music) on drums, and McCoy Tyner on piano. (I especially liked Tyner's extended solo in "Pursuance.")
I think that this is music that can touch anybody's heart.
