Carlos Santana is a legend in his own right. Having had a successful career in the sixties as the leader of Santana the group – in recent times, Carlos has stuck out on his own blending his own brand of Latin guitar funk with contemporary artists. 1999’s release ”Supernatural” featured a who’s who list of contemporary musicians and catapulted Señor Santana into the homes of a new generation of listeners who perhaps were unfamiliar with his musical genius. “Supernatural” landed Carlos a whopping 9 Grammy’s, perhaps a penance for shutting him out after many years and thus Santana’s career was revitalized and renewed.
- Track Listing -
(f. = featuring)
01. Adouma
02. Nothing At All f. Musiq
03. The Game Of Love f. Michelle Branch
04. You Are My Kind f. Seal
05. Amoré (Sexo) f. Macy Gray
06. Foo Foo
07. Victory Is Won
08. Since Supernatural f. Melkie Jean & Governor Washington
09. America f. P.O.D.
10. Sideways f. Citizen Cope
11. Why Don’t You & I f. Chad Kroeger
12. Feels Like Fire f. Dido
13. Aye Aye Aye
14. Hoy Es Adios f. Alejandro Lerner
15. One Of These Days f. Ozomatlí
16. Novus f. Placido Domingo
Obviously the old cliché “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” is at play here because ”Shaman” the new Santana release follows the exact same formula of success as “Supernatural” – get the hottest talent, hottest production add Carlos, obsessed fans and stir for a hit. The lead single from “Shaman” is the collaboration with Michelle Branch, ”The Game Of Love” which sounds like 99’s “Smooth” redux – it has the exact same elements but does sound just a bit different. Here Branch’s vocals sound nothing short of spectacular and I’m left wondering why I wasn’t this impressed when I listened to her own debut album.
R&B crooner Musiq lends a helping hand on ”Nothing At All”. Old standby Rob Thomas co-wrote this track (Thomas wrote and sang on “Smooth”) and Corey Rooney (Jennifer Lopez) takes a producer credit. I really like the music on this one – very Spanish and somewhat flamenco, but I honestly cannot say that I like the vocals. They seem to be a bit heavy for the track and only serve to get in the way of the musiq (sic).
What I think makes Carlos Santana a trendsetter in regards to artist collaborations is that he spans the genres, incorporating artists you would never think to find on a Santana album - Macy Gray is one of those artists. On ’Amoré (sexo)” she manages to not annoy once for a funk-inspired love jam. Christian rockers P.O.D. make an appearance on ”America” where the guitar is blistering and the message is endearing. While I’ve never been a fan of P.O.D. – they are quite effective and blending themselves in with Santana and fans of rock would be impressed as this is easily one of the better songs on the album.
”Sideways” which features Citizen Cope might just be the best song on Shaman. Cope (a one man band) has an amazingly soulful voice that does justice to the music. This song is so impressive – I actually might venture to buy the Citizen Cope album. The guitar and Cope’s vocals just fit together so well, that you want to hear more. Some of you might remember Dido before she dropped off the face of the earth – but her track with the legend: ”Feels Like Fire” is as hot as the name implies. It follows the more mellow tone of the middle part of the album and doesn’t exactly sound “Latin” – but it’s very subtle and graceful.
If you’ve never heard the music of Ozomatlí, do yourself a favor and do it, you owe it to yourself. Ozomatlí are a Latin group who blend just about every type of music you could possibly imagine together for a crazy mélange of music sounds. They fit quite perfectly with Santana and his music, for an Afro-Latin-Salsa-Rock type track in ”One Of These Days”.
Probably the most unusual contributor and one I would never think to find on a Santana album is Placido Domingo. Although Domingo (as one of the Three Tenors) is responsible for giving contemporary Opera a face – I’m not sure how I feel about him on this track. I respect Opera as well as respect Domingo’s ability as a singer – but the track is just so/so.
Surprisingly enough, the tracks that feature no big guest appearances are the ones that interest me the most. ”Adouma” co-written by Angelique Kidjo and ”Aye Aye Aye” just seem to grab your music soul and make you smile. The latter – is guaranteed to make you move and if you don’t, you might want to check your pulse.
- Final Thoughts -
I’m looking forward to when Santana will be able to make an entire album and not have to pull in big name guests to be successful. While I do understand that is what sells records, he has a career that has spanned decades that young music listeners have not been exposed to. “Shaman” is just like “Supernatural” – they are twins, so I would expect that Santana could expect a few more Grammy statues to come his way.
The magic that informs every note played by Carlos Santana reaches a new intensity with Shaman, his long-awaited second album on Arista Records. The a...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.