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Santana - Santana III Audio CD

A fair review of the Santana "Santana III" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Santana reviews here, or go back to the Santana tabs.

Santana Band: Santana
Title: Santana III
Rating:
Release Date: 1998-03-31
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Batuka 2: No One to Depend On 3: Taboo 4: Toussaint L'Overture 5: Everybody's Everything 6: Guajira 7: Jungle Strut 8: Everything's Coming Our Way 9: Para los Rumberos 10: Batuka [Live][#][*] 11: Jungle Strut [Live][#][*] 12: Gumbo [Live][#][*]

A Lot To Depend On
Released during a period in the 70's when 60's era psychedelia in soul and rock was still firing on all cylinders this album by and large doesn't stray too far from the bands jam oriented blend of psychedelic soul,rock and latin styles their is more of a speediness to the rhythm and,with the addition of new guitar player Neal Shoen even more of a punch to the sound. Having already certified themselves with their first two wonderful releases Santana had nothing at all to prove with this,their final album with their original Woodstock-era lineup. Music such as this (and that also has a lot to do with it's huge success) was one of the building blocks for the best and most creative elements of funk and rock-fusion in the coming years,even within the band itself as it turned out and it's exactly this sound that you get across "Batuka","Tousaint L' Overture","Taboo","Guajira","Jungle Strut" and "Para Los Rumberos". "No One To Depend On" and "Everybody's Everything" both try at the kind of latin pop/rock that made the big hits on Abraxas such stand outs. However neither quite possess the kind of craft and strong spiritual element of those tunes and focus more on communal vocals and rhythmic developement than a planned pop song. The one place on this album where pop craft suceeds wonderfully is on "Everything's Coming Our Way",which in many ways is based heavier in soul/R&B style arrangements than anything to do with rock n roll. It is in fact an early example of the direction Santana would begin to take in the near future. The bonus cuts are three cuts from a Fillmore West concert from the same period. With the visual element missing none of the cuts say much beyond what the originals did but it is nice to hear how the band could so easily replicate on stage. In many basic ways this was the last of this kind of music Santana would record-essencially a series of jams and solos with similar instrumentation. In the future the faster tempos and rhythms of this recording would take on very different shapes and textures,often on the more experimental side of things. But this is really the best possible conclusion to their original triade of recordings.


Little wing
. Even on occasions when the fiery jam band resorted to the vocal-driven singles format, there remains enough electrical guitar hot-sauce sprayed evenly to keep things spiced and sounding fine.


One of the best albums in history

This is a fantastic Disc, great songs, great players and a fantastic latin-rock fusion. My best Santana Album with Abraxas and One of the best music albums in history, clearly. Amazing.
.


Overshadowed By Its Predecessor
The eponymous album was excellent but somewhat commercial. When I was in junior high school, Santana burst on the pop scene with a sound like nothing else then played on the radio. But then came Woodstock and the musical storm that was Abraxas. Powered by a commercially successful electrifying cover of Peter Green's Black Magic Woman and chock full of other innovative sounds, Abraxas defined Santana and has overshadowed almost everything else Carlos Santana and his bands have done.
That's too bad, because the follow-up, commonly known as Santana III is at least as good if not better. I remember buying this in high school on the same day I bought Fleetwood Mac's Future Games. At the time, I was still under the spell of Abraxas and did not like this on first hearing nearly as well as I liked that. But there were a couple of cuts, notably Taboo and Guajira, that I thought superior and that kept this in frequent rotation for a long time.
Fast-forward thirty five years and Santana III was but a pleasant memory filed away with the rest of my vinyl. Then one day it appeared in my amazon recommendations remastered with bonus tracks at a price it was hard to decline, so I ordered it. And do you know what? It sounds better today than I remember it to have been.
Now, I still like Taboo and thrill to Guajira, but I have also developed an appreciation for the rest of the album. Add Batuka and Jungle Strut to the list of favorites. As for the bonus tracks, any bonus is welcome and all three here are worthwhile.
If you are an early Santana fan, then be sure to pick this up. If you came to like Carlos Santana after his more recent surge in popularity, pick this up and hear what his band sounded like when he was in his prime. Though I was tempted to give this five stars, I had to drop a star when I noticed a few minor problems with the remaster, most noticeable at the beginning of Jungle Strut.


One of the best
Here all this time later, hearing all of it in its entirety, I rank it one of the best of all his albums. I bought the first Santana and Abraxis albums back in the early 1970s and although I was aware of the third album, I never picked up on it. This album sounds more like a jam, there's a lot of energy. It's not entirely different from the earlier albums but more loose and with wonderful guitar solos and interesting percussion. It is a classic album: a little dated-sounding but I love listening to it.


You can see a complete list of all Santana discography, or go back to the Santana tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.

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