Caravanserai [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED]

Santana

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 30, 2003)
• Original Release Date: October 1972
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B0000AKY7E
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #7,819 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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  #78 in	Music > Jazz > Jazz Fusion

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

82 of 91 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Caravansari Remaster version review, October 19, 2003

By	Christopher Henrici (Washington, DC United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I don't know about ya'll, but I'm about gettin tired of this "remastered" business. Firstly, at this stage of the game, many of these "remastered" albums are just being equalized from the previous digital copy (most likely a 16 bit Sony 1630 digital master), this release makes no mention of using the analog masters. For lovers of Caravansari, keep your old disc and save your money unless you just gotta have those extended liner notes. The other reviewer is absolutely correct....great album, one of Santana's most daring and experimental... a very rewarding listen, but the reissue is mostly about greed....cheap case and thinner disc than previous one with virtually identical sound. The remaster is a little brighter...which will make it more or less appealing depending on your tastes...but basically there is not enough difference to buy again. No bonus tracks either, they did'nt even do "super bit mapping" this time. Of the reissues by Santana, Abraxas is the only one that has some really good bonus material (live tracks from the same period) which makes it worthwhile. Get "Welcome" or "Love, Devotion Surrender" instead of this. Let me see if I'm understanding this correctly- "Hey what we sold you before was crap, and even the one after that, and sometimes the next one after that was crappy too...this new one is the good one"...if you want to believe it go ahead...usually the differences are small, once in a while you get a significant improvement, but the passage of time and it's effects on analog tape is making that less likely.

29 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Arguably, The Best Latin Jazz CD ever, February 13, 2004

By	o dubhthaigh (north rustico, pei, canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Carlos Santana was at the top of his powers as a guitarist, in full command of the riches treasures of his cultural heritage and on fire with his new found spiritual devotion when he recorded this brilliant testament. This is an absolutely must-have, DID, whatever you want to call it CD. Somehow you should not be allowed to escape the wheel of reincarnation without absorbing the spiritual dimensions of this music. There is only Coltrane's LOVE SUPREME that stands in the same light.
Having said that, the remastering done for this release is spectacular. t is positively gorgeous all the way through. You will swear you are heaing this for the first time. I loved this record on vinyl and felt the first CD pressing did it a great disservice. The restoration here, however, is to be applauded.
Throughout this disc, Santana was wroking with the core of the group he had assembled to break into and light aflame the muisc world when he emerged from San Francisco. He was never to really find the same spirit of mission in any later works. All of this ensembles efforts are extraordinary, and this one in particular comes from someplace very deep in the devotional soul of a very fine human being.
This is GREAT MUSIC lovingly and respectfully restored to it first and undeniable power.

28 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Love the music -- but POOR "remastered" version, October 12, 2003

By	Frank Cioffi (Northern California) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

(Please note this is a review ONLY of the remastered release of Caravanserai, by Columbia Legacy, released on Sept. 30, 2003)

First, some context: I am a 30 + year avid Santana fan. I have seen them in concert over 40 times. I own the Caravanserai LP, purchased on the day of its release in 1972. I also owned the previously released Caravanserai CD. It is possibly my favorite album of all time.

Having said that, this remastered re-release from Columbia is a BIG disappointment.

Its sound quality is perhaps a hair better than the previous CD release of Caravanserai, but arguably there is little difference in the sound quality.

The back side album cover incorrectly states it was released in 1973. The theft protector sealer tape incorrectly notes the album is by "Carlos Santana." The plastic jewel case reflects a new level of cheapness. I quickly reassembled the contents into an older, sturdier jewel case. The article within the enhanced liner notes is interesting and adds some value to the package.

Cheapness and sloppiness aside, it is the sound that disappoints. I expected much greater depth and frequency range. This remastering added little. Perhaps a remix, to account for the technology changes over 30 years, would have been the way to go.

And there was no added bonus tracks as there have been on previous Columbia Santana CD re-releases.

Columbia, you did Santana fans a disservice. Fans, find the vinyl version of Caravanserai or the CD released in the late '90s.