Supernatural

Shaman How could Carlos Santana hope to follow the massive comeback album Supernatural? The solution he settled upon was to once again pull in as many guest artists as possible. Shaman features a slew of stars, but, despite their presence, the instrumental "Victory Is Won" is the stando...	The Best of Santana There are a couple of Santana best-of compilations out there, and even a few mastersound gold-plated CDs, but this collection is as good a place as any for a newcomer to explore. It contains the band's three essential charters--"Black Magic Woman," "Evil Ways," and "Oye Como Va"-...	All That I Am Carlos Santana doesn't stop at just new material for his 2005 release All That I Am; the CD hits the streets with a blindingly bright lineup of guest stars: Joss Stone, Mary J. Blige, Will.i.Am, Steven Tyler, Bo Bice, and a batch of others step up, tugging a listener into territo...	The Best of Santana, Vol. 2	Abraxas Santana's 1970 follow-up to their Woodstock-propelled smash '69 debut found leader Carlos Santana further expanding his San Francisco group's already broad musical boundaries. To wit: two hit singles that emanated from opposite ends of the spectrum--"Black Magic Woman," originall...
The Cream of Clapton For a single disc, this is an admirable chronological tour of superstar Eric Clapton's mid-'60s-to-early-'80s career. It begins too late to include his gestational work with the Yardbirds and John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. However, the singer-guitarist's days in Cream ("Sunshine of...	Santana By the time Santana arrived on the San Francisco scene in 1968, the Grateful Dead's freeform antics were already legendary. But Santana was a jam band of another order--fueled by Latin rhythms, blues, bebop, and straight-ahead rock. Having set the audience at the 1969 Woodstock f...	Essential Santana Guitar hero, world-music pioneer, and Latin-rock superstar--Carlos Santana embodies them all on this 33-track double-disc anthology of the legend's first 20 years in music. Yet none of those labels seem to capture the true musical essence of the mercurial, Mexican-born icon. Lite...	Santana's Greatest Hits If you only want the essentials, this is the package to get. Greatest Hits is an early collection, dating back to 1974, and it does a good job of skimming the cream from the band's classic 1969-71 period, which yielded the first three albums, Santana, Abraxas, and Santana III. It...	Come Away with Me It is not just the timbre of Norah Jones's voice that is mature beyond her 22 years. Her assured phrasing and precise time are more often found in older singers as well. She is instantly recognizable, blending shades of Billie Holiday and Nina Simone without sounding like anyone ...

music prostitution at it's best
This album is on of the best examples of music prostitution of an artist in need of money and/or willing get his glory back. Just get the old stuff.

an intriguing cross-section of musical flavors......
What do you think of when you hear the name Santana? For me, my thoughts go to "Oye Como Va," "Black Magic Woman," and "Evil Ways." Carlos Santana has always been the epitome of cool, class and mad talent. That hasn't dulled with time, and he definitely hasn't softened with time. Carlos just has a deeper realized sazon (flavor), now. "Well," thought the producers of this album, "what better way to introduce Carlos Santana to the younger generation, than through blending his sound with a bunch of other artists that emerged in the last ten years or so?" Very intriguing idea. Does it work? On some cuts, it succeeds very well! While, on other cuts, the music comes across as [slightly] engineered to appeal, but it doesn't really make the lasting impression I would have loved to feel. Some of the most well-known songs from this album include "Smooth" with Rob Thomas, "Maria, Maria," with Wyclef Jean, and "Corazon Espinado," with Mana. For me, "Smooth" was great to hear, the first several times on the radio, but I think it was [a bit] played out. Rob Thomas has strong vocals but they don't blend well with Santana. Thomas sounds almost too "trendy," here. The beauty of Santana is that he is timeless and he could appear on any album, from probably any time, and his scorchingly hot guitar licks would still ignite your speakers, and that is probably why this musical coupling didn't work so well. Whereas, "Maria, Maria" succeeds in sounding street and like Santana is channeling the hauntedness of the barrio with Wyclef's tight production (hip hop meets latin soul). Great! "Corazon Espinado" is right on the mark. Mexican rock band Mana sounds wonderful with Santana, and their vocals and back-up compliment him beautifully. If I was really going to analyze every track on this album, it would take all day for you to even get through this review! So, I will stop right now and just say that SUPERNATURAL is [overall] a very compelling project, and when it's good, it's great. If there are some songs you don't like, just skip them, because there really is something here for everyone.

Supernatural is Simply Super
As a sixty-something year old musician and guitarist who still gigs, I am truly amused by all those folks who love an artist's work SO much, they think time, and the artist should stand still. I have been a fan of Santana's since he first broke out, and I have every album he's ever made...and listen to them frequently. I also love SUPERNATURAL! I especially love his collabo's with younger artists. He's not so much reaching out to them, as he is bringing them into his world. If you are the kind of listener who wants to know before you open the jewel box what you will hear, Carlos is simply not for you. He has always experimented, and grown. Some of his "experiments" are lifelong companions, others don't work as well as they might. So what? As to all those who have the nerve to call Carlos Santana a sell-out simply because he has been successful, I remind you all, that this master is wealthy enough to never have to record or gig again in life, and that he does it for the sheer joy of it! I hear in this album his incredible joy at trying something else, and loving it. Rock on Carlos!

Great sounds
I really enjoyed this oldie but goodie. Santana has a certain sound that is easy to listen to.

Hey, Carlos! Get back with the Woodstock band!
Okay, so Santana traded his integrity for those little green slips of paper with important dead guys on them decades ago, so it's no surprise he made out like a bandit by collaborating with the likes of Lauryn Hill, Dave Matthews and ROB THOMAS (why, Carlos? WHYYYYYYY????????????) playing the MOST commercial stuff imaginable. I mean, who's he gonna drag into the studio next? Scott Stapp? I hope not. That would be a dark day for Santana-dom. I know most kids my age were introduced to Santana via this album's 65.7234 billion hits. Not me, though. While I heard Smooth and the like before any "classic Santana", I didn't know it was by Santana at the time. So I was consciencelly exposed to 'Los through the classics: Black Magic Woman, Oye Como Va, Soul Sacrifice, No One to Depend On, Europa, etc. And did that stuff kick huge keister, or did it kick huge keister? I guess I did hear all the big-deal Supernatural/Shaman songs BEFORE Black Magic Woman and its compatriots, but again, I had no clue it was Santana. And that let me tell you, that stuff's a world away from this. I mean, this can't even lick Abraxas or Santana 3's boots. I like Smooth, though, even if we've all heard it thirty-five-and-three-quarters trillion times. Catchy song, even with ROB THOMAS (who I'd like to kick) doing his "soulful" moans and whispers. Honestly, that guy's got as much soul as courrogated cardboard. But that's okay, because of Santana's slinky, seductive six-string solo. (Like the alliteration?) Even better is (Da Le) Yaleo, a fun pseudo-instrumental with Latin lyrics; and the attack on U.S. immigration policies known as Migra. And Santana's still Santana, which means he can play his guitar like few others. One of the top guys in the guitar game. The downsides: pretty much everything else, starting with Maria Maria. What's Santana doing with rappers? I'll tell you what: laughing all the way to the bank as his fans buy the album in droves and are forced to put up with crap like that. And how many times can you mention "Spanish Harlem" in one song? No wonder these guys call themselves the "Product G&B" (which stands for "Ghetto & blues" - how ridiculous can you get?): they are, indeed, pure product. But why stop blasting this now? Africa Bamba is obviously an attempt to pull another Latin-sung smash. But it's not Oye Como Va or Guajira, I'll say that right now. Meanwhile, Put Your Lights On is invariably dull angsty rambling nobody in their right mind would listen to more than once, while Love of My Life wins the Least Original Title award AND the Least Original Song Award. Whoa, great winnings. Amazing. Or maybe I'd give both prizes to Do You Like the Way. I'm torn, somebody help me! And The Calling, with Eric Clapton, should be this godly guitar jam, because it's got ERIC CLAPTON! And he's a REALLY GOOD GUITARIST! And a COMPLETE SELLOUT! JUST LIKE SANTANA! My god, two massive sellouts on one song... the only thing that's missing is a Rod Stewart vocal spot, and they'd be all set. Getting back to the song itself, it's an extrodinary example of wanksmanship that goes on far too long. So yeah, it sold a bunch, but it's kind of bad... and really commercial... and stuff... and shouldn't be in the Definitive 200... yeah... don't know how to close the review...