Shape Shifter

Santana | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 15, 2012)
• Original Release Date: 2012
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Starfaith
• ASIN: B007MJ9LA2
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (108 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,685 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

2012 release from the guitar legend. Shape Shifter is Carlos Santana's 36th album and is a 13-song instrumental tour de force featuring tracks spanning from the late 1990's to the present and comprises mostly original compositions that have been stashed away for such an instrumental project

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

58 of 67 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars joyful guitar workouts May 15, 2012

By Bodhi Heeren

Format:Audio CD

The surprise mega succes of "Supernatural" proved to be a double edged sword for the illustrious Carlos Santana. At one hand giving him a vastly enlarged fanbase after some meager years commercially on the other hand it seemed to stiffen his creative output. Leading to a series of rather lame follow up albums. Albums that was a far cry from his engaging and creative concerts.

So it's wonderful with a Santana record focused on the guitar magic of the maestro and the instrumental power of his more than competent band. The tracks written over a number of years cover lots of ground: jazz, smooth jazz, rock and ofc lots of latin. Some tracks might be rather sketchy but there are also some real beauties all featuring the trademark melodic, fiery lead of Senor C.S., both on electric and acoustic. And occasionally even some intense jamming.

It's nice to hear his yearlong collaborator Chester 'C.T.' Thompson again, Dennis Chambers is ofc a drum legend, Raul Rekow the master of percussion, these people know how to make the complex sound simple and easy. The album closes with two tracks featuring Carlos' son Salvadore Santana - a true master on the keyboards.

This is NOT a return to the visonary creativity of the 70s, "Caravanserai", "Illumination", "Love, Devotion, Surrender" but an enjoyable, sunshine filled collection of guitar music from one of the musical giants of our time.

78 of 93 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Shape Shifter May 15, 2012

By ANGLPZ

Format:Audio CD

"Shape Shifter" Santana's latest album is the best thing he's released since "Milagro" in 1992... but considering how bad some of his albums have been since then, remember "Guitar Heaven"? that's not saying much. "Shape Shifter" is good but not great. Compared to "Milagro" and everything released before 1992 it doesn't hold a candle, but compared to "Supernatural", "Shaman", "All That I Am", and the new tracks from "Ultimate Santana" as well as the afore mentioned "Guitar Heaven" it's fantastic. I've listened to it three times already today, and I find it to be just OK. Pleasant, but unremarkable is how I would describe it. Carlos's guitar solos start to sound the same after a while, and none of the other musicians really stand out either. "Shape Shifter" has some nice moments on it, but I don't think it'll be in my top ten list of favorite Santana albums of all time. HTH

39 of 47 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Competent but sleepy zzzzz May 15, 2012

By William Smith

Format:MP3 Music

There is nothing here to suggest it isn't first rate. Just about every song feels at home, then again nothing here beyond the title track is particularly memorable.. Canela, Nomad, & Metatron would be great building blocks for a heavier album but I guess they'll have to linger here with this sleepy disc. Great artwork, production, and again competent playing but there's very little spark and almost no fire..still at least he ditched the random roundtable of guests, that's a step forward.

45 of 56 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars At least he got rid of the "guest artists" May 21, 2012

By Southwest Bluesman

Format:MP3 Music|Amazon Verified Purchase

"Supernatural" was a pretty good album, which, sadly, Carlos kept trying to replicate. This is NOT top-form Santana by any means, but I get the sense he's finally moving back to his roots. Some of the guitar sols are transcendent, other are, well, OK. I'm just glad that 99% of this is Carlos and his guitar and/or band, and that his days of inviting "guest artists" may finally be over.

OK, Carlos, you're on the road back to recovery. Now show us what you can really do! I mean, we want some incendiary guitar playing. This is a good start. Now, move on into the future, bro.

Peace.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Better Than Anything Since "Supernatural" May 28, 2012

By Saxman

Format:Audio CD

I've followed Santana since the 1970s, starting with "Festival" (1977). I was really impressed with that album, bought the band's previous release, "Amigos" and again was extremely impressed. When the band toured behind "Festival," I saw Santana on that tour, with Tower of Power opening for them and became an even bigger fan even though TOP blew them off the stage. I continued to move backwards through the Santana catalog with "Greatest Hits" and found I liked that material even better. I dipped into the original fusion trio of "Caravanserai," "Welcome" and "Borboletta" and found that music challenging but superior to "Festival" and "Amigos." A Latino high school pal (I was 17 at the time!) told me that if I wanted all the Santana I ever needed, grab the first three Santana studio albums, "Santana," "Abraxas" and "Santana III." I did and found it a mixed blessing: this music was FAR superior to my ears than anything the band had (to date) released since then. The fiery percussion, smooth lead vocals and keyboards of Greg Rolie and most of all, the impassioned and innovative guitar work of Carlos Santana were a whole league above what "Santana" was putting out at the time.

Although I continued to follow the band and see them live from 1977-1983, I never felt the band matched the "Woodstock era" lineup of those first three albums. I still feel that way, even though we know from around 1978 on following the departure of keyboardist/arranger Tom Coster (who took Rolie's place on keys, but not vocals in late 1972/early 1973), "Santana" meant Carlos and whatever backing band he threw together for the album.... Vocalists came and went, some good (Greg Walker) some terrible (Alex Liggertwood), but "Santana" moved ever onward, to decreasing commercial success as the years passed until the "Supernatural" juggernaut.

It's ironic that ex-Columbia Records label head Clive Davis became Carlos best friend as he produced the "Supernatural" album and created the all-star collaboration concept to bring Carlos to a new audience. Ironic because this was the very man along with then-manager Bill Graham, who in 1975 bullied Carlos into dropping the jazz direction of the second trio of band albums to return to the Latin rock of the first three studio albums to make those cash registers ring once again. Carlos could put out the music he really wanted to, but only as solo albums, not Santana band albums.

As a result, there is more inspired playing on the solo albums of the late 70s/early 80s than the band albums. After a while, I think (as one reviewer for Rolling Stone or some other magazine mentioned), Carlos found that "lost chord" and continued to recycle the same concepts and even solos over and over again, whether it be a band or solo album. Carlos WAS something special at one point in time, but alas, no longer. It's reached the point where I can even predict which notes he's going to play on any given song, where the whammy bar is going to kick in, etc.

So what do we have with this album? Carlos attempting another "Caravanserai" (i.e. mostly instrumental) but without the great collaborators like Greg Rolie, Tom Coster, Chepito Areas (timbales), Mike Shrieve (drums), Armando Peraza (congas/bongos/percussion), etc. Sure, the great Chester Thompson (keys, ex-Tower of Power) is present on several tracks, but as usual his amazing chops are reigned in, as Carlos always does with any of his backing musicians in recent years. I don't know if it's ego (it's my show) or afraid of being shown up, but for the most part, the sharing band member Carlos of earlier years has vanished. Santana basically has come up with several tunes that would fit on Smooth Jazz stations, which are becoming an endangered species, at least in the Chicagoland area. There is a surprising lack of Latin percussion on most of the tunes, making this an even odder collection, but certainly one that goes down easier than the "Supernatural" era of garbage. You won't hear any surprises and if you like the solos Carlos has played since about 1978, you'll love this album because he plays them all again.

Bottom line: probably the best album from Carlos in recent years, but stick with "Santana," Abraxas," "Santana III" or even "Live At The Fillmore 1968" with Greg Rolie if you want to hear the ESSENTIAL Santana. Read more ›