Devotion (John McLaughlin album)

{{Infobox album

| name = Devotion

| type = studio album

| artist = John McLaughlin

| cover = cover_-_devotion.jpg

| alt =

| released = July 1970Billboard review July 25, 1970

| recorded = February 1970

| studio = Record Plant Studios, New York City

| genre = *Acid rock

| length = {{Duration|m=35|s=28}}

| label = Douglas

| producer = Alan Douglas and Stefan Bright

| prev_title = Extrapolation

| prev_year = 1969

| next_title = Where Fortune Smiles

| next_year = 1971

}}

Devotion is the second album by the English jazz fusion guitarist John McLaughlin, released in 1970. It was recorded while McLaughlin was a member of Tony Williams Lifetime, and features his Lifetime bandmate Larry Young (organ) alongside Jimi Hendrix's Band of Gypsys sidemen Billy Rich (bass guitar) and Buddy Miles (drums). McLaughlin was unhappy with the final production job by Alan Douglas.

Recording

According to The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide, the album is "as close" as McLaughlin ever came to "straight rock playing." On his website, McLaughlin wrote, “In 1969, I signed a contract in America for two records. First is 'Devotion' that is destroyed by producer Alan Douglas who mixes the recording in my absence.”http://www.johnmclaughlin.com/ text on the period of 1968 - 70.

Critical reception

{{Music ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1Score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}{{cite web |url= http://www.allmusic.com/album/r164589 |title=Devotion - John McLaughlin | AllMusic |first=Sean |last=Westergaard |work=allmusic.com |access-date=12 August 2011}}

|rev2 = Christgau's Record Guide

|rev2Score = A{{cite book|last=Christgau|first=Robert|authorlink=Robert Christgau|year=1981|title=Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies|publisher=Ticknor & Fields|isbn=089919026X|chapter=Consumer Guide '70s: M|chapter-url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_chap.php?k=M&bk=70|accessdate=March 7, 2019|via=robertchristgau.com}}

| rev3 = The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide

| rev3Score = {{rating|3|5}}{{Cite book |editor-last=Swenson |editor-first=J.| year = 1985 | title = The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide | publisher = Random House/Rolling Stone

| location = USA | isbn = 0-394-72643-X | page = 135}}

| rev4 = The Village Voice

| rev4Score = A−{{cite news|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|date=19 November 1970|url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cg14.php|title=Consumer Guide (14)|newspaper=The Village Voice|location=New York|access-date=10 June 2013}}

|rev5 = The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings

|rev5score = {{Rating|3|4}}{{cite book |last1=Cook |first1=Richard |authorlink1=Richard Cook (journalist) |last2=Morton |first2=Brian |authorlink2=Brian Morton (Scottish writer) |title=The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings |year=2008 |edition=9th |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-0-141-03401-0 |page=976}}

}}

In a contemporary review, Rolling Stone magazine called the album "very fine" and said that McLaughlin "has managed to make an album as Heavy as the most fanatical Led Zeppelin devotee could wish, while maintaining a high musical level".{{cite magazine |title=Album Reviews: John McLaughlin - Devotion |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=17 September 1970 |last=Palmer |first=Bob |author-link=Robert Palmer (American writer) |issue=66 |url=http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/johnmclaughlin/albums/album/224511/review/6068273/devotion |access-date=2020-01-15 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080807140415/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/johnmclaughlin/albums/album/224511/review/6068273/devotion|archive-date = August 7, 2008}} Sean Westergaard of AllMusic called it "arguably one of the finest acid rock albums of all time," and concluded, "Devotion is a complete anomaly in his catalog, as well as one of his finest achievements."