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Santana (Legacy Edition)(2CD)

Santana - Santana (Legacy Edition)(2CD) Audio CD

A fair review of the Santana "Santana (Legacy Edition)(2CD)" 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: Santana (Legacy Edition)(2CD)
Rating:

Release Date: 2004-10-19
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Waiting 2: Evil Ways 3: Shades Of Time 4: Savor 5: Jingo 6: Persuasion 7: Treat 8: You Just Don't Care 9: Soul Sacrifice 10: Savor Alternate Take #2 11: Soul Sacrifice Alternate Take #4 12: Studio Jam 13: Fried Neckbones 14: Soul Sacrifice 15: Persuasion 16: Treat 17: Shades Of Time 18: Jingo 19: Waiting Live 20: You Just Don't Care Live 21: Savor Live 22: Jingo Live 23: Persuasion Live 24: Soul Sacrifice Live 25: Fried Neckbones Live

Buy THIS Version of "Santana 1"
This is the version fans of the "Woodstock Era" band should buy. There are now two expanded editions of "Santana" (sometimes referred to as "Santana 1"). The other vesion is "The Woodstock Experience," released a couple of weeks ago at the time of this review.

This version has superior remixing/remastering of the first album, outtakes from the first album, the "almost complete" Woodstock set ("Evil Ways" is missing) and the sessions for the band's unreleased first attempt at their debut album.

The bonus tracks of the first crack at their debut album are minus the world-class percussion section of the amazing Mike Shrieve (drums), Mike Carabello (congas) and the incomparable Jose "Chepito" Areas (timbales, trumpet solo on "Fried Neckbones" from Woodstock). It's interesting to hear the band with Marcus Malone (congas) and Doc Livingston (drums) on these six tracks and how much the music and arrangements grew in just a few short months.

I found the remastering (if it is such) of "The Woodstock" experience to be much harsher and too high end. Most of the onstage banter is removed from the Woodstock set and the overall mix of the debut album sounds like the original CD release in the late 1980s, it's so harsh, ill defined and compressed, as is the Woodstock set.

"Santana 1" is a classic album, one of my all-time favorites from the Santana BAND, when it was such, not a backup unit for Carlos and his guitar solos. Everyone shines on this album in beautiful, remastered sound. Carlos had something special with this band and he was never to recapture the kind of musical ESP he enjoyed with supreme keyboardist/lead vocalist Gregg Rolie. Check out the eye-popping chemistry they display on "Studio Jam" at the end of disc one, where you get to hear Gregg's all-too-often overlooked bluesy/jazzy acoustic piano chops interacting with Carlos' Wes Montgomery-inspired jazzy guitar lines! Classic!

Grab this one today before Sony Legacy decides to stop making it available to boost sales of "The Woodstock Experience. " Purchase the mp3 of "Evil Ways" from "The Woodstock Experience" and add it to this gem and you have THE definitive version of "Santana 1. " .

A Treat for Santana Fans
1969's SANTANA was the first of these, and it set the blueprint for what was to follow in impressive fashion. In an era when rock bands were largely divided between the songwriting and jamming camps, Santana offered a best-of-both-worlds option with a string of fine albums pairing tightly constructed chart hits with jazzily extended instrumental workouts.
Opening with the dark, funky instrumental "Waiting," SANTANA slides in chameleonesque fashion through the irresistible world-rock grooves of "Evil Ways" and "Persuasion," the nuanced late-night jazz of "Treat," "You Just Don't Care"'s stomping blues, the African heaviness of "Jingo" and a kitchen-sink mixture known to all as "Soul Sacrifice," without ever once coming off as patchy. This is an exciting debut from a talented young band, and while that band would begin topping it with its very next release SANTANA deserves a place in any comprehensive rock music collection.
The bonus material on this "Legacy Edition" reissue is good as well, though mostly of interest to hardcore fans. It's nice to have Santana's entire Woodstock performance available at last, but most of these tunes are actually done better - and at greater length - on the superb LIVE at the FILLMORE 1968. As for the alternates and outtakes, they don't vary enough from the released versions to compel the casual listener's interest, although Santana troopers will certainly appreciate them. (I must say, however, that four versions of "Soul Sacrifice" strikes me as a bit much for anybody. ) The untitled "Studio Jam" is the most intriguing thing here, a nice instrumental number, otherwise unavailable, which would have sounded fine on the album.
While most folks would no doubt be better satisfied with the single-disc reissue of SANTANA (which also features three Woodstock workouts), this expanded package should satisfy the heartiest appetite and then some. Forty years later, the magic blend still does the trick.

"Viva Santana"
The late 60's had seen landmark albums released by bands who were pushing the envelope further and further. By August 1969 the musical landscpe we called rock&roll, had expanded immensely!Like jazz,rock&roll had become a very broad term, as there were many musical style's exploding on the scene. There was The Beatles Sgt. Pepper,The Who's Tommy,The Byrds Sweetheart of Rodeo,The Rolling Stones Beggars Banquet. Then there was some major jaw dropping debut's by bands like The Doors,The Jimi Hendrix Experience,Led Zeppelin,& King Crimson, to name just a few,all bringing together many different musical styles and influence's. Santana's debut is one of those ground breaking landmark albums. In August 1969, Santana went up to Max Yasgur's farm in upstate New York and unleashed his brand of latin rock and raised the bar even higher! Carlos fused together his latin and afro/cuban influences with his signature guitar style that had us begging for more. Then later we realized not only was he creating cutting edge music, but he was sending us a message of spirituality,love and peace. This is where the journey began, a musical journey that reads like a novel and continues today,almost 40 years later after the release of the first Santana album. Enjoy, for we may never see the like's of a Carlos Santana again!.

Premier plus...
". In addition to the original cuts from the first Santana album, this "Legacy Edition" includes several live songs from the same era --the late '60s-- including a delicious tune called "Fried Neckbone.

5 Star Santana!

The entire electrifying performance at Woodstock is here in all its digitally remastered glory and that alone is worth the price of admission!
. Even if you have the other editions of Santana's first album, this is still a "must-have" for fans of the group.

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.