Besides achieving a very personal and characteristic sound, John Coltrane opened the way to free jazz. By the time he recorded Ballads, Coltrane had already delved into freer and longer solos and compositions, and as a result he had his devoted followers as well as his detractors. This LP was more "conventional" than its most immediate predecessors (with the exception of the Duke Ellington collaboration), and as a result it received a variety of reviews. While some applauded the fact that the saxophonist was again playing standards, others criticized him, stating that he was contradicting himself by playing simple melody lines. The fact is Coltrane had always been a beautiful ballad player.