There's not a lot I can say about this one except that it's still one of the greatest jazz albums ever recorded, and a great place for the uniniatiated to start. John Coltrane's pushing farther into new territory (especially on the title track, where he changes chords two times in each measure, managing to run the main theme through a series of permutations before returning back to its origin, all in about three minutes) here, but things remain accessible. That is to say, you needn't be afraid to put this on during dinner with your parents, but the perpetually interweaving, intense-as-all-get-out drums and bass sound great cranked up in headphones. "Syeeda's Song Flute" and "Cousin Mary" prove that Coltrane's assembled the tightest, most fluid band at this point in his career: everything fits together perfectly. There's even a ballad, "Naima" (dedicated to his wife at the time), to break things up, before Coltrane returns to, yep, kicking your ass. If your conception of jazz music has been spoiled by easy-listening, etc., you owe it to yourself to give this a listen.

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