As a part of a trilogy of albums, Lord of Lords makes sense in not just the context of an extended composed piece, but as the progression of Alice Coltrane’s musical ambitions.

Beginning work with her late husband, the saxophonist John Coltrane, there was always a sort o mystical and ethereal bent to Alice’s work. Whether she was backed by Pharaoh Sanders, a one time sideman for her husband, or a huge string section, Alice’s work generally includes nods towards Eastern drone music, thus accounting for its mystical feel. But just as important as those ideas are in her music, Lord of Lords really arrives sounding like the score for some unimaginable film – science fiction or otherwise. After hearing the middle portion of “Excerpt from Firebird,” it’d be difficult to properly understand this music in any other context. Maybe Dune would have benefited from Alice’s assistance.

Either way, coming only a year after Journey in Satchidananda, which has probably made it into more homes than any of her other albums, Lord of Lords seems distanced from jazz. At the same time, though, counting Charlie Haden as bassist should tie a work back to that American genre even if his playing should be counted as equally adventurous as Mingus’ playing.

Each of these lengthy tracks, though, maintains the general spirit Alice has come to be associated with. Switching between harp and electric keyboard, most of the affair is minimal in an orchestral sense. But as listeners make it through to the title track, Alice’s solo ends up being a barb amidst the enormous ocean of calm created by previous tracks.

Present on that title track, as with most of Alice’s earlier work, bells jangle off in the background resulting in that ethereal and spiritual thing. So when that electric keyboard kicks in referring to Sun Ra as much as anyone else, it’s not disquieting, but a surprise. Alice’s improvisations and her those of her sidemen have always comprised a good portion of her compositions. Lord of Lords doesn’t fall into that category. But judging from her improvised section on this track, the inclusion of more open space would have greatly benefited the work overall.

That being said, the end result of Lord of Lords is what the composer intended. It’s a densely construed and succinctly performed piece of music. For fans of her first few albums, this might not be the best way to spend time, but the album was definitely another triumph for Alice.