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Moonflower

Santana - Moonflower Audio CD

A fair review of the Santana "Moonflower" 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.

Band: Santana
Title: Moonflower
Rating:

Release Date: 2003-09-30
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Dawn/Go Within 2: Carnaval 3: Let the Children Play 4: Jugando 5: I'll Be Waiting - Carlos Santana 6: Zulu 7: Bahia 8: Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen 9: Dance Sister Dance (Baila Mi Hermana) 10: Europa (Earth's Cry Heaven's Smile) - Carlos Santana 11: She's Not There 12: Flor d'Luna (Moonflower) 13: Soul Sacrifice/Head, Hands & Feet [Drum Solo] 14: Morocco 15: Transcendance 16: Savor/Toussaint l'Overture 17: Black Magic Woman [Single Version][*] 18: I'll Be Waiting [Single Version][*] - Carlos Santana 19: She's Not There [Single Version][*]

My favorite Santana
I tend towards live albums because you can feel the passion of the moment and you get a great snapshot of the moment and variations on favorites. This album collects all that is good about the Band Santana. This album has all of that, plus some very good new (for the time) studio recordings including She's Not There and I'll Be Waiting. What tops it all off is Greg Walker - the best, most soulful singer who ever performed with the band - I wish he could've stayed with them. I believe that this is one of those rare Santana albums that must be called Santana - the band vs. Carlos Santana and friends or whatever. Everyone on this recording played their butts off. Even though it is a mix of live and studio recordings, the flow is organic. It is so much better to listen to the entire album than to listen to the individual songs, as they fade so smoothly together.

The live cuts were recorded in Europe, and though I don't know exactly where each live cut was played, at least one came from the Munich show which I attended, so I am on this album clapping and stomping somewhere!.

Refried explosiveness
This higher end release on that spectrum than, of serviceable live and smoothed studio work, is still pleasant enough middle ground Santana to appease purists and posers. Moonflower falls into the category many Santana albums unfortunately get lumped into after Woodstock-era material; good and not great. .

HEAD BANGIN, FOOT STOMPIN, HARD ROCKIN SANTANA
THIS IS MOSTLY A LIVE ALBULM WITH OTHER UNRELEASED MATERIAL THAT FITS TOGETHER AS A MASTERPIECE. EVERYONE HAS AN OPINION AND WHEN IT COMES TO SANTANA'S MUSIC I AM PREDJUDICE. THE REMAKE OF "SHE'S NOT THERE" IS GREAT AND THEN YOU LISTEN TO "DANCE SISTER DANCE" AND WISH YOU WOULD HAVE BEEN AT THE CONCERT WHEN RECORDED. ALMOST EVERY SINGLE SONG A "10".
I OWNED THE ALBULM (STILL DO) AND THIS WAS THE VERY FIRST CD REPLACEMENT WHEN I FINALLY SWITCHED OVER.
SANTANA FANS, THIS IS A MUST. OH YA, DID I MENTION THE VERSION OF EUROPA?.

Santana's first comeback
They will go on to say that the singer dropped from the show has a "fabulous" voice. From time to time friends or co-workers will complain to me that some person or other has been eliminated from Idol. My response is to suggest that at this late stage of the competition all remaining contestants had better have great voices. Unless there is a budding Aretha Franklin or Roy Orbison what distinguishes one singer from another is what he or she does with the material. Can the singer make an ordinary song transcendent? Can he or she put a new take on a song that everyone already accepts as being special? When I consider the subject of greatest Rock guitarists I go through a similar analysis.

Dozens of marvelous guitarists have emerged during the Rock era. We all have our favourites. I could say that there are no absolutes. I would be lying if I told you that I believed this! In any rationale person's top five there must be room for Jimi. To a slightly lesser degree I would hope that Eric would find his way into most lists. Forget about the touchy feely sleep-inducing material that he favoured later in his career and just look at what he did with The Yardbirds, Bluesbreakers, Cream, Blind Faith, Delaney & Bonnie and Derek & the Dominoes. Eric was an effortless player. Whether he was playing blues or rock he never missed a beat. He could play long solos without boring and in the next song knock off a memorable short solo (Badge, Let it Rain). After Jimi and Eric I have a relatively short list of guitarists who move into and out of my top five depending on my mood. In no particular order there are Jeff Beck, Duane Allman, Jimmy Page, Gary Moore, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Neil Young and Peter Green. When I listen to Queen or Procol Harum I sometimes wonder whether Brian May and Robin Trower should also be contenders. However, when all is said and done, there is one guitarist who I have enjoyed listening to more than any other - Carlos Santana. I have no doubt that over the last 40+ years I have had Santana LP's and cds on my players more often than any other artist. From the debut album in 1969 and into the new millennium Carlos has brought me hundreds of hours of enjoyment. Carlos Santana and Neil Young have almost nothing in common in terms of style or material. However, to my ears, they have one thing in common - more than the other fellows that I have mentioned they each pour their soul into their guitar playing. What shines through their music is an intense honesty.

Moonflower is apparently a somewhat controversial double LP. The fans and the critics each appear to be split over its merit. The naysayers quibble with the fact that the live and the studio cuts are not segregated. I agree. The inter-mingling does rather destroy the flow of the concert tracks. In the overall scheme of things this is a minor objection. After all it is the music that matters. Here again there is no consensus. Many suggest that while the live songs are creditable the new material, the studio songs, are below par. While Allmusic gives the previous live album, Lotus, five stars, it gives Moonflower just three. I love the entire four sides. I've searched for a weak cut - can't find one! Carlos' playing is, as always, superb. Tom Coster on Hammond and Greg Walker on vocals add tremendous support.
.

Gresat CD!
So much of today's pop music is simplistic with a particular void in great guitarists. I'm so happy so many young folks have discovered Carlos. Where is the next Clapton, Stevie Ray, Carlos,, Duane Allman? The answer is: there are none! If folks want to listen to a great guitarist they have to listen to artists who started in the 60s and 70s.

The great song "She's Not There" is done in a couple of versions on this album. Carlos absolutely OWNS this song. There's lots of other great songs too.

The dealer got this to me quickly and without issue.

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.