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This meeting of guitar giants went underrated in its day, although in recent years it has been a subject of positive critical reappraisal. By 1972, Carlos Santana had become very interested in the music of John Coltrane and Miles Davis and, according to the liner notes, he was friendly with John McLaughlin and attended Mahavishnu Orchestra shows at every opportunity. Shortly after completing his fusion-inspired Caravanserai album, Santana went back into the studio with his bassist, drummer and conga player and was joined by McLaughlin and Mahavishnu Orchestra members Jan Hammer (on drums!) and Billy Cobham, as well as organist Larry Young and percussionist Don Alias (both recently of the fusion band Lifetime), for an album of music inspired by John Coltrane. Apparently this collaboration was the conception of an executive at Columbia records, the recording label of Santana and Mahavishnu Orchestra. That both Santana and McLaughlin were at the time followers of the guru Sri Chinmoy was used to market the album and rachet up its credentials for "seriousness" (though today, the photos of Santana and McLaughlin in white suits look more humorous than holy) and the opportunity for cross-promotion wasn't lost on Columbia either: McLaughlin is billed on the front cover by his Orchestra moniker "Mahavishnu John McLaughlin." Perhaps, in 1973, this smacked too much of corporateness and possibly it carried a whiff of pretension as well — suddenly, hit records weren't enough for the upstart Carlos Santana and he had to start hanging out with gurus and noodling at the altar of Coltrane? It probably didn't help matters that Santana and McLaughlin picked what were arguably the deceased jazz master's two most famous originals as their covers; I mean, how could anyone hope to say something with "A Love Supreme" that Coltrane hadn't already said more powerfully and eloquently? The version on this album admittedly has little of the depth and spirituality that charged the Coltrane original, but Santana and McLaughlin do transform it into one heck of a fusion workout. "Naima" is spared direct comparisons to the definitive performance on Giant Steps, as it is radically (and successfully) reimagined here as a brief duet for acoustic guitars. The other three tracks consist of the McLaughlin-penned "The Life Divine" and "Meditation," as well as a Pharaoh Sanders-influenced rendition of the traditional "Let Us Go Into The House Of the Lord." "The Life Divine" is the only hiccup on the album, in my opinion, as I think that it is weakened by being too obvious an attempt to copy "A Love Supreme" — all the way down to the mantric chanting of the title. Nevertheless, there are some noteworthy individual passages in it. "Let Us Go Into The House Of The Lord" is the best piece on the album, in my opinion. The performance is inspired by the Pharaoh Sanders version of the song, but Santana and McLaughlin take it to incredible heights of guitar-shredding ecstasy. John McLaughlin's "Meditation" — a short, pretty piece for acoustic guitar and piano — ends the album on a serene note. For an album that falls short of its goal, Love Devotion Surrender is quite good, in my opinion. It's patchy in terms of delivering on the great emotional and spiritual weight that the trappings of the project imply, but it works superlatively as a fusion album of dueling guitars. I find that Santana and McLaughlin are usually easy to distinguish in the mix (given their different playing styles) and listening to each one respond to the fretwork of the other is part of the album's appeal. No small amount of credit should be given to Larry Young, whose presence on the organ anchors the three long pieces and is an excellent complement to the two stars. I'm not nearly as versed in the styles of the individual drummers, though, and with four of them listed in the credits, I can't say that I ever know who is doing what (too bad, because I'd love to know which parts are handled by Jan Hammer). All in all, a strongly recommended album for fusion enthusiasts. Though the sound is still not as good as it probably should be, the 2003 remaster of this album is a noticeable improvement over the atrocious-sounding original CD, and includes alternate takes of "A Love Supreme" and "Naima." review by Matt P. — 4-8-06 —