Customer Reviews

Spirits Dancing in the Flesh

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

 

 

Carlos Santana displays his musical genius on guitar once again on this album. I love the instrumental "Full Moon" and the small hit single "Mother Earth-Third Rock From The Sun". The songs "Gypsy Woman" and "Who's That Lady" are well done remakes of the early 70's hits. A must have cd for the die-hard Santana fan like myself.

I guess I'm going to swim against the tide on this one. I would give a 4 or 5 to virtually every other Santana album (maybe with the exception of a 3 on Oneness). As a guitarist, Santana is one of my idols. However, this album is just plain boring from my perspective. I see no spark of the brilliance I have come to expect from Carlos nor inspired playing from anyone in the band.

In terms of sales, the 1980's and `90's were not "good" to Carlos Santana and band, even though ZEBOP! ('81), HAVANA MOON ('83), and BLUES FOR SALVADOR ('87) were all top notch efforts and three works of the 90's (SPIRITS DANCING IN THE FLESH, MILAGRO, & BROTHERS) are equal to and better than the much honored SUPERNATURAL (`99 and definitely demand and deserve as much attention as his better selling mid to late 70's albums. Generally speaking, the commercial record buying public of the 80's and 90's were somewhat discouraging to Santana and in 1990 Carlos waved off efforts to "sell" albums in favor of just making his music as he saw fit, spiritual works for himself, his family and band, and his true fans and devotees.

SPIRITS DANCING IN THE FLESH ('90) and MILAGRO ('92) are two seriously underrated (and I mean way under rated!) albums by an artist keen on infusing the spiritual nature into the music he gives us. If you listened (Listen!) you will find these albums as deeply rewarding as the three core Santana rock albums (which debuted SANTANA to the world) or the three fantastic fusion albums, all of which are great works of art in their own right! MOONFLOWER stood out as the last "great" Santana album (I have even said that myself) before he embarked upon a series of AOR works and the two (also underrated) solo projects HAVANA MOON and BLUES FOR SALVADOR, both very good efforts and the latter earning him his first ever Grammy Award.

I have chosen to review both albums here with a link to each other because of the similarity in nature of the material and the fact is undeniable that even though both albums were released under two different labels, they both form a unified front of some of Carlos' best material which is so overlooked by critics and the public. SPIRITS in '90 was the last album for Columbia after 22 years under contract with them. Immediately after release of the album, Carlos signed with Polydor who offered him a chance to evolve spiritually without restrictions or pressure. MILAGRO, released under Polydor in '92 was in fact a charity album where proceeds from the sales went directly to Amnesty International, and both albums are inherently linked in this as they both deal in part with the South African freedom movement.

Carlos has a knack for finding keyboard players who wrap their music around his frets and chords into an interlocking unit and they usually co-write wonderful songs with him. Chester Thompson, who made his debut with Carlos on BLUES FOR SALVADOR is one more of those and his work on SPIRITS and MILAGRO is simply amazingly wonderful.

SPIRITS DANCING IN THE FLESH leads off with the title track which immediately lets you know this is one more different and amazing journey with the Santana sound. A female and a male gospel pairing (No! That is not THE Stephen King, author!) are overlaid with poetic narration and ethereal keys and guitar strings (narration includes Carlos too) before a full Gospel R&B choir kick in and kick out the jams full throttle. The combined efforts of Carlos, Chester, the Gospel Chorus, and the Santana percussion unit is a glorious thing to behold and this song alone makes for an entirely new and exhilarating Santana experience. Carlos has always publicly maintained (on talk shows, in interviews, in articles) that he is "in tune" with Angels (note the fusion period of Santana and the many Angelic references in many songs across decades of music) and the vibration of his guitar is a physical manifestation of the angelic realm. I have a hard time doubting this when listening to songs like this.

Often times Santana covers solid oldies that require a refurbishing under Carlos' exquisite finger plucking, and SPIRITS offers a beautiful cover of Curtis Mayfield & The Impressions' classic "Gypsy Woman". Without exacerbating the original classic, Carlos leaves the form alone and just as he did with Stormy and She's Not There, he lets the guitar work make some fine additions to an already timeless song.

Another thing Santana does effortlessly is to capture the sound of the African plains in music and this is accomplished usually with the aid of his keyboardist. "Soweto (Africa Libre)" is no less a prime example of these astonishing songs which often as well capture some incredible horn playing (here by the legendary Wayne Shorter no less) and some improvisational piano on steroids. When Wayne, Carlos, and Chester get rolling with the percussive line behind there is no stopping this stampede.

The fourth reason to buy this album is the incredible "Peace On Earth...Mother Earth...Third Stone From The Sun". Yes THAT Stone! After some heavy metal Carlos and soulful vocals for a couple minutes, Carlos goes into territory we all used to wait for in concert. Carlos was a Hendrix fan supreme and this was very little reflected in albums where he simply did not touch covers. His first single "Ballin'" was an obvious send up but few people have heard it before, and other than concert performances, this is his first homage to his Man. One could never help but make comparisons to Guitar Gods, but finally here on a studio album, Carlos gives a riveting performance of Jimi which is unabashedly superb!

As is usual for Santana albums, there is the obligatory soft samba jazz motif which puts the listener into the close your eyes mode. "Full Moon" is that perfect song on this album. This one is a piano, bass, bongo, and guitar pastiche that ends up being one of the best instrumentals in his catalog.

Don't miss the Santana cover of Isley Brothers' "Who's That Lady". When Carlos and company go R&B it is always a mad affair!

"Jingo-Lo-Ba" is Carlos Santana covering Carlos Santana! You might think that dull. Not so hombre! The new cover of the original cover of Olatunji's African classic adds even more of everything you loved about the original on SANTANA debut album. The vocals are better, the guitar work better and the percussion perennially perfect!

The album closes with goodness and mercy. No that's the name of the song: "Goodness and Mercy". Goodness is Chester Thompson on electric pianos and Mercy is Carlos Santana on inter-spliced guitar prayers woven together into a beautiful live duet.

Don't let SPIRITS DANCING IN THE FLESH slip by you. It is a terrific album worthy of your ears. And please go check out MILAGRO here, I have a review of it which partners with this review.

Milagro
MILAGRO is currently unavailable from Amazon at this writing but is available through third party sellers: Highly Recommended!

SANTANA BROTHERS is also another fantastic album from the 90's which any fan of Santana should have in their collection. At this writing it is currently unavailable from Amazon but can be obtained inexpensively as "new" from third party sellers:
Santana Brothers

If someone ask me for one of the best Santana albums, definitely "Spirits Dancing in the Flesh" will be the first one I will recommend. I guess is one of the great master pieces that people forgot about Santana's music career. Incredible sounds and great fusion.

This CD is very good. Maybe it doesn't contain a hit single, but it's an excellent musical statement of Carlos and the band. My personal favorites are "Spirits Dancing In The Flesh", "Gypsy Woman" and "Full Moon". The other songs are incredible, for example: "Peace On Earth" is good but I prefer listening to it in "The Best Of Santana Volume 2", "Jin-Go-Lo-Ba" is a nice remake from Santana I, and "It's a Jungle Out There" is a good song that was performed on the "Supernatural Tour".

I think that this album states what Carlos was pretending to do in the early 90's; achieving his goal in 1999.

Santana continues to thrill me time and time again.Truely one of his best works, tapping all that is rock and just a furious beating of latin and jazz funk for the sences. This one you will want to hear over and over again!

One of the best Santana albums. As the original is 17 years old I thought of buying a fresh one. Boy, was I disappointed. No more lyrics, no more info on the band.Just a cover with a blank inside. If this is the future of music I am giving up. An album used to be a piece of art but has become a cheap piece of merchandise. So try to find the 1990 version. 5 Stars for the music, 1 star for Sony BMG.

After having neglected this disc, I find I like it more and more. The opening tune is smoking after its neo-Buddhist opening. That and "Jin-Go-La-Ba" are likely the two most danceable efforts. It is also great to hear "Gypsy Woman;" people always sing along with the chorus when this disc plays. "Choose" is not a terribly strong song, but props for having the great (and often under-rated) Bobby Womack sing lead . Other stellar guests include Vernon Reid, Alphonso Johnson on bass, and Wayne Shorter on saxes (Soweto.) I refuse to believe I am the only one who enjoys hearing a version of "Who's That Lady" which confronts the original and Ernie Isley's bad self on guitar. "Full Moon" and "Peace On Earth/Mother Earth/Third Stone" display guitar work which stand well with other efforts by Carlos. Once again, I think this is an overlooked gem.

I just started listening to Santana and I am not a music buff, which makes my opinion all the more sincere. This album is great. Kind of poppy but I love Jin-Go-Lo-Ba and Full moon. There are african rhythms and they provide a great background for the other instruments. It's a great album, worthy of a closer look.

This is the worst Carlos Santana sol effort. THe songs sound lame and are kinda poppy. I wouldn't recomend this album to fans of early Santana. Only three songs keep this album from getting one star. (Jingo-Lo-Ba, Spirits Dancing In The Flesh, and Third Stone From The Sun)