Om [Import]

John Coltrane | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 6, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• ASIN: B0000562N6
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #288,402 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ommmmm..., June 4, 2001

By 

Peter M. Cummings (Charlottesville, VA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Om (Audio CD)

In Coltranes own words Om "means the first vibration, that sound, that spirit which set everything else into being. It is the word that from which all men and everything else comes, including all possible sounds that men can make." This record is a collection of sounds, vibrations, and textures that define, probably better than Coltrane's words, the meaning of Om. Just as Coltrane breaks away from the tradtional sound of jazz, we as his listeners have to break away from the traditional way of listening to jazz. Forget about form, forget about explanation, and just experience it. Once you breakdown the barriers in your mind that tell you what a sound is, you will travel with this record to another world. If you are into exploration of the ideas of self and searching for meaning, this is a record you will certainly enjoy. It is not for everyone, but it really is Coltrane at his creative peak, reaching for a place where he is at one with the music and the universe. It is a place where you and I may never get to, but through Om, we get very close.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Om-azing, March 28, 2001

By 

"[e-mail]" (London United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Om (Audio CD)

This album was probably the first jazz album i ever heard while in university. After hearing it I wanted to be a musician, listen to jazz constantly, and buy every Coltrane album. Granted it is not anything like Coltrane and Johnny Hartman, which I also love. But if you want experimental spiritual jazz that pushes the boundaries far beyond where Ornette's intellectualizing goes, this is it. This is not an album that my wife would call 'dinner music'. But it is an important album in the sense that it shows just how far out a musician can go. This is music for musicians, not pedestrians.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A curiosity, but nowhere near as out-there as you sometimes read, November 16, 2009

By 

Christopher Culver - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Om (Audio CD)

"Om" is perhaps the most infamous album in the entire John Coltrane catalogue. This studio set recorded on October 1, 1965 was not released until after the saxophonist's death, and immediately garnered a wealth of criticism. Let's start with an economic complaint: this is a single track of only 29 minutes.

But the claims that OM is a lot of noise, the result of a supposed LSD trip by the entire band and not solid inspiration, seem to me exaggerated. OK, the spoken word introduction, a recitation of some text Vedic in nature, is incredibly hokey and doesn't portend well (as is the later grunting of "Om" by the performers). But the majority of the set is generally fine free jazz, completely in keeping with, say, the MEDITATIONS album. Coltrane is consistently in the spotlight with his furious technique, and while Pharoah Sanders is also present on saxophone, he is nowhere near as prominent in Coltrane's ensemble as he was to become later. I think it amusing how MyCoy Tyner sticks to the classically beautiful while there is complete pandemonium around him from the other performers.

Because of its brevity and because it wasn't recognized by the artist, this disc can be left to listeners passionate about Coltrane's free jazz work. But don't go into it expecting that it's just rubbish.