Reviews (page 12 of 14)
piano, crystalline shards draping, guitar synths brandishing across your ears like a cars roar on a highway into a funky drum great trans. into black magic woman / gypsy. cultured, lively, eclectic. fun
Good jam album. Fun to listen to, but I probably won't listen much in the future
Who doesn't love Oye Como Va? I hadn't heard any of the other songs on this album, though, and I enjoyed them -- cool beats, neat piano parts.
Familiar style and tone right from the opening track, which had Santana’s signature sound right away. Two tracks were already known to me as staples of classic rock radio during my teens. I will be giving more Santana a listen in the future for sure after hearing this album.
Some classics. Good vibe, would maybe listen if in the mood.
Guitar magic. High 3.
I enjoyed this album way way way more than I thought I would. The Latin-style is cool and it’s cool background music to have on while working.
I remember thinking while I listened to it that I quite enjoyed country related things, but that's my only memory
singing winds, crying beats- i like the drums and bass and wished they had more emoahsis instead of the boring ass guitar and keys. 5 black magic woman- 5 or 6. wish it gave me more oye como va- 6 incident at neshabur- 6 or 7 se a cobo- 6 mothers daughter- 7 samba pa ti- 5 hope youre feeling better- 5 el nicoya-5 shoulda taken an edible before listening. fav track- mothers daughter
not my style but still enjoyed some songs surprisingly 3/5
Fav: Mother’s Daughter Least Fav: El Nicoya
So many intriguing sounds but so little focused tension or release throughout the album.
Important because of its injection of latin rock into the mainstream of popular music in the United States. The hits were the covers of "Black Magic Woman" and "Oye Como Va", that appear in the first half of the album that sort of is a concept suite about meeting Abraxas (which in the Bible is a word for God), as a black female. The playing and arrangements are inspiring, while the flip side of the album trails off into what feels like middling collection of blues driven riffs and roars that are occasionally accompanied by standard Latin American rhythm sections.
Not bad at all
I rolled my eyes so hard when I saw today was Santana, but was surprised I ended up enjoying it more than I thought I would! (as background music) It got a couple of repeats, but now I think I've overdosed and never need to listen to Santana ever again.
wasn’t what i was expecting at all, similar artist was lenny kravitz on spotify so i didn’t think it would sound like this, it was like a latin rock jazz fusion sounding thing, it was good overall id say, not something i’d listen to but i enjoyed it, might have to listen again to see if it grows on me
Black magic womannn
A lot of songs that have been played to death, of course. Astounding how many this album has, I had no idea.
Good album!
Production: 3.5/5 Lyricism: 1/5 Sound: 3.5/5 Enjoyment: 2/5 Overall: 2.5/5
Great guitarist, but not for me.
very nice and diverse,
Good
Well, Santana's guitar us spectacular and I do enjoy the Latin rhythms, but it's all about that guitar - the rest is just, 'meh.
A classic.
Santana's listless aeolian noodling has never done anything for me, and I've always preferred Peter Green's original version of Black Magic Woman. There are a few decent tracks, but the most interesting parts of the record are always when Santana isn't playing. 2.5
"I didn't ask for Santana Abraxas" - A Serious Man.
An almost good album. Definitely has it's moments, but often interrupted by the magic of the guitar.
Better than I remembered. Great mix of Latin/60s rock.
parts are great most are ehh
There is one banger here
It's good but I think Santana has retroactively made this sound dated by just rehashing this sound over and over again through the years with little interpretation. 3.5*
Reminds me of smoking roaches in my teenage bedroom. Great stuff.
Some classic rock staples here. Just never been that into Santana — or noodling in general.
bello ma non bellissimo, potente ma non potentissimo
È intrigante davvero ma non aveva abbastanza momenti canori per interessarmi come si deve.
Fire! But also a little jammy
Santana with guitar and shredding. Black Magic Woman is a good one.
Not great not terrible.
First santana album. Enjoyed it
Quite nice.
Loved oye como va. Very cool album from the 70s
Better than I thought it would be! Some great tunes.
Welch grosser Gitarrist! Drei Lieder waren mir bekannt und gefällig, die restlichen erstaunten mich wie gut sie sind, mochte ich doch früher gar kein Santana.
Difficult listen for me. Santana was a model for T and he loved this album.
3.5. Cool listen
Generally good but inconsistent.
Honestly did not realize that Santana was so old. Especially for being released in 1970, this album is amazing. Great job, y'all!
Ultimate come over and chill music. Good vibes but missing lyrical depth for me.
Good background music but needed more Rob Thomas ;)
Not for me. 3/5
Cool album! I liked the sound and the overall feel you got from the album, felt quite exotic somehow. I didn't find any particular song that I liked, but I think all of them were pretty good. 'Black Magic Woman / Gypsy Queen' makes me think of an old coffee commercial though. The album felt cohesive and it worked well to listen to it in one sitting. Got a bit samey after a while, but not enough to get boring. I'm missing some more bangers for it to give it higher rating, still strong 3 though!
Surprised me as I was expecting endless noodling guitar solos. Instead i was treated to a fusion of an album where the songs still fitted to together. "Black Magic Woman" was really the star of the show with it's smooth latin beats and reminded me of listening to it while playing "Guitar Hero". The blend of latin beats, blues and rock worked really well. Strong 3.
This album took me on a trip - it had highs and it had lows.
Black Magic Woman and Incident at Neshabur have some nice grooves. Samba Pa Ti features a pleasant guitar solo. A pretty nice album with some latin beats.
Liked the most: Singing Winds, Crying Beasts Liked the least: Se a Cabo
6.8
I'm sure I'll get hate for saying Santana was "just all right". Maybe you have to be in the right mood for it to strike you.
Some standout tracks and Latin grooves.
Relationship between artist and guitar feels intimate throughout. Folky vocals simple but effective.
Good
Some serious classic bangers on this! To think he’d eventually fulfil his life long life dream and work with Rob Thomas! We all have to start somewhere I suppose. All a bit too guitar-y for me. This is what Rob Thomas does so well - pulls the guitar back down to laymen’s terms so we can all understand just how incredible it is. 3.1
Santana y su guitarra. Correcto. Sin más.
Listened while cooking and it was pretty good background music.
Some songs are great and some songs sound like hold music. I feel like the keyboard/organist/piano player takes the spotlight more than Santana. Anyway, it’s a fine album, but instrumentals aren’t my usual thing.
Solid if unspectacular
Pleasant enough in the background but I wouldn’t choose to put it on
Very interesting - I had never heard Santana before. Although maybe not something I will listen to a lot in the future, I did enjoy it
I really wanted to like this. 3.4
Abraxas is a fuckin VIBE. Really cool to hear the synthesis of a few different cultures - latin beats & melodies combined with classic american rock. Santana shreds a bit too hard for my taste in the later part of the album, but Black Magic Woman & Oye Como Va are what make this album special.
Busy day yesterday, catching up four albums. This was not as good as expected, probably a bit dated thematically and sound wise.
I enjoyed this album. I wanted more Latin beats and less guitar hero stuff. Still, an enjoyable listen that makes me want to spin up more Latin music.
Beautiful guitar playing, the few times there is singing it feels superfluous. Real jams, I particularly like Oye Como Va.
Fun album with some groovy tracks
Sweet sounds
Great guitar player
It's hard to rate an album with so little depth. Sure, the music is easy to dance to and cheers you up on a miserably British rainy day. But skip forward a few tracks and you realise it doesn't get any better.
A little too much instrumental/guitar solo stuff for my liking. Just getting back from PR, I can see how this would be OK hanging out out a beach bar, but nothing I would seek out to listen on a regular basis. Oye Como Va will always make me think of Tito Puente and Puerto Rico. A couple tunes were rockers and after Oye Como Va, were probably my favorite songs off the album, Mother's Daughter and Hope You're Feeling Better. I would have enjoyed this album a lot more if most of the songs were like these 2. Anyway, can't say I was impressed, but just another OK album. I'm going with a 3 here, but mainly for Tito's song. Me encanta Puerto Rico. 3
3 The only songs that I knew by Santana going into this were Black Magic Woman because of Guitar Hero III and that one he did with Rob Thomas from Matchbox Twenty in the 90s. I’ve never really loved either, but I’ve always found Black Magic Woman at least to be pretty decent. It also happens to be probably the best song here (and is also apparently a Fleetwood Mac cover??), but the psychedelic nature of it makes it feel a little out of place on an album that bounces back and forth between a more traditional Latin style and the occasional bluesy track. Still, I didn’t think anything here was bad, and I found Santana’s guitar work to be pretty incredible across the board regardless of the genre he was taking on, though personally, I think this could have benefitted from having more vocals throughout. I know the guitar work is what he’s known for, but I think relying less on instrumentals would have kept my interest a little more. That to say, I do have to call out one mostly instrumental track in particular, that being Oye Como Va. I kept thinking to myself “Why does this song sound so familiar?”, and wouldn’t you know it, it’s a cover of a song from my family’s favorite Puerto Rican musician and Mr. Burns murder suspect, Tito Puente. Now, I’m not certain which version of the song I’m more familiar with, it may very well be Santana’s, but regardless, it’s a song that I know I’ve heard during my stays in Puerto Rico and that was absolutely perfect to hear in preparation for my next departure to the territory. I’m sadly back home and back to work as of the submission of this review, but giving this one last listen felt like a small taste of the island’s piña coladas I hold near and dear to my heart. If you ever find yourself in or nearby Fajardo in Puerto Rico, do yourself a favor and pick one up from El Cayo. Anyway, this didn’t really alter my opinion on Santana’s music in any particular way, but I appreciated the Tito Puente cover and the memories of vacation it brought along with it.
Nice, but sounds dated. Not something I will go back to
It's OK, but so much of this sounded like an intro waiting to become a song. I've never been blue-balled so hard before. Well, maybe once or twice ...
My bad for expecting Santeria
It was ok
never listened to the non-album tracks before ( the big 'hits' are good, but heard them so many times they've become white noise, particularly Samba Pa Ti) . Standout track was Se a Cabo, so for that it's getting a 3, with the option of upgrading the album as a while as i continue to give it more of a chance.
Accomplished.
Not my usual vibe, but I did enjoy the fuzzy/psychy stuff in the middle of this album
It started a little slow but really picked up for me by the end. Very interesting blues rock sound with enough unique twists to make it stand out. Favorite track was Samba Pa Ti.
Some classics
Black magic woman e nice, resten gikk meg hus forbi
5.5/10 Highlights: Samba pa ti
Singing Winds, Crying Beasts - 7.5/10 Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen - 7.5/10 Oye Como Va - 7.5/10 Incident at Neshabur - 7.5/10 Se a Cabo - 7.5/10 Mother's Daughter - 7.5/10 Samba Pa Ti - 8.5/10 Hope You're Feeling Better - 8.5/10 El Nicoya - 7.5/10 TOTAL - 69.5/90
It was good, might have to investigate Santana a bit more
Black magic woman + instrumental and spanish songs. 3
Главное, что слушать эту музыку просто "фан". Формат 1001 не предполагает прослушивание одного альбома много раз (скорее это моя проблема, что мне не хочется слушать один альбом несколько раз подряд). И мне кажется, что для оценки такого рода альбомов это очень важно: вот эту прогрессив-музыку довольно трудно воспринимать по достоинству сходу, даже если ты типа наслушанный и всё такое. Лучшая песня - Black Magic Woman / Gypsy Queen.
I enjoyed this far more than I expected to. Abraxas blends rock, Latin rhythms and blues in a way that feels both loose and precise. The instrumental sections are interesting and genuinely different. They never feel self indulgent and instead add colour and texture to the album. The musicianship throughout is superb, especially the percussion and guitar work. Black Magic Woman is obviously a highlight and a great tune. Smooth, hypnotic and instantly recognisable. The album flows really well from start to finish and feels cohesive rather than a collection of separate ideas. If I am being picky, it perhaps lacks that one enormous, era defining anthem that dominates the whole record, but the overall quality more than makes up for it. Favourite song: Black Magic Woman Least favourite: None that stood out negatively Album artwork: Completely nuts and all over the place, but in a way that perfectly matches the vibrant, psychedelic sound of the music
Santana is very fun on guitar, and the songs are incredibly groovy.
Groovy and fun, not much else to add to this.
Nice, pleasant and warm.
While I recognize a lot of the songs off this album I have never listened to it all the way through. That said, I know it's going to be a good one, between 'Black Magic Woman' and 'Oye Como Va' there are some real bangers. A really fun listen, but not necessarily my favorite. 3/5
6.5/10 Pleasant surprise, not really like I expected. This is the best of the 70s classic rock albums I have heard in this project so far. Rock, latin, psych, jazz. Melting pot Great vibes, really feels like a warm summer evening in California Keyboard/organ particularly good Best: Oye Como Va
3.3
Santana y su guitarra. Correcto. Sin más.
Great guitarist, but not my style.
Some of the most iconic Santana's songs, but the rest of the album is somehow disappointing.
1. crying beaztz - 1.5 2. black magic uuoman - 2.5 3. oye como va - 1.5 4. incident - 1.5 5. ze acabo - 1.5 6. motherz daughter - 1 7. zamba pa ti - 2.5 8. hope youre feeling better - 1 9. nicoya - 0
Sounds like Latin prog. Fine, quite pleasant to listen to.
I was expecting blazing guitar but got roots, world, blues drives tunes. Way better than I thought it would be.
This is exactly what Early Santana should sound like. Pass the reefer please!
Haven’t heard of this. 1970s Rock album. Quite enjoying this, vibey songs. High 3 so far.
It's a fine album. No other notes.
Needs more guitar solos.
A couple of bangers and some snoozers
There are some quality jams. "Oye Como Va" was the only song I was really familiar with prior to listening. The overall flow of the album was good, but nothing really stuck out to make me want to come back to frequently. Nice grooves though.
This is dinner music for a swankier event. I like the drums. Felt easy to move your hips too. Easy listening.
3.5-4 liked when it leaned into rock, like with “Samba Pa Ti” and “Hope You’re Feeling Better,” and while the classics like “Oye Como Va” and “Black Magic Woman” are great, it feels like I was listening to two different albums. I also don’t like that dangerous territory of ‘adult-contemporary-smooth-jazz-easy-listening-in-your-uncle’s-backyard-with-a-can-of-beer-or-a-glass-of-wine’ and I thought this album crossed that line a couple times. Still, super talented.
3 - I was debating between a 3.5 and a 3, but I decided on a three because I know the album is good, but it's not entirely my thing. I don't see myself going back to listen to any of the deeper cuts, even if they're alright. It was nice and short.
Good
ill never put this on by choice, but i give it a 3 because i have a soft spot for oy ya commo va
2 classics that the majority would love and remember but not keen on the rest.
I liked my favorites. Not crazy about the rest.
iconic Album but marking it down cause Santana is a dick head
Super hot percussion and keyboards carry the day here. In my opinion, Carlos Santana remains one of the most overrated guitar players in pop music history.
On first listen I was surprised how much I like the album as a collective whole. Songs like Black Magic Woman and Oye Como Va as stand alone songs are boring as hell to me. As part of collection it feels different. Mother’s Daughter was an immeadiate highlight to me on first listen and I really like Samba Pa Ti. That said - it’s still boring but you can’t deny his talent. The thing that really is annoying is he sounds like my brother in law singing.
There were 3 songs I already knew. One other one I really liked. Good energy and a nice groove overall.
Just good, latin-influenced rock. Definitely heard some recycled riffs throughout this album from Carlos Santana, but still great rhythms and good times.
After a while it all sounded the same.
Pretty decent album of mostly instrumentals. But to be expected by a great guitarist, again not something that I'd just throw on, but I wouldn't be upset to Listen to it again.
Mother's Daughter slaps
Went by pretty fast, but maybe that means it didn't grab my attention?
Perfectly pleasant Latin groove rock, not my thing, but very nice.
I thought I was familiar with this album already but I think I had the ‘best if’ with the white dove on the cover that had about half the tracks from Abraxas. Was nice to hear this again. I quite like Santana. His guitar solos just seem like noodling rather than having a melody or structure though.
Santana y su guitarra. Correcto. Sin más.
A psycho-rock, jazz, funk fusion. And it somehow works, great guitar riffs and solos, but that is somewhat i expected going into a santana album. But to my surprise it got stale for me after a few songs, always the same loose structure and nothing really new. Don't get me wrong they are great songs on their own but all together, it was a bit too much for me. Stand out song is Hope you're feeling better, it has lyrics and the organ is a much needed change after 30min of Santanas guitar.
Een echt classic album, met een wazige hoes trouwens. Santana is ook een van de classic gitaargoden, uit de tijd dat het best wel belangrijk was als je uitgeroepen werd tot beste gitaarheld van het jaar. Het heeft allerlei ingredienten waardoor ik dit geweldig zou moeten vinden. En toch raakt het me niet. Het is een soort buena vista social club on steroids, maar het is me teveel instrumentaal denk ik. Er is teveel nadruk op percussie ipv drums. Absoluut niet slecht, begrijp me niet verkeerd, maar het doet me weinig. En dat moet muziek toch met je doen, een bepaalde emotie oproepen. Ik hou het op een degelijke 3.
Beste jazz album tot nu toe en tegelijkertijd slechtste rock album tot nu toe...
This was pretty good. Oye Como Va got me moving in my seat.
When he hits, he really hits. I honestly find his guitar playing... kinda okay. When he doesn't hit, it's really not great.
I like the hits, don’t really care for anything else. Maybe that’s because I’ve heard the hits a few thousand times or because they’re good and the rest just stinks, I dunno.
Black magic woman e nice, resten gikk meg hus forbi
72/100 but not a 4
I get it...organs. in samba PA ti... the guitar sings the lyrics where there are none.
good rock
The intro song started out exciting but kinda just turned into noise that didn’t feel well written. I was waiting for it to go somewhere and suddenly it went into “Black Magic Women” which was fantastic. Much of the Latin Rock I’m hearing isn’t really my cup of tea. On one end it’s trying to be relaxing but also thrilling so I’m not sure how I feel about it. Besides “Black Magic Woman”, the rest of the album was just okay. 6/10
Way too cool of a name for this album. This was an enjoyable listen but it didn't have that much special about it. Good instrumentals but not much vocals. I don't have anything overly positive or negative to say about this.
Ну хз. Музыка норм, на одном из треков качало. В остальном мимо меня. Но девушка на обложке красивая.
I am not a fan of latin-infused music, and I also don't really like guitar solos as a primary feature of music. Therefore, this album and Santana have never been for me. However, there is a lot of great groove in the album, and the musicality and composition is so much better than something from a Steve Vai or Joe Satriani or any number of other flashy guitar solo focused artists.
Good listening music, black magic woman is a standout but most of it is just kind of groovy jammin
It is what it is
It's very well produced, the sound is rich and deep. It also clearly comes from the era of "this was meant to be listened to in one sitting". Some of the riffs and breaks are a little self indulgent and perhaps didn't age as well as they could have, but I recognize that sort of thing is pretty subjective. It's also very iconic, I could recognize bits and pieces that have been woven into the cultural zeitgeist well enough to have the appropriate amount of "oh, that's where that's from" moments.
Kinda boring but not bad
3/5 interesting music, not necessarily what I would listen to on the daily, but well done
i have a soft spot for this stupid record santana fucking suck lolololol
I liked the album more when they started singing
Good fuck music
3/5. A Latin-infused blues album, that has some okay lyrics but Santana's guitarwork is what drives each song. There are instrumentals on this album but they don't stand out as excellent, I feel like this one has a chiller vibe but doesn't match the aggressive energy Santana is known for. Good on some days, but not amazing.
Feels like I’m listening to the Narcos soundtrack, by no means a bad thing
2.5-3. Enjoyable album, Black Magic Woman the clear highlight. Lacking other standout moments but enjoyable music nonetheless
3.33 per track.
Known before: No Standouts: 03. Oye Como Va
Known before: Yes Standouts: 04. Incident at Neshabur 08. Hope You're Feeling Better
K.B.: no Standouts: no Rating: 6,5
Not a fan of the latin influences
Lopsided. Starts off with some absolute rhythmic magic and then fades into some haphazardly spliced songs. The guitar work is mesmerizing and the percussion and organ work is a great compliment. Really creative stuff, just needed some better artistic direction.
Amazing guitar. Some definite classics
Cool rock album. Enhances some beach vibes in my view. 3.4
Rating: ** 3+** Notes: Was a really cool album, prbl would have never listened to it or even find it. Never heard music like this so far, however i really liked some parts of the album and would even listen to it again. Why just 3 stars? Because of gut feeling, but could also be 4 tbh. Songs which stood out in no particular order (credits to Uncle Gue for the idea): "" ------------------------------------------------------------- Rating Scale: 1- very bad 2- bad 3- neutral 4-good 5-very good additonaly -/+ sign if necessary
Cooles Album. Black Magic Woman und Oye Como Va gefallen mir am besten! 6.2/10
nee wait i kinda like it. black magic woman is best vibes en de gitaar is nice. also op t laatst geeft het wii party bordspel eiland.
Kinda boring
OK album... black magic woman is kinda fun for the bass and lyrics but I could do without the guitar.
Black Magic Woman is a fantastic track, and there's some other pretty solid songs here as well. Just a bit too instrumental for my taste, and the other vocal tracks just don't scratch the itch Black Magic Woman does.
Classic rock songs!
Decent tunes relaxed good to listen to in the garden with a beer.
Dadrock Weltmusik Gutes Gitarrenspiel, mittelmäßiges Songwriting
Nice instruments Different African vibes
Really good guitar and licks, soke groovy music but nothing standing out too much. (71%)
Album 4/1001 Best song: se a Cabo
Great talent, moderate song-writing ability. Wouldn't turn it off but wouldn't seek it out.
Dit had wel een lekkere seventies vibe
Heel goed te hebben en best veel bekende nummers.
Santana kan ik best waarderen. Het is ten minste een beetje energiek.
Can't understand those who didn't have fun with this. Maybe I would've enjoyed even more with some funny substances but that's OK. (I don't like giving numeric ratings, I just give 3 to anyone)
c'était bien rock
My advice for this album is to enjoy the inspired atmosphere and memorable instrumentation, rather than zooming in on the actual songwriting. I did the former and latter so I thought it was just alright.
Good guitar and drums 3.5
Latin ist nicht so meins.
The Oye Como Va cover is a classic, and most of the rest is pretty solid. Quite a mix of genres
Smoothia Santanan tilutusta. Black Magic Women tällä levyllä. Muuten ehkä vähän tasapaksua, mutta silti ihan kunneltavaa
Cool, I enjoyed
Noiiicce
it’s that kind of 60s-70s thing that just seems like it was invented for the movies or something
Groovy, hypnotic, and exciting. But I can’t see myself listening to this often. Just not my main jam. I’d probably give it a solid 5 at least tho. Good background music for a taco 🌮 joint.
Why vocals?
This is an album documenting one man’s complete lack of any form of internal struggle.
Could not get into it at all unfortunately ultimately just not my style of music
solid santana album
Hes like a good guitarist or whatever, but it feels like he is just good at guitar in the technical sense and not in the way Jimi Hendrix was good at guitar. I dont feel anything when Santana plays, I can appreciate the talent, but thats where it ends for me. Also fuck him for being a transphobic piece of shit.
A very sad but high three. The first three songs were phenomenal but the rest of the album was just good, disappointing compared to the beginning.
Mellow, rich and… well, I really don’t want to use the word ‘smooth’… god, I hate that song. It turned me off Santana for all these years. What a joke. It’s good. I liked it. Mellow, rich and polished/peaceful/continuous/not rough.
Surprisingly lacking in terms of the grooviness of Latin music. But the electric guitar driven sound is interesting on its own.
Typical (and that’s not a bad thing) Santana formula of….”Here’s your well crafted, imminently catchy, hit single or two….and now we’re gonna fuck around and do whatever the hell we want to do for the remainder of the album” (and that, too, is not a bad thing). But, it’s not MY thing, so I’d give it a 2…..on the other hand, this was a huge record for them, breaking the sophomore jinx, and probably deserves a 4. So let’s compromise with a 3.
Solid background ambience
it ok
Easy listen but not enough grip
The album is good old classic rock. It all feels a bit dated, sure; but I can appreciate the music and admire the musicianship. The songs on "Abraxas" are still good, and Carlos Santana is a great guitarist.
I'm not really into this genre and style of music, but it's quite a nice time.
Carlos Santana did provide some interesting guitar techniques throughout this album along with the Latin-tinged percussions. My only concern here is that nothing seemed to interesting or really stand out other than what's mentioned
- incredibly smooth and slick - honestly was over pretty fast and I like a short album - not something I'd really go back to except to have in the background, but still good music
- great summer evening vibes - incredible guitar skill - surprisingly enjoyed the album despite the lack of vocals
Santana's big album. Lots of Hispanic-influenced jazz here.
Clearly skilled and good, but I'll never want to put this on again. In all due respect.
Santana is nostalgia
Good moments but not exceptional.
Background music
Top 3 Songs: 1 - Black Magic Woman (2) 2 - Hope You're Feeling Better (8) 3 - Oye Como Va (3)
Refreshing to listen to at the time. A few recognizable songs I didn’t realize were Santana. Not sure it ends up in any regular rotation but a good listen. Guitar riffs were well done and well done together and make for good listenablility
Fine, faded into the background for me. As we’ve gone through this list I’ve definitely lowered my opinion on guitar solos, to the point that it is crazy to me that they have been the backbone of music for so long. They are all the same
Fun in the background though I wasn't like mind blown by his guitar chops or anything
fun album, if guitar riffs arent really my thing.
I liked it, mostly the first half. The songs in the second half sound more boomery
3.75
pretty good vibes. Black magic woman is a classic, overall decent
I quite like this
The songs are either really good or really forgettable, but I think that comes down more to my preference. I just don't think the instrumentals necessarily translate into good /songs/, if that makes sense. If this record was all Black Magic Woman and Oye Como Va, then we'd have a better time.
Groovy grooves Lots of guitar Kinda just 70s rock
The slower and more thoughtful cuts avoid the excess of cowbell and are thus much the stronger, especially “Incident” with its excellent piano flourishes and “samba pa ti.” Mostly forgettable vocals are the other major demerit that keeps this out of the top rank.
|Not really my thing, nothing wrong with it but I wouldn't listen again
geetar
Nice mix of music with vocals and instrumentals. Enjoyed the variety of genres here. This is a good background listening album.
More jazz then i was expecting. Ok to have on in the background.
Three from me but a 0 from my children, it made them cry but I don’t know why
Varied. Some tracks are smooth and chill, others are a bit more lively. A good listen, provided you're in the mood.
Heard it before?: No Enjoy it?: Yeah, very smooth and charming Favourite song: Track 2 - Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen
When this album appeared on my list, my first thought, as it often is when it comes to Santana, was "This will be a fantastic album but not one I nessecarially want to listen to". Which is pretty much how it went. Look I get it, I get the smooth grooves and the amazing guitar playing and Santana's silky voice are all very proficient and its a great piece of Psychedelia. But for me its just not quite to my tastes. I'm not into such Latin jazzy type stuff is probably the root of it.
Definitely worthy of the spot on this list, but somehow despite the great musicianship and all the detail in the music, it fails to grab my attention. Solid ⭐⭐⭐
A few songs, a lot of nurdling, prog/jazz it's the 70s man. Not terrible, not spectacular.
Still only 1 song wonder, no?
Clearly inspired by Bitches Brew, Santana takes us on a short druggy trip infused with Latin rhythms. It's a shame that there are so many artists in the 60's and 70's who were making this kind of psychedelic Latin rock (Los Jaivas come to mind), in many cases much better, but never achieved the same cross-over success. Still good for what it is, and a very nice cover. 3 crystal balls out of 5. 🔮🔮🔮
Enjoyable for a bit but was ready for the album to be done well before it finished
This was a weird one for me! Individually, I think I’d enjoy most of these songs pretty well as a change of pace. End to end as an album, though, it got repetitive quickly and I was ready to be done halfway through. Torn between two and three stars, went with three because I can respect the talent and artistry.
I am typically a vocalist/lyrical gal so this was often out of my ‘zone’ but… great guitar playing? Lol
I can respect the level of talent and instrumentation within Santana but the music just never seems to resonate with me. Overall very middle of the road for me
Groovy tunes
Solid
I was expecting to hate this, but it was actually quite good and it only very occasionally sounded like someone jamming to a backing track in their bedroom. A respectable 3+/5
A solid album, I can only really compare it to other music I've listened to from the time period. Nothing in this album seems ground breaking to me but there's no skips on this album, each song is good even if some of them blend together a little too much. While I said nothing seemed ground breaking to me, Santana's style is unique. He was able to find a sound and stick to it without ever pushing those boundaries very much in every album since this one. Overall, it's an amazing album, considering it's the first one I've listened to from this list I have nothing to really compare it to. The fact there's no skips on the album makes it at least a 3, but there's also no songs I saved or really wanted to listen to again after I listened to the whole album. It's something I could see myself putting on in the background while I draw or paint but it's not something I will closely listen to again for a while. I'd probably give it a 3.5/5
Guess it's the most popular album in Santana's discocgraphy, and it's probably one of his most important releases as well. It's got insanely famous cuts: "Black Magic Woman" (a cover), "Oye Como Va" (another cover) and "Samba Pa Ti" (a... Carlos Santana original here!!! Phew, for a second I thought what made this album what it is was only... covers). That latter track sort of sounds like a rough draft for later "Europa" at times, by the way... Hmm... Given that all those three cuts, *plus* Europa, are in most of the band's compilations available out there in 2023, maybe a "best of" makes a little more sense if you want buy Santana music today... Well, OK, this album also has a nice seventies rock cut written by the band's then singer ("Hope You're Feeling Better"), unfortunately absent in most compilations... So, maybe for this one song as well, I could include *Abraxas* on my list... The thing is, the rest of this record is nice jammin', but I can't help feeling such jamming is easily interchageable from one Santana LP to the next. Maybe experts will tell me I'm dead wrong here. In the meantime... Number of albums left to review: 651 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 175 Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 84 (including this one) Albums from the list I will certainly *not* include in mine (many others are more essential to me): 96
1970. Oye Como Va, Black Magic Woman
Good but disappointing at the same time.
Much more interesting when it's faster - the more laid back tracks give it a major hotel lobby vibe, but Incident at Neshabur and Hope You're Feeling Better have a bit of edge to them. 3/5, better than I expected.
I listened to this for the third time while eating sh*tty beef noodle soup alone in the dining hall. They also had the Food Network on the big screen. Kind of a vibe.
Oh I know Santana! Remember when he did a song with Rob Thomas (of Matchbox Twenty)? Or when he did a song with Chad Kroeger (of Nickelback)? Or when he did a song with Dave Matthews (of Dave Matthews Band)? Or when he did a song with Steven Tyler (of Aerosmith)? Or when he did a song with Eric Clapton (of The Yardbirds, John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, Cream, etc.)? Or when he did a song with CeeLo Green (of Gnarls Barkley)? Or when he did a song with Gloria Estefan (of the Miami Sound Machine)? Or when he did a song with Shakira ({formerly} of Gerard Piqué)? Yeah, those songs were all better than any on this album except for Black Magic Woman / Gypsy Queen.
I REALLY liked singing winds, crying beasts. And ofc I liked Black magic woman. The rest? Eh. This is a baseline 3, good to measure other albums against.
Idk if it’s because we’ve been listening to absolutely dreadful music, but this was quite good. Maybe I do like Santana. Shameful number of covers though. Shoutout to twosqishes for having a nice tush.
Has a nice vibe. Nothing extraordinairy
I enjoyed the vibes of the album, I liked the guitar playing and the overall music but after a few songs it got a little meh just because nothing new was happening. However I did enjoy it.
Apropos of nothing really, but I always find it amazing that Journey was born out of a fair chunk of the Santana band. No slam whatsoever, it's just a cool rock fact. Anyways Santana. Honestly I'm not sure. I often hate giving 3s because it feels like a copout. Take this album ... the first ~4 tracks are great - some classics and are just different enough from standard classic rock fare to stick out. That Latin flair just is rarely (never?) heard in mainstream rock. So that element alone gives it a little separation. It's just that it ...wears thin. The instrumentals are good....but...haven't I heard this before? like last track? And when they try to get more up tempo/rock i.e. the vocal tracks on side 2 .... they're just not good. Had a great 4+ start and petered out with a lame 2... sounds like an overall 3 here. But side 1 is worth the admission. Should have been an EP! 7/10 3 stars.
santana is NOT just one person dawg. the album was pretty cool, ill give it a solid 3.5
Identifying Carlos Santana : It’s Carlos Santana
There were definitely some classics here. Not a huge Santana fan but I did not manage to fall asleep while listening to the album (unlike when I saw him live with DMB once.)
Latin jazz-rock landmark album. But also dated
Dug it. Great playing and song writing.
Oooh, I wanted to love this so much, but it was "just" enjoyable. I really only love Oye Como Va, not even BMW.
This album is very good. The album art is even better.
Mystiskt
Some classics on there but was kinda of meh.
After three double albums in a row, a short and snappy Santana album, perfectly fine, well made, with a brilliant Oye Como Va and the thrilling Black Magic Woman. Didn’t quite grab my attention but decent.
Literally nothing wrong with this album
I enjoyed the instrumentals but not really the vocals (when there were vocals on some of the tracks).
I never owned this album because when it came out I was 14 years old just starting my sophomore year in high school. Limited money meant you were limited by the number of albums that you could buy. I knew friends who had the album so I've definitely heard the whole thing before but not in a very long time. I forgot that there was such a jazz element to Santana's music and it almost felt a little Prog rock as well. After listening to this it made a lot more sense that once Journey spun off of this group, their first three albums were so Prog rock before Steven Perry joined. I definitely enjoyed listening to it and I would give it a three. I would maybe put some of the songs in rotation.
Supongo que esa mezcla de música latina y rock/guitarra eléctrica tuvo que ser impactante en su época. Sigue sonando bien y creo que es algo a escuchar alguna vez.
Pretty decent. I really liked the track Black Woman/Gypsy Queen. A nice album to enjoy on summer's day. Mother's daughter was also a standout track. Even though I liked it, I wasn't as impressed with it as I expected to be. Ratings on RYM for this album are particularly strong, but I just thought it was good. Therefore..3 stars.
Black Magic Woman definitely the highlight for me
Jazzy and...."smoothe"
Santana is always good to have in the background. First Listen?: Y Fav. Track(s): Black Magic Woman / Gipsy Queen, Hope You're Feeling Better Rating: 3.2/5
Santana is a gifted player may perhaps be an oversimplification of his talent, but it is the truth. This is the kind of album played on a sunny day while on vacation, or maybe just a weekend in the backyard. Musically, the album is just really enjoyable, there is no sense of profound, or any mind-blowing feelings associated with it. It is at its finest, a really comfortable experience.
Not the worst albums recently.
Very good, Nat many lyrics
Como si una galaxia latinoamericana cayera de punta sobre California.
groovy baby
One of my favourite coffee shops in Amsterdam is presumably named afterthis album, and it's fitting as this would make a very good coffee shop album. 3 stars is harsh but it's not my type of thing and if I give this 4 stars it gives me nowhere to really go with ones I do like or really like. Some nice jazzy vibes, wasn't quite what I expected. Definitely there are situations this would be perfect as ambient music
Great mix of influences in a sweet, psychedelic rock package.
kind of Cream, JTull, fusion, he copied all around
Ok, definitely a lot jam band vibes here, very dangerous territory for me. Also, is it me or is the only time Santana sings about bad women? Despite the meandering, start/stop jammin' jazziness that dared me time and time again to press the skip button, a lot of it was fairly enjoyable. A lot of it was pretty evil, though. Santana, I blame you for Phish.
Black magic woman is great. Oye como va is also some of his best guitar. I think Santana is one of the most underrated guitarists of all time and I’d put him solidly in my top 10. Didn’t think any of the songs here were amazing though. Giving this a really strong 3, maybe could be a 4 it’s really smooth throughout but I didn’t think it had a ton of standouts. Disclaimer: I saw Roger Waters last night so now I only want to listen to Floyd and my expectations for albums are unrealistically high sorry Carlos
3/5
This album went by really quickly. It had some really good playing, but most of the songs really failed to make an impression. It seems like a case of great musical talent that doesn't really translate into great songs. A 2.5 bumped to a 3 because of respect.
•Pink Floyd vibes •black magic woman is a classic •not really a fan of this sound but glad i listened to it
16th August 2022 Listened in the living room while working from home. Busy day finished with going to see top gun maverick in Stroud. Heard a lot about Santana but never sat down at listened to them. Kind of washed over me which is good and bad. Enjoyed the samba rhythms.
You can only go so far on vibes, jamming and stage presence. The flavor's on point though, can't go wrong with Santana's guitar playing. It's like salsa music and little Richard had a baby. Which is cool and super dance-able. But like I said. You can only go so far.
The first track is hard to listen to. It’s long and not much happens. Black Magic Woman is a classic. Hope You’re Feeling Better isn’t a great song per se but Carlos’ guitar playing makes it good.
Mad decent for Santana, not my jam tho
Sounds like half an hour of Santana which isn’t bad but you definitely know what it’s going to be goin in. If you want to listen to Santana listen to this, if you don’t don’t
Disappointed by the length of the album, but it has some good music on it. With the into and out to tracks this thing is probably about 30 mins/7 songs so I just wanted a little more. 6/10
I am not a Santana fan. This album did have some of the his more well known music. It wasn't a bad album. I don't think I will revisit the album.
Solid, not my cup of tea but the band is very good.
Ik vond het vroeger te gepolijst, te glad. En eigenlijk vind ik dat nog steeds, hoewel dat niet voor alle nummers op gaat.
middle school jazz band flashbacks solid jams and a classic song
Noodly doodly doo
Oooh, _this_ is where "Oye Como Va" comes from! Only it's not, as it's really a Tito Puente cover. Well, still nice to locate it! Apart from that, sure, a pleasant enough listen, but nothing too captivating. Fave track - "Oye Como Va", duh.