Universal Consciousness (Special Packaging) [Original recording remastered]

Alice Coltrane | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 21, 2002)
• Original Release Date: 1971
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Umvd Labels
• ASIN: B0000631D9
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #283,186 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Limited Edition Japanese pressing of this album comes housed in a miniature LP sleeve. 2007. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Alice Coltrane always at her best -an abstract masterpiece, June 13, 2002

By 

Rayv "Dann" (Noho, Ma) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Universal Consciousness (Special Packaging) (Audio CD)

My title may not explain how I feel about this particular CD but of how I feel about Alice Coltrane's work in general. My first experience with Alice Coltrane's music was listening to a beat up copy of Universal Consciousness. After that I nearly bought her entire collection of CDs and I am still waiting for more to be reissued. Therefore, "always at her best" is definitely my impression of her creativity.

So here we are, with a newly remastered edition of Universal Consciousness. . hum, and kind of surprising too. I was about ready to burn a copy from that old beat up record I mentioned above. It took a long time for Impulse to finally get this re-released, and I'm considerably satisfied.

The music itself is one of a kind. Ornette Coleman must have had a fun time transcribing the string arrangements, as mention in the notes. The first time you put this on the listener will want to turn it off, yes I know it sounds like a dis but it's not. This music is not happy-go-lucky, laid back Kerouac at the typewriter music. This is intense listening, made for people who turn on the college stations noise hour and listen to Merzbah. The first time I heard it I couldn't handle it, especially the first track. Now, after many listens, I can play the album while reading a book, or at the typewriter. Not for casual listeners but if you are this album may eventually grow on you.

The remastered CD sounds similar to the record but much brighter. To elaborate on that, as a CD it works well. I can here some things that I didn't hear on the record (like that tinny reggae drum in the first half of "Universal Consciousness") and on some tracks the compositional tone is well rounded out ---plus no crackles and skips. In short, the CD remastering beats me recording and filtering/dehissing my record on Roxio. Plus the production job is pure mastery.

My only complaint is the packaging. I prefer the standardized Impulse cardboard cases, the ones with the gatefold/ insert sleeve and annotated or biography booklet. The package here is (as mentioned by another reviewer) a miniscule version of the original record sleeve which includes a very cool poster, but barely readable liner notes. In addition, it would be impossible to slide it into a standard CD slot since it is bigger than the usual CD jewel case. I understand that this is a unique idea but isn't it more susceptible to wear and tear. Consider this a limited edition as the tagline says.

Music Listeners, give this a try. Like I said it's intense but soon you'll enjoy it. If you like these recordings also check out Ornette Coleman's Skies of America, which has similar string arrangements and time signatures. An abstract masterpiece.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling Karma, Welcome If Short-Lived Reincarnation, June 24, 2004

By 

Samuel Chell (Kenosha,, WI United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Universal Consciousness (Special Packaging) (Audio CD)

Verve is making this 1972 Impulse recording available as a short-run, limited-edition reissue expiring in May 2005. Whether it self-destructs at that time or is returned to the vaults for another thirty years, awaiting its next reincarnation, is unclear, but it's probably best to take no chances. This album sounds a lot better to me today than it would have at the time of its release. Scarcely 9 years had elapsed since I'd heard Alice McCleod playing in the Terry Gibbs Quartet opposite Coltrane's Quartet at Birdland, and her marriage to Coltrane and absorption by his increasingly mystical music struck me as abrupt and superficial. Moreover, the results bore not even a faint trace of the swinging, post-bop player who had served as a felicitous and provocative complementary voice to Terry's manic vibes.

But after listening to this music and reading Alice's original liner notes, I'm inclined to think of her as a greater influence on Coltrane than vice versa. Hers is the theological mind, steeped in Hinduism and Indian mythology to a degree that makes John along with Lennon, T. S. Eliot, and perhaps Ravi himself look like tyros. Her descriptions of these compositions and their devotional inspiration makes me want to go back and study the Ramayana, Upanishads, and Vedic Hymns not to mention chant a few Hare Krishnas (30 million are required to experience "Mukti," but perhaps considerably less will lead to some knowledge of Om and apprehension of Shantih).

I've listened to this album at least a dozen times and still can't seem to get a handle on the music. Alice's analog organ seems at once incongruous, anachronistic and cutting edge; at the same time her exotic harp takes the edge off, making this quite accessible music. Jimmy Garrison's bass provides pretty much the same drone-like support that was its primary function in the original Coltrane Quartet. Jack DeJohnette, who's never impressed me as a piano trio trap drummer, is in his element here as a tone colorist and energy catalyst. But the album also owes a huge debt to Ornette Coleman, whose orchestral transcriptions of Alice's musical ideas are at once accessible and third-stream.

This is hypnotic, enchanting, inexhaustible music, further evidence that all of the recent propaganda we've been hearing about Ronald Reagan leading us out of some supposed 1970's cultural morass is revisionist history at its worst.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Saturated With Joy, December 10, 2003

By 

Kenneth M. Goodman (Cleveland, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Universal Consciousness (Special Packaging) (Audio CD)

This music stimulates your cosmic consciousness.
Each successive track is more intruiguing than the proceding
track, culminating with the fantastic bass-drenched final track.
Unlike other Alice Coltrane CDs, there is no saxaphone on this
CD, which is surprisingly refreshing. Also very refreshing is
the fact that there are no vocals at all on the CD, notably in
the Hare Krishna track, where you might've expected vocal
chanting. For me, the best way to enjoy this CD is to start
at the beautiful track 3, then play it till the momentous end.
Lastly, it's not Alice Coltrane's fault that the jewel case
does not fit in a standard CD slot.