Santana

Santana was still a respected rock veteran in 1999, but it had been years since he had a hit, even if he continued to fare well on the concert circuits. Clive Davis, the man who had signed Santana to Columbia in 1968, offered him the opportunity to set up shop at his label, Arista. In the tradition of comebacks and label debuts by veteran artists in the '90s, Supernatural, Santana's first effort for Arista, is designed as a star-studded event. At first listen, there doesn't seem to be a track that doesn't have a guest star, which brings up the primary problem with the album - despite several interesting or excellent moments, it never develops a consistent voice that holds the album together. The fault doesn't lay with the guest stars or even with Santana, who continues to turn in fine performances. There's just a general directionless feeling to the record, enhanced by several songs that seem like excuses for jams…

Santana III is an album that undeservingly stands in the shadows behind the towering legend that is the band's second album, Abraxas. This was also the album that brought guitarist Neal Schon – who was 17 years old – into the original core lineup of Santana. Percussionist Thomas "Coke" Escovedo was brought in to replace (temporarily) José Chepitó Areas, who had suffered a brain aneurysm, yet who recovered quickly and rejoined the band. The rest were Carlos, organist Gregg Rolie, drummer Michael Schrieve, bassist David Brown, and conguero Michael Carabello. "Batuka" is the powerful first evidence of something being very different. The band was rawer, darker, and more powerful with twin leads and Schon's harder, edgier rock & roll sound paired with Carlos' blend of ecstatic high notes and soulful fills.

On March 21st, 2016, a few weeks prior to the release of the Santana IV album, the classic line-up of Santana (Carlos Santana (guitar, vocals); Neal Schon (guitar, vocals); Gregg Rolie (keyboards, vocals); Michael Shrieve (drums); Michael Carabello (congas, backing vocals); with Karl Perazzo (percussion, vocals), Benny Rietveld (bass) with special guest vocalist Ronald Isley) took to the stage at the House Of Blues in Las Vegas…

The original debut album of Santana was recorded from May until August 1969 and released shortly after the Woodstock festival has happened. Santana founded a new style, something very danceable, heavily Latin-Rock influenced yet it just echoed the sounds of the streets. Thanks to this Legacy Edition from Sony fans are treated with the original remastered album (tracks 1 - 9 on the first disc), additional alternative takes, unreleased songs, studio jams and - most important - nearly the complete Woodstock set in superb audio quality. It just misses the song "Evil Ways". This song can be found on the Woodstock edition of this album.