Audio CD review:
Santana - Moonflower

Santana - Moonflower

Band: Santana Title: Moonflower Rating: Release Date: 30 September, 2003 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Dawn / Go Within 2: Carnaval 3: Let The Children Play 4: Jugando 5: I'll Be Waiting 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) 11: She's Not There 12: Flor D'Luna (Moonflower) 13: Soul Sacrifice / Head, Hands & Feet (Drum Solo) 14: El Morocco 15: Transcendance 16: Savor / Toussaint L'Overture 17: Black Magic Woman (Single Version) 18: I'll Be Waiting (Single Version) 19: She's Not There (Single Version)

Customer Reviews Solid, slick, professional That's not to say that the band "sold out"; there are still long instrumental sections and flashy solos by Carlos and keyboardist Tom Coster. This album comes from a period in Santana's career where declining sales led him and the band to take their music in a more commercial, accessible direction. But the rawness of the early albums and the adventurousness of the early 70s period are gone, replaced by a more "professional" (for better or worse) approach. About 40% of the album was actually recorded in the studio. In general this is above average for Santana of this period, and compares favorably to material on Amigos and Festival. "She's Not There", a cover of the classic Zombies tune, is nicely done. I also like the instrumentals, especially "Flor D'Luna". The other 60% is live. It's not bad but not great. I'm not a big fan of Graham Lear's drumming on "Black Magic Woman" -- way too rockish and "square", unlike Michael Shrieve's slinky Latin groove on earlier versions. And this version of "Soul Sacrifice" is a pale shadow of either the studio version or the legendary Woodstock performance. The percussion section is definitely nowhere near what it was in the band's early days. If you like Santana's mid-late 70s sound or live rock albums from that period, you will definitely want to pick Moonflower up (and will surely rate it higher than I did). If you prefer Santana's first three albums or the early 70s jazz-rock period, you may be disappointed. (Though I doubt you will feel you wasted your money. ) If you're interested in picking up your first Santana live album, I would go for either the complete Woodstock performance (on the 2 cd reissue of the first Santana album), the 1971 Fillmore gig (on the 2 cd reissue of Santana III), or the 1973 live album Lotus. After you get those, check this one out. String Cheese Theory It's a great mix of studio and live recordings. The music on this CD is superb. This release marked a return from the fusion experiments back to playing music that is more "accessible" to the masses. Still, there is some great fusion on this release. Old favorites like Black Magic Woman and Toussaint L'Overture are far better than the originals, although one wonders just how much mileage Carlos can get out of these tunes, they appear all over the place on the Legacy remasters. This release does suffer a little bit from out-dated electronic technology. Many bands, to their credit, avoided jumping on the synthesizer band wagon back in the 70's. King Crimson is one good example. This has proven to be a wise decision and here's why: updates in technology have rendered the electronics used in the 70's obsolete. Traditional instruments such as drums, bass, sax, flute, trumpet, guitar are never going to sound "out of date" because there is no technological improvement to the instrument that will render them obsolete. Synthesizers on the other hand, are out of date within months of their first use and that's exactly why some of the music on this CD sounds a little dated - especially the cheesy ARP Strings used by Coster. One other annoying little thing is Santana's repeated use of a chromatic walk up the guitar neck on a single string while striking the string at lightening speed with his pick (right hand) and running his guitar through an echo-plex. Don't get me wrong, to be sure, it's a very cool effect. But it is sooooo overused by Santana that it diminishes its effectiveness in the music and leaves me questioning his virtuosity (sorry Santana fans). He uses that lick all over the place on this release and also on Borboletta. Truly GREAT musicians just don't do that. So, other than some of the instrumenation sounding a tad dated, this really is a fantastic release and worthy of your hard earned pennies. 4. 5 stars. It's not quite a 5 in my book but it's close. Essential Santana due to the definitive version of "Europa" The cover of The Zombies' "She's Not There" was a massive FM radio hit in its day (1977). This album is a nice mix between the more "pop" vocal leanings of the Santana band and the intense, explosive Miles / McLaughlin-inspired fusion work. Live tracks include the required "Black Magic Woman / Gypsy Queen, "Soul Sacrifice," and "Savor / Toussaint L'Overture," but the real gem of this collection is the career-best performance of "Europa. " I've lost track of how many times this has appeared on Santana albums, both in studio and live formats, but this is the one. The next time you hear someone trashing Santana, put on "Europa" and watch them shut up. . . FAST. This album, "Lotus," and "Welcome" make up my "3 all-time greatest Santana albums" list. . You can see a complete list of all Santana discography, or go back to the Santana tabs