Customer Reviews

Caravanserai

5 star:		(42)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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.

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.

Carvanserai saw Carlos Santana and the band plunge headfirst into jazz-fusion. At the time of its release, Santana were coming off three successful albums, the last two of which hit #1, and several hit singles, most notably "Evil Ways" and "Black Magic Woman." They could have taken the safe route and continued to make albums with a similar sound. However, like a true artist, Carlos was searching. Caravanserai would show an artistic growth as the band added doses of funk, gospel, and African rhythms to their already substantial palette. Mostly an instrumental work, the few vocals are sparse and very emotional. Finally, Carlos Santana's guitar work takes a quantum leap as this album may contain his most passionate solos ever constructed.

"Eternal Caravan of Reincarnation" brings visions of nighttime in the wilderness as a jungle beat and quiet flashes of guitar and piano add to the scene. This leads into the fiery "Waves Within", a track super heavy on percussion and Santana's passionate playing. "Look Up (To See What's Coming Down)" continues the journey with its slashing guitar chords and heavy use of funk-bass. This leads into the dramatic "Just in Time to See the Sun", a short vocal track with a heavy African feel. "Song Of The Wind", a track similar to "Samba Pa Ti" from Abraxas, contains a long and passionate solo from Santana. "All the Love of the Universe" is an outstanding track which stays somewhat subdued during its verses but gathers momentum during its gospel-tinged chorus. The bass playing here is fantastic and both Santana and organist Gregg Rolie contribute excellent solos. "Future Primitive" continues the album's African influences with a moody organ leading to a heavy percussion workout (this track sounds awesome on headphones). "Stone Flower", the third and last track to contain vocals, is lead by a jungle beat and a memorable lyrical guitar line from Santana. "La Fuente del Ritmo" is another track very heavy on percussion similar to those on Santana III. Finally, "Every Step of the Way" is a 9-minute tour de force, starting out with a slow long build before it reaches its main theme just before the 3:00 mark. The band's vigorous performance, as well as the flute solo and orchestra near its closing, makes this arguably their most intense track ever recorded, blowing away the more popular "Soul Sacrifice." All told, a very impressive album, one that captures the listener and doesn't let go until its dramatic end. Newcomers may want to start out with their more popular releases like their first three albums or one of Santana's many best-of collections before checking this out. If you jumped on the bandwagon during the late-90's and early-00's, be forewarned. Caravanserai makes albums like Supernatural and Shaman sound like Britney Spears.

(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.

I waited years for a remastered version of "Caravanserai". I honestly think it is one of the greatest pieces of music of the 20th century - right up there with works by Miles Davis, Aaron Copland, the Beatles, etc.

So what do we finally get? A mix with little bass, little clarity and no dynamics. It looks like the only way anyone will be able to fully enjoy this music from now on is if they can find an old vinyl copy. As other reviewers have pointed out, Sony didn't even bother to put much effort into the liner notes - nope, just cranking out another McCD for the masses. Very sad.

Caravanserai is a daring album even by Santana's high standard.
This album was not Rock nor Salsa; but Jazz-Rock and simply very adventurous to any musician even for someone with the musical popularity like Santana.
Full of heartfelt, introspective guitar solos, yet very different from the previous albums, Santana or Abraxas.
In my humble opinion, this is one of the finest accomplishment for this great artist.
Highly recommended.

One of the best albums of all time in any category. beautiful compositions, amazing band, Carlos and Neal are at there melodic best. What bothers me and many other fans is that there's no vintage photos as stated by the stickers when you buy this disk new. There's no bonus tracks or outtakes? Why? These guys had to have played some great stuff during these sessions, just at rehersal, come on! Something from a live show during this time, anything. You don't just better the sound a bit, (and it's just a bit) and not put a least one photo of Carlos and Neal Jamming. Especially if you state, "vintage photos", "extra tracks," These things would have been so easy to include. I don't get it! I LOVE this album, I just think all of these reissues could have been done better.

Man has always used music to help him journey to places outside of himself.

Using techniques as varied as shamanic drumming to Tibetan throat singing, realms of reality beyond the confines of our material reality have been accessible for tens of thousands of years.

Save for a few exceptional people, Western man lost his ability to see behind the shadows of reality around the time René Descartes said "I think, therefore I am" when materialistic dualism and scientific rationalism were born.

Yet, while music in Western culture has seldom sought to re-capture the transcendental vibrational essence of more primitive times, I've been fortunate to discover a few moments of recorded music over the years that truly touched my soul.

So it is with "Caravanserai". The first track, "Eternal Caravan of Reincarnation", and the last track, "Every Step of the Way", come about as close as I've ever experienced to a sense of true ecstacy.

When I first heard this seminal album in its pristine vinyl state way back in the early 70's, I was just at the beginning of a adult life; a life that held a sense of adventure and happiness promised to the Baby Boom generation by parents whose own lives were colored by Depression and War.

Now, some thirty-five years later, I've reached late middle age and many of those youthful promises have faded or disappeared altogether for my fellow "Boomers" and myself.

Then I heard a brief excerpt from this album and immediately ordered the CD. When I first listened to it, I was disappointed that the musical fluidity that had marked the album had been chopped up into individual tracks for the CD.

Still, the joy I felt listening to the two tracks above was what I wanted to rediscover, and the sense of creative joy that bubbled up and was expressed through the artists on those tracks once again delightfully sent me on those caravan dreams; just as they did so very long ago.

This album has got to stick among the top 10 wonders of music recorded in the last 40 years. This album is all about superb jazz-rock instrumentals in which Santana's signature sound is melted with the most exotic rhythms of Latin Jazz, Fussion, Bossa Nova, Blues, Funk and Classic Rock, to say the least. However, this is no your "Abraxas-Supernatural" for-radio type cd; "Caravanserai" attest to the Band's potential in the realm of sophisticated Jazz-Fusion, with an air reminiscent of John Mclaughin, Chick Corea, and Tito Puente

"Song of the Wind," and "Stone Flower" beautiful instrumentals stand out on this CD, but the eight remaining tracks are just as good, making it a hard task to single out a favorite.

"Caravanserei" would signal the new trend taken by Santana following the three woodstock-era success albums, making way for further Jazz fusion experiments to come up together in "Welcome,"
"Love devotion and Surrender," "Borbolletta," "Divine Light," "Illuminations," and "The Swing of Delight" among jazz-oriented albums.

This is the best Santana album. Most people rate Abraxas, and more recently Supernatural. But, this is genius - beautiful and soulful compositions and amazing guitar. But, also amazing keyboards,latin percussion etc. Deeply spiritual, exciting and soulful music. A work of art for the 20th century, but beyond any categories. Music from the heart.