Santana 3

Guitar Heaven: The Greatest Guitar Classics of All Time, referred to as simply Guitar Heaven, is the twentieth studio album by Santana, released on September 21, 2010. It is a classic rock covers album and features guest performances by several popular vocalists, including India.Arie, Joe Cocker, Chris Cornell of Soundgarden & Audioslave, Scott Stapp of Creed, Scott Weiland of Stone Temple Pilots & Velvet Revolver, Chris Daughtry of Daughtry, Jacoby Shaddix of Papa Roach, Chester Bennington of Linkin Park, Dead By Sunrise and Stone Temple Pilots, Rob Thomas of Matchbox Twenty, Pat Monahan of Train and rapper Nas. The album was certified gold by the Federation of the Italian Music Industry.

Supernatural is the seventeenth album by Santana, released in 1999. It went 15 times platinum in the US and won nine Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year as well as three Latin Grammy Awards including Record of the Year. The album, conceived by Clive Davis and A&R'd by Pete Ganbarg, was a major global hit, eventually selling more than 30 million copies. It is the most successful album by Santana, hitting the number one spot in ten countries, including the United States. It is also the highest selling album of original material released by any artist who had already been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame prior to its release and second highest selling overall behind The Beatles compilation album 1. Among the other guest artists are Eric Clapton, Eagle-Eye Cherry, Lauryn Hill, Dave Matthews, Maná and Cee-Lo Green.

Billed as the first Santana compilation to span his entire career, it is true that Ultimate Santana does indeed run the gamut from 1969's "Evil Ways" to 2002's "Game of Love," but if you think that means it handles all phases of his career equally, you'd be sadly mistaken. Essentially, this 18-track set plays like a collection of highlights from his Supernatural-era comebacks, spiked with a couple of classic rock oldies – because that's what it really is. It contains no less than ten superstar duets, including new numbers with Nickelback's Chad Kroeger (the streamlined and smoothed "Into the Night," which has little of Kroeger's trademark growly histrionics) and Jennifer Lopez and Baby Bash ("This Boy's Fire," a dance number where Santana seems incidental), plus a version of "The Game of Love" with Tina Turner (don't worry, the lighter, brighter, superior Michelle Branch version is here too) and plus "Interplanetary Party," which is a new band recording that sounds like a star duet.

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.

Santana's follow-up to its comeback album, Amigos, was another David Rubinson-produced effort that moved back toward more of a Latin rock feel, although it retained an essentially pop focus – "The River" was the first real vocal ballad on a Santana album. If any doubt still existed that the group was no longer a band of equals but a platform for its lead guitarist, the current lineup dispelled that; Carlos Santana was now the only original member of the band left. Although the album went gold, the lack of a hit single hurt the album's commercial standing; its number 27 peak was the lowest yet for a Santana band album.