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Elly Roberts reviews
Santana: Ultimate Santana
Distributed by
Sony/BMG
- October 2007
- Rating: 8/10
With the music scene awash with reunions and compilations, here comes another – with a difference.
In an attempt to keep his music fresh, Grammy winner Carlos Augusto Alves Santana
has done several collaborations over the years. His biggest success in recent
years was the magnificent album Supernatural and single Smooth in
the summer of 1999. Now he keeps going with a helping hand from pop stars J-Lo,
Tina Turner and Chad Kroeger.
Having already sold in excess of 90 million albums to date, this adds to his
worldwide appeal, drawing in a new generation of new fans.
There are four new songs (see tracklisting *).
Chad Kroeger - lead singer with rock band Nickelback - adds his penchant husky
voice which juxtaposes superbly with Carlos Santana’s delicate touch. In sharp
contrast, Michelle Branch’s dulect tones bring a defining beauty and charm to
The Game Of Love, which won a Grammy in 2004, so it’s not exactly new
as such, but new to the Santana collection. Tina Turner’s version is equally
stylish. J-Lo’s collaboration on This Boy’s Fire is totally lacklustre,
and doesn’t save the song, which is average by Carlos’ high standards.
Elsewhere, the usual fodder turns up. Smooth, from Supernatural, which effectively
resurrected his career in 2000, remains one of his best songs in a generation.
Predictably the biggies – Black Magic Woman (a cover of Peter Green’s
masterpiece) built of the origianl bluesy Fleetwood Mac classic. One of Santana’s
greatest moments was an instrumental (used on a recent M&S TV ad) is the
incomparable Samba Pa Ti. It features Carlos’ best guitar solo ever,
from the gradual buld-up on to the rippling crescendo, again showing a nod to
Green.
In the mid-70s they had a top 20 hit with a mesmerising cover of The Zombies
1964 classic She’s Not There. Another classic was Oye Como Va,
originally done by Latin jazz legend Tito Puente in 1963, it was covered on
their first hit album Abraxas in 1970. One of the collection’s best
moments is a much more Latino roots-based Corazon Espinado, co-written
by Fher Olvera of Latin rock group Mana, again found on Supernatural.
Santana were never considered a singles band, so they invariably lift album
tracks. There’s a good mix here to keep everybody happy.
The full list of tracks included are :
1. Into The Night (feat. Chad Kroeger) *
2. Smooth (feat.Rob Thomas)
3. Maria Maria (feat.The Product G&B)
4. This Boy’s Fire (feat. Jennifer Lopez & Baby Bush) *
5. She’s Not There
6. Black Magic Woman
7. The Game Of Love (feat.Michelle Branch)
8. Samba Pa Ti
9. Evil Ways
10. Put Your Lights On (with Everlast)
11. Corazon Espinado (feat.Mana)
12. Why Don’t You And I (feat. Alex Band of The Calling)
13. Just Feel Better (feat. Steven Tyler)
14. Europa
15. No One To Depend On
16. Oye Como Va
17. Interplanetary Party *
18. The Game Of Love (feat.Tina Turner) (bonus track) *
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Review & concert pics copyright © Elly Roberts, 2004-2008.
For prints of any of Elly's concert pics online,
email Elly
or call 07765 862017.
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DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TXW32R4 32" widescreen TV
connected to either a Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player or Microsoft Xbox and
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