Astral Traveling cover

Astral Traveling

Lonnie Liston Smith · 1973

35 min · 6 tracks · funk

A seamless blend of cosmic jazz and spiritual melodies that invites listeners to transcend earthly boundaries.

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Top tracks — play these first

  • →
    Astral Traveling — The title track encapsulates the album's ethereal quality with its floating melodies and intricate rhythms, embodying the journey into the cosmos that the album seeks to explore.
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    Let Us Go Into the House of the Lord — This track fuses gospel influences with jazz improvisation, showcasing Smith's ability to merge spiritual themes with complex musical structures, creating a transcendent experience.
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    In Search of Truth — With its extended improvisational sections and rich harmonic textures, this track exemplifies Smith's skill in weaving deep emotional narratives within his compositions.

Elevation

Our rating, out of 100 — and why.

AI-generated from five scored dimensions. An opinion, not a measurement.

66 /100
Alpine
Higher than 89% of albums we've rated

The album's blend of jazz and spiritual themes creates a unique listening experience that rewards exploration.

What we noticed

  • The album opens with a title track that features a repetitive, hypnotic groove, establishing a meditative atmosphere.
  • Each track incorporates extended instrumental sections, allowing for improvisation and exploration of themes rather than strict adherence to song structures.
  • The use of electric piano and synthesizers creates a lush soundscape that blends jazz elements with spiritual motifs throughout the record.
Composition 25% of the score
7/10

the writing — melody, harmony, structure, lyrics

Craft 20% of the score
8/10

production, performance, arrangement

Durability 25% of the score
7/10

whether it rewards returning to it

Distinctiveness 18% of the score
8/10

whether it sounds like itself

Sequencing 12% of the score
6/10

running order, pacing, length

Influence 6/10

Significant within its genre. Reported but not counted — how far a record travelled describes its reception rather than the record, and a newer release has had less time to travel than an older one.

Tracklist

Best experienced from track one — press play and let it unfold.

  • 1 Astral Traveling 5:30
  • 2 Let Us Go Into the House of the Lord 6:30
  • 3 Rejuvenation 5:50
  • 4 I Mani (Faith) 6:10
  • 5 In Search of Truth 7:04
  • 6 Aspirations 4:20

What to play next

Expansions
Listen next

Expansions

1975
Cosmic Funk
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Cosmic Funk
Full Lonnie Liston Smith discography Artists like Lonnie Liston Smith
funk jazz fusion

Reference: Wikipedia · MusicBrainz · Wikidata