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246 of 260 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Really a darn good album, December 8, 1999
By A Customer
Okay, I've read something like 400 of these reviews so I thought I'd speak up. I've been a Santana fan since the early '70's. My personal preference is for Santana's old jazz/rock fusion albums, (e.g., "Illuminations"[1974], "Borboletta"[1974], "Lotus"[1974], and the impossible to categorize, "Oneness"[1979]). But "Supernatural"[1999] is definitely Santana's best pop/rock album in at least 12 years ("Freedom"[1987]) and maybe 28 years ("Santana III"[1971]). I felt the band's last studio album, "Milagro"[1992], was too diffuse and self-indulgent to achieve greatness (despite some fabulous individual tracks). I like almost every track on "Supernatural." The Latin rock tracks include "(Da le)Yaleo," "African Bamba," "Migra," "Corazon Espinado"(featuring Mana), and "Primavera"; in my opinion, any one of the last 3 of these is worth the price of the CD. I'd never heard of Lauryn Hill before I bought this album, but I really love "Do You Like the Way"--I didn't much care for it at first listen, but it grew on me. "El Farol" is a sweet, passionate sort of light jazz guitar solo with typical blazing crescendo. "The Calling" w/Eric Clapton is decent, but not great--though both guitarists manage to put out (all-too-brief) moments of sheer wonder. I don't care much for either "Maria, Maria" w/Product G&B, or "Wishing It Was" w/Eagle-Eye Cherry. The pop tunes, "Love of My Life" (featuring Dave Matthews) and "Smooth" (featuring Rob Thomas) are really great tracks. The dark and brooding alternative rock track, "Put Your Lights On" (featuring Everlast) simply takes my breath away. Be sure to wait for the unlisted track after "The Calling." My chief complaint with the album is that Chester Thompson's keyboard talents are not showcased enough. The percussion section is given ample room to breathe, especially on "(Da Le) Yaleo" and "Migra." Santana's unique style turns me into one big goose bump; if the music doesn't do that for you, it's not Santana's fault and it's not your fault, either. Despite several reviewers' criticisms about what they perceive as a commercial bent to this album, I find that commercial bent to be a very positive influence on the band's music; this is an extremely tight, well-produced CD--kind of a rarity for Santana. I don't personally see what is so objectionable about an artist reaching out to a wider audience. The first 3 albums by the original Santana band were smash hits and, frankly, I think it's great to hear the band on the radio again with some new music. Anyway, if you find something sinister or just plain unsatisfactory about a band consciously trying for commercial appeal, then be forewarned because that is exactly what Santana and Arista Records set out to do. I think they did a great job. If you like this CD, you might want to check out "Moonflower"[1977], "Zebop!"[1981], "Spirits Dancing in the Flesh"[1990], or even "Freedom"[1987]; these are some of the better pop/rock Santana albums, in my opinion.
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31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
An ok "Carlos" Cd, but a poor "Santana" one., December 24, 1999
I've read many of the reviews of "Supernatural" and i've yet to see anyone mention something that is obvious to any longtime Santana fan, that is that this is a "Carlos" album and NOT a "Santana" album, regardless of what the cover says.Carlos has always had his career split into two parts, one as a member and leader of the "Santana" band and one as a solo artist. The albums released using just the name "Santana" have always implied that they are ones with the entire Santana band (and nobody else) playing and singing the music, and although Carlos has changed the lineups in his band many times throughout the years, his band albums always have a distinct sound. In the past, whenever he would want to take a break and do something a little different and play with people outside of his band (such as John McLaughlin, John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock, The Fabulous Thuderbirds etc.) he would always label those projects as "Carlos Santana" albums. Carlos Santana's career has totalled 31 official albums, 24 being "Santana" albums and 7 being "Carlos Santana" albums, (Supernatural should have been the 8th Carlos solo project and not the 24th Santana album) so that makes the ratio around 3/1 in favour of "band" albums over solo projects. Now, here's why i think the cd was deliberately mislabelled. You see, Carlos reunited with his original producer, Clive Davis for this cd, and in doing so he also switced record labels, leaving his short lived stay at Polydor to join Clive's "Arista" records. Arista would obviously want a "Santana" album to be Carlos's first release with them because the Carlos solo projects, while usually praised by critics, have never sold well. The Santana "band" was always the more successfull part of Carlos's two careers, but in the 90's the Santana "band" has stagnated, releasing only two albums of original material, one a studio cd and the other a live album, there were three other Santana releases in the 90's, but they weren't new band albums, they consisted of a solo project with his brother, a box set, and a previously unreleased live album recorded in 1968 (but that at least featured his far better original band). The reason for the Santana band's lack of production has been somewhat to do with Carlos changing record labels twice in the decade, but it also had a lot to do with the fact that during this time many of the longtime core band members have changed, they lost or released longtime fan favorite vocalist Alex Ligertwood and replaced him with less talented singers since then, they've also gone through several drummers and bass players, all of whom fail miserably to capture the magic and feel of the "Santana Sound", they just don't have the skill or stage presence that guys from the previous bands did, players like Graham Lear (drums) and Dave Margen and Alphonso Johnson (bass) are sorely missed. Anyway, Clive Davis and Arista wanted a hit, and what better way to get one than to target todays music buyers (mostly kids) by getting a bunch of todays most popular young artists on the cd with Carlos? it's a no brainer. Now i'm not saying it's a bad cd, some of the songs are pretty good, the Rob Thomas song "Smooth" has been a huge hit, (10 weeks at #1 on Billboard and still there while i write this) and while somewhat over-rated it's an ok song, and the song with Everlast "Put Your Lights On" could do just as well if it gets a video and the same kind of promotion. There are a couple other good tracks , the instrumentals are always Santana's best tunes on his albums and there are a couple good ones here, but there are also some bad tunes on this cd (Lauryn Hill? Carlos what are you thinking!) but overall it's an ok cd, it's just not a "Santana" cd. All of Santana's current band members play on it but in minor roles, it's not a true Santana band effort and shouldn't have been labelled as one. I'm hoping with his next release Carlos gets back to his roots and does a real Santana album meaning just him and his band on all the tracks. I give Supernatural 3 out of 5 stars as a Carlos solo project, but 1 of out 5 if this is really supposed to be a "Santana Band" album and is representative of what the "new" Santana lineup will be putting out from now on. My tip to Carlos, now that this cd was a big hit you should have some leverage (and cash) to work with, so how about doing a tour to make the old fans happy?, to start you could rehire Dave Walker and Alex Ligertwood on vocals, then get Graham back on the drums (or better yet Mike Shrieve if possible) get Tom Coster and Greg Rolie back on keyboards, Dave Brown, Alphonso or Dave Margen on Bass, and the percussion section is fine as long as Raul is there. That will restore the "real" Santana sound that has sadly been missing for the entire 1990's and part of the 80's.
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25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Ideal for the newly-converted Santana fan, August 18, 2000
Supernatural is without a doubt Santana on the crest of a wave, culling the cream of the music world's singers and incorporating catchy rhythms and of course mind-blowing guitar-playing from Carlos himself. Nearly all the songs here are perfect; the only divots are the lightweight and repetitive AFRICA MAMBA and the ultra-bluesy/latino instrumental EL FAROL. The first three tracks are sheer class, with (DA LE) YALEO employed as a flamboyant mood-setter and featuring a tremendous conga solo from musician Raul Rekow, LOVE OF MY LIFE sung by Dave Matthews, who has the best voice, in my opinion, of all the singers on the album, a gentle ballad that develops into a fast-paced rock song, and PUT YOUR LIGHTS ON written and sung by Everlast, another acoustically perfect slowish track that includes all the same a rock portion halfway through. After AFRICA MAMBA comes the sublime SMOOTH, the worldwide best-seller that needs no introduction as Supernatural's most famous song, and illustrating Rob Thomas' excellent song-writing and vocal talents. Another of my favourites is MIGRA, a fast-paced song with a thumping rhythm and a distinct African flavour to it. It is on this track that Santana excels himself the most, on the guitar as well as on the lyrics that he co-invented with Tony Lindsay. The album also comprises its fair share of slow songs, such as the mostly instrumental PRIMAVERA and the best-seller MARIA MARIA. Oh, and here I'll take the opportunity to make a stand against Wyclef Jean. Great producer he may be in tandem with Jerry Wonder Duplessis, but I wish he would stop intervening in perfectly songs with his mindless and slurred comments. Here he doesn't affect the song that much but having seen him and Pras Michel single-handedly dismantle ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST by my favourite band Queen I was seething. Anyway, moving swiftly on, we come to the immaculate "message song" DO YOU LIKE THE WAY, written and mostly sung by Lauryn Hill who surpasses herself in tandem with Cee-Lo, who I'd never heard of prior to buying this album. CORAZON ESPINADO, featuring Fher and Mana, is alright I guess, but it isn't a patch on other songs like PRIMAVERA. Eagle-Eye Cherry's effort WISHING IT WAS is a pleasure to listen to despite some pretty depressing lyrics. And the only slightly over-par THE CALLING (taking into account the once-in-a-lifetime pairing of Carlos Santana and Eric Clapton it should have been better than the final product) is the gloss on the surface of a truly great album. This would be a good investment to any admirer of the band's style of music as well as R&B, rap and African music lovers.
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