Reviews (page 13 of 14)
More jazz then i was expecting. Ok to have on in the background.
There's something about a guitar player that plays with the amount of feeling that Santana does that makes it a joy to listen to. Even if I don't understand the words to the some of the songs (and some don't have lyrics at all!), I enjoy it.
Album 10 of 1001 Santana - Abraxas Favorite Track : Black Magic Woman / Gypsy Queen Rating : 5 / 5 Awesome album. It's like a 35 minute detour from whatever might be gnawing at your brain. Put this on, dim the lights..smoke 'em if you've got 'em (if you're into that) and just enjoy. Wonderfully done.
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.
4.6/5
Agréablement surpris, un album super bien construit, pas vraiment de moments faibles (à l'exception de Oye como va qui est un peu plus ordinaire). La fusion de musique latine et old school rock est tellement bien faite, les pièces que je ne connaissais pas sont toutes très bonnes. Le flux de l'album est super bon. 9/10
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.
Oye, como va?
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?
This album starts off really strongly but fizzles out on side 2, but side 1 is very good. 4 stars
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. 🔮🔮🔮
The album shows a lot how Latin American music has both changed and also stayed relatively consistent over the decades. There are a lot of elements in this album that you can hear going forward both in future Santana albums and future traditional Latin American music
Fav Tracks: "Black Magic Woman," "Oye Como Va," "Samba Pa Ti."
This is still one of the most original musical works of the past 50+ years, which is really impressive. Groovy, spicy, surprisingly jazzy, earthy and spiritual. A bit jammy, but only in the best ways, with nuanced guitar work, crazy good percussion and a real fire in the belly kind of sound. You can tell Carlos and the band put their whole selves into this music. Fave Songs (All songs, from most to least favorite): Oye Cómo Va; Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen; Hope You're Feeling Better; Samba Pa Ti; Se a Cabó; Incident at Neshabur; El Nicoya; Singing Winds, Crying Beasts; Mother's Daughter
Enjoyable for a bit but was ready for the album to be done well before it finished
Glad to finally explore an album from this legend. Amazing guitar work. You can see the 60s blend of psychedelia and Hendrix, with his own latin roots. Two big singles in the beginning, and while the rest of the album doesn’t maintain those heights, still a great album overall.
Very enjoyable album, perfect for both the background and active listening. Great salsa rhythms paired with one of the most recognizable guitar sounds
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.
This shit is my jam. Psychedelicized latin rock with a bit of jazzy flair? Yes please. Hope You're Feeling Better was the only song that wasn't great. 8.5/10
cultures converge on Santana’s rich largely instrumental album “Abraxas”, where their sultry latin music is met with and bolstered by delirious guitar segments and psychedelic tendencies that metamorphose into something new altogether: what results is a groovy journey that fuses jazz, rock, funk and chicano, so that when you listen, it sounds like sunshine on a bright beach day (throwing bongos onto a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Black Magic Woman” should never sound so good, and yet here we are). Santana plays the guitar with so much flavor that it evokes powerful feeling — you think of a song like “Samba Pa Ti” (arguably the album’s best track), and it feels transformative in its texture; the song is light and breezy, sure, but riddled with an underlying melancholy that balances out its sweetness with something much more interesting. and then there’s “Hope You’re Feeling Better”, where Santana feeds off that manic 70s sound, shredding like there’s no tomorrow. of course, Santana is a talented show-off, and some of the songs linger long enough into indulgence, but at a tight 37 minutes, Santana still knows when to reel himself in. Abraxas feels like a crash course on music — its genres and history — seen through the eyes of one latin band. it is music whose beauty is not lost in translation.
very goood.. really enjoyed
Очень самобытно и интересно! это невероятное скопление референсов и идей для творческих людей звучит крайне необычно но каких-то экспериментов вида "не для всех" тут не то, чтобы можно наблюдать работа стоит внимания
Перкуссия офигенная! Легкие ноты психодел-попа + латиноамериканского рока + щепотка фьюжна. Классно помедитировать под такое и проникнуться миром
Пункт номер 0: Spotify вместе с альбомами иногда подсовывает сопутствующую продукцию артистов. И здесь... чуваки, они продают барабаны! С логотипом Santana!!! Это же лучший меч, который только мог быть придуман! Не уходя далеко от барабанной темы, перкуссия в альбоме кайф. Я испытал похожие чувства как при прослушивании King Crimson: чувствуется оркестровость музыки, только с испанско-мексиканско-латиноамериканским колоритом. И перкуссия (я не помню как конкретно эти барабаны называются, но вы послушаете - меня поймёте) идеально создаёт этот образ. Вспомнилась также Jazz Samba, здесь звук правда побогаче: есть электрогитара, которая добавляет МОЩЬ. Black Magic Woman / Gipsy Queen - прям реально как заглавный трек King Crimson: медленная часть, развитие, быстрая... прям дикий кайф. К концу альбома конечно подустал, хотя ребята очень старались делать разнообразную по наполнению музыку. Я думаю, в лайве это смотрелось бы вообще максимально эффектно.
Ну все на подкасте обсосали
The dude has classic tone, but I’m not high enough to care about songs that meander this much
Only song I really enjoyed was Black Magic Woman
Santana
Another selection once represented by my adolescent and young adult cassette collection, and listened to many, many times, though not for years or probably decades. Absolutely holds up for me, really about perfect in itself. Just an iconic product of its times as well.
I am typically a vocalist/lyrical gal so this was often out of my ‘zone’ but… great guitar playing? Lol
Never in a bad mood listening to this. The first half in particular feels like a celebration of life. Put it on and try not dance.
I don’t know what but I just don’t like Santana. I tried again, op ion not changed.
Lot of indigenous rhythm adds to the guitar focused melody.
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
This was pretty good! I was surprised to hear songs I already knew
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
Pretty fun latin/jazz/rock album with some very notable hits. Cool album cover too.
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
Great album, I love how the instrumental Singing winds crying beasts runs right into Black Magic Woman. Oye Como Va is another classic track off this album. The Latin rhythms and Spanish lyrics really take you to another place. Great album
Rock latino con la guitarra de Santana. Me ha cansado un poco. Un 4.
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
Amazing mystical guitar riffs. “Oye Como Va” always makes me happy
Elevator music for a drug house. Listening to this album on shrooms would probably make me write a new constitution. Big boy Carlos and his guitar are amazing of course, but why does nobody talk about that drummer as well?!
Realllyyy good
4.25
1970. Oye Como Va, Black Magic Woman
A classic
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.
Oh, not just technical guitar playing. Actually cool and fun beats.
Santana's best album, IMO. The influences he brought to rock music are significant and best showcased in this album.
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.
Its aversion to vocals let it down as the guitar playing really needs an accompaniment to stop it becoming uninteresting
Best: Black Magic Woman / Gypsy Queen Worst: El Nicoya Good album
Great album. Enjoyed this from start to end! And Carlos Santana is just a great guitar player with an awesome distinctive sound
Nice album
Very happy music
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.
- oye como Va is so frigging good
Yo this shit is crazy good.
santana is NOT just one person dawg. the album was pretty cool, ill give it a solid 3.5
i enjoyed that. cool album cover.
Really good.
Obviously I knew the big hits, this is a really fun listen all the way through though. Great guitar playing and a lot of variety. I'll almost certainly come back to it!
Fire album
Untouchable guitar skills, no doubt. A few songs on here have been in heavy classic rock rotation my whole life, so I can slip back into them like a pair of well worn shoes. And I'm not surprised that the deeper cuts I've never heard are just as good. I appreciate the way Santana showcases his skills and proficiency without ever showboating them. I'm a lyrics first listener so albums that are focused on instrumentation are usually not my jam, but this made for a groovy morning. And let's not forget to mention that this album cover is an amusement park for the eyes! Damn, that's cool.
I frequently have to remind myself that Santana is a band and not just Carlos. I have discovered this maybe five separate times, then promptly went on to forget it. Let’s listen! Songs I already knew: Black Magic Woman, Oye Como Va (although I’d only heard the Tito Puente version before today) Favourites: Samba Pa Ti, Black Magic Woman I think Carlos Santana might be one of my favourite guitarists. At the risk of sounding very cliche, he really does make the guitar sing when he plays. The distorted tones mixed with the samba music feel like something that shouldn’t really work, but it certainly does. The vocals are good when used, but it is quite sparingly throughout the album. Nothing is lost due to this though - there is a reason why the band is named after the guitarist as this is what shines most. Overall, a very easy album to recommend.
muy bonito. Muy linda la fusión entre esos lloros guitarreros y esos ritmos mas latinos. me gusto de principio a fin
Excellent album one that really put them on the charts. Greg Rollie is one of my all time favorite vocalists. It wasn't long before he left Santana to start Journey as keyboards and vocals
Ik was vergeten wat voor een kleppers er door Santana geschreven zijn. Maar voor mij is het beste nummer op de plaat toch wel "Black Magic Woman / Gipsy Queen".
De meest dansbare rockmuziek. Leuk om te luisteren
Identifying Carlos Santana : It’s Carlos Santana
Black Magic Woman and Oye Como Va back to back?!?! THEN A WHOLE REST OF AN ALBUM? Santana, you really shouldn't have.
Great album, black magic woman being my favourite song on the album
When this album came out, I was just discovering pop music on AM stations. I'd heard the two hits, Black Magic Woman and Oye Como Va but not the rest of the album. To be fair, at that age, I wouldn't have appreciated the rest of the album. But today, I have gone through so many phases of music, that I can appreciate most of them if they're good. And this is beyond good. The album really resonated for me because of it's Latin and jazz elements. What I noticed was how well each instrument stood out on its own yet worked in conjunction with the rest of the instruments. This has helped me rediscover Santana since I hadn't listened to them in a while. Scale: 5 - My absolute favorites. 4 - Albums I like. 3 - I enjoyed listening to it but wouldn't seek it out. 2 - Didn't like. 1 - Absolute shit.
Incident at Neshabur, uffff
Probably the best album that i've discovered from this list so far
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.)
Nice chill album. Mostly instrumental but the instrumentals aren't boring.
Latin jazz-rock landmark album. But also dated
I knew the hits but really enjoyed the rest of the album. The modal jazz inspired Incident at Neshabar was particularly good. Carlos Santana of course is a phenomenal guitarist bringing the Dorian mode to the masses. It would be easy to pigeonhole this as Latin rock, but to do so would be to miss some of really interesting and subtle things that are going on.
A brilliant album!!
Not memorable.
Can appreciate Santana’s musicianship & extraordinary talent, but I can’t get into his music. Fav track was Oye Como Va.
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.
Peak Santana for me was the trio of albums that included and followed Caravanserai. In comparison this sounds rather brash and rough.
Melody. Wonderful. Great for background music.
This album is very good. The album art is even better.
LP
Vibes
Santana sounding superb
Where is Smooth featuring Rob Thomas of Matchbox Twenty
Oye como va? This album is pretty dang good. It's not 100000 hundred million percent good but it's pretty good. Oye como va? 4/5
I have never listened to Santana, and it's a bit rough. I want to give it 1 star because I think it sucks, but I feel like I shouldn't because Santana is like legendary or something? I don't know.
I’ve been a huge fan of Santana’s self-titled debut for a long time but this is the first I’ve heard any other album of theirs I guess it makes sense to listen to their second album next anyway, sounds just as amazing as their first maybe not as many spectacular moments but still mostly incredible 10/10
I think it's a great album, with a good production, I really liked it
Not bad. Pretty jazzy for me. Feel like I would need some drugs to appreciate.
Didn’t listen
Mystiskt
Jag hade såå fel om santana bro på guuud
Awesome latin-fusion jams
Chill
Have it on vinyl. Very nice!
Bit if a racket at times.
Hell yeah. Just awesome musically throughout. Favorite track: Samba Pa Ti
Some classics on there but was kinda of meh.
what stands out most on this album is the instrumentals! they are positively beautiful. the guitar on "samba pa ti" or the keyboards on "incident at neshabur" or even the percussion on "el nicoya"--that wasn't an instrumental, but i stand by it. the latin element is present and delightful. abraxas was fun, plain and simple. santana created music that stood on its own without vocals. i've gone through over 200 albums on this project so far. world music is lacking. abraxas was refreshing and provided a different kind of sound that we haven't heard yet. i had a lot of fun while listening to this album!
I've been waiting for some Santana! This album is exceptional. There is a lot of great psychedelic guitar work on here, as expected of the times, but it is of course mixed with that signature Santana latin flair. Further, there's some other great world music and even jazz sounds across this album. As if latin music wasn't already cool, Santana makes it ice cold here. "Hope You're Feeling Better" was a new-to-me Santana song that I am surprised is not a bigger hit. Like "Black Magic Woman", it is a good encapsulation of the psychedelic style of the time combined with latin sounds. Simply put, this album was a great, fun, engaging listen.
I know this album well, except I haven't listened to it in a long time. I expect a 5, but we'll see what time will tell... ------- Ok, this started a bit ho hum for me. Singing Winds never got me started up and Black Magic Woman through Oye Como Va are incredible classic tracks that I think I'm burned out on. I always had mixed emotions on Incident at Neshabur. Sometimes I love it, sometimes it annoys me. I felt both sides as I listened to it tonight. It's certainly an amazing composition though. From my perspective, the album really dives in at Se a Cabo and takes me on a romping ride to the end. Samba Pa Ti is sometimes a downer for me, as was my experience tonight. However, we soon hear Hope You're Feeling Better. This is my personal favorite, always has been. Abraxas is not an album I'll pull out to listen to these days. There was another time and place in my life for that. I can't deny it's perfection though. Thanks for lighting this one up again!
Latin jazz rock by a legendary guitarist. Undoubtedly a great example of what it is, but not something I'd come back to. Rating: 2.5/5 Playlist track: Oye Como Va Date listened: 22/11/22
Some classic tracks and some hidden gems. A couple of them drift into jazz and not what’s needed on the record.
Rock latino
It is more likely that someone from my generation would know Santana from their 1999 hit Smooth with Rob Thomas. While that's not a bad song by any means, it is certainly not representative of Santana's greater contributions to popular music as a whole. Before moving forward, there is a certain distinction to be made between Carlos Santana the person and Santana the band. While Carlos Santana is a key figure in the band and certainly notable on his own for his fantastic guitar playing and tones, the band Santana is equally worthy of praise for their songwriting contributions and because, of course, music being a collaborative process by nature. So when I refer to Santana, I'm talking about the band. Santana is so fucking good. Not only are they incredibly tight with spicy grooves and smooth textures, but they layer on top each other so well that it's like the best-tasting smoothie you could think of in the form of music. The obvious point to make here is Black Magic Woman's fantastic move from a chilled-out psych rock jam to an intense latin rock banger with a legendary guitar solo to boot. Carlos Santana is not shy to show off his soloing chops on this album. In truth, every member of the band shines throughout with tasteful rhythms from the percussion section giving each song fantastic groundwork and personality. Perhaps the weakest part of the band here is Gregg Rolie. While his contributions on the keys are not at all bad, his two songwriting contributions (Mother's Daughter and Hope You're Feeling Better) leave less to be desired as the finer subtleties of Santana's latin rock approach have been drowned out by a more blunt hard rock approach. Not nearly as rewarding as the rest of the album. These shortcomings are easy to overlook when you have such a finely-crafted album like Abraxas. In addition to making the 1001 albums list, it was entered into the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress, being deemed "culturally, historically, or artistically significant". Excellent choice.
Holy shit! That first hit of Carlos' guitar on the first song! Then we hear the congas, so I'm expecting a balls-out, totally Latin jam. Oh no.... cool jazz with some psychedelia in the background. That electric piano sounds like Ray Manzarek is riding on the storm. Then the segue into his most famous lick. I'm two songs in and I'm in awe! Can they keep it up? Well.... the next song is Oye Como Va which is another classic. Then into Incident at Neshabur which is atmospheric and wonderful. Flip the disc to Se a Cabo. Rocking riff, polyrhthms and a bit of fun to finish. It just keeps being brilliant:Mother's Daughter has Gregg Rolie bashing out some great bluesy vocals. Samba Pa Ti is the only song that Carlos dominates. It then finishes with some more Latin flourishes. This album showcases a band that has taken sounds from North and South America and merged them into an irresistible brew. Fabulous!
A rock classic. When Carlos gets wailin' he's got a sound all his own.
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.
Listens: 2 Enjoyed: Definitely I was uhming and arghing about what to rate this. But honestly, I can't flaw it. The lack of lyrics on some tracks makes it almost psychedelic as you focus on how tight and rhythmic it all is and the whole album just makes you want to dance
If I don't give the album containing "Black Magic Woman" a 5 I would be insulting all guitar players. Santana is a God among men on the guitar. I still always find it hard to believe though that Fleetwood Mac wrote the song. "Oye Como Va" is another all time classic. My other highlights are "Incident at Neshabur" and "Samba Pa Ti" I could say more but its Santana and he speaks well enough for himself.
Literally nothing wrong with this album
I forgot what an incredible album this is. Santana plays with so much touch and restraint that you can't help but be drawn into the songs. It's not just him, either. The whole band seems dedicated to the concept of "less is more." Gregg Rolie, in particular, lays down some insanely tasty organ parts that just MAKE the album. These musicians, to a man, make their chosen instruments sing to the point where the instrumental tracks are every bit as compelling as those with vocals. You can't help but follow along with the solos just like you would a singer's lyrics. It's masterful and I loved every minute of it. It was an instant repeat 5-star album for me.
Classic!
A-MAZ-ING! One of the LPs that my Dad would often play through my childhood. Warm nostalgia as well as sheer joy from hearing one of the great rock jazz fusion albums. Great vocals from Journey founder Gregg Rolie. A solid gold favourite 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.
It's definitely a good all rounder album for me. It didn't provide moments that were dying to be repeated and I didn't get a spark like with "5" rated albums. Instead Abraxas was consistent in terms of greatness and provides a good jamming album. Their cover of Black Magic Woman and that combined with Gypsy Queen provided the best track of the album.
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.
Day 3. October 25th 2022. Nice music. Could be nice to put on in the background after a long day of work, sipping some cognac. But not very interesting to me.
Seit dreißig Jahren nicht mehr durchgehört, gefällt mir heute besser als damals. Incident at Neshabur und Hope You’re Feeling Better sind, neben dem üblichen Verdächtigen Samba Pa Ti und Black Magic Woman ein paar Bretter. Fünf Sterne, aber gerade so.
Super chilled latin rock. Santana's guitarmanship is God level, and the groovy beats are entrancing. Outstanding
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.
Not usually my thing, but I quite enjoyed some of this. The guitar posing I expected was there, but it didn’t seem so in your face as other Santana songs I have come across in the past. And some of the songs here quite enjoyed, most notably Incident At Neshabur. The style straddles the 60s and 70s neatly, and the percussion throughout the album helps lift this away from the usual rock guitar fest a little. It’s not going on my regular playlist, but I did enjoy this in patches more than I expected.
Santana always scare me. All that noodling, all that hair. It's not for me I'm afraid. The drums and rhythm picked up my interest. Black Magic Woman was surprisingly soulful. I got a little lost five tracks in though. It comes back to all that noodling, all that hair.
Listened Before? N Whooooo weee! This one was HOT! Great album. Of course, I've heard Black Magic Woman and Oye Como Va before... but the rest of this masterpiece grooves and smokes it's way through a too-short 37 minutes of awesome. Just wonderful. Added to Library? N Songs added to playlist: Black Magic Woman
This is a great album. I was jamming out to all the songs, and I like that the album was pretty short. Better for an album to be short and sweet rather than drag on for too long. Favorite song: Black magic woman / Gypsy queen Worst song: El Nicoya
Black Magic Woman definitely the highlight for me
Singing Winds, Crying Beasts - Groovy track, enjoyed it a lot Black Magic Woman / Gypsy Queen - Vocals are great, great track Oye Como Va - Again a very smooth track. Incident at Neshabur - I like the quickness of this track, high intensity without being crazy, and I like it slows down nicely. Soothing Se a Cabo - Like this song, I like the organ subtly in the background at points Mother's Daughter - Great song Samba Pa Ti - Nice track, very mellow even with the e guitar in the background Hope You're Feeling Better - Good song El Nicoya - Great song
Jazzy and...."smoothe"
Disappointed in h9w .uch I didn't ibe with this album.
Don’t let anyone ever tell you the 1001 Album Generator doesn’t have a sense of humor. Just yesterday I was assigned The Mothers of Invention’s “We’re Only In It For the Money”, a blistering anti-Hippy screed/psych sound collage of an album. Today, I was greeted with an album from one of the forerunners of San Francisco’s psychedelic scene, Santana and his 1970 album, Abraxas. Now, if the Generator really wanted to elicit a response out of me, it would have given me a Grateful Dead record (Oh, how I long for the opportunity to eviscerate that band on this website). As it is, I found it humorous coincidence to pair these two records back to back (see my review of Sonic Youth’s “Sister” for more on what I think the Generator is *actually* up to). I enjoyed “We’re Only In It For the Money” and appreciated the commentary on the San Francisco hippies of the 60’s, in part because much of it still holds true for today’s “hippies”. Santana, while part of that late 60’s scene, always seemed to transcend the scene in my eyes, with ferocious playing and the incorporation of jazz and Latin influences. This isn’t hippy-dippy, flower power psych. This is heavy duty, man. It’s the kind of record those yutzes in the Grateful Dead could only dream of putting together: tight grooves, expert playing and an infectious high-octane energy throughout.
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 type of music i listen to, nothing offensive about it though
Really great album with two monster hits in "Black Magic Woman" and "Oye Como Va". Guitar playing across the rest of the album is just as fantastic. 8/10.
Favorite Songs: Singing Winds, Crying Beasts, Black Magic Woman / Gypsy Queen, Oye Como Va The darker and more mysterious instrumentals in Singing Winds, Crying Beasts remind me of TOOL - just a little tho. Each song is so different, but still feels like it belongs.
One of my favorite albums. Such incredible guitar and drum. No wonder Santana was such a star.
I'm back to noter les albums!! Tres clean et sympa, les morceaux instrumentaux sont top. Quelques sons que j'ai moins aimé
Just a banger overall, solid songs, great theme throughout the album, sick guitar licks and melody. 4.5/5
Actually my first listening to a full album form santana. I heard a lot about him and the guitar riffs are indeed great. There was not any particularly striking moment, but the overall listening experience was great and the guitar and sonorities overall very catchy. Oye como va is a banger.
Super nice melodies! Some variety and mostly very entertaining... Loved to listen to it multiple times. 4/5
Santana arguably at his best. Killer grooves and guitar licks.
Not the worst albums recently.
Very good, Nat many lyrics
I've heard Black Magic Woman before, but I forgot what a RIDE it is!!! Also, so smooth throughout. Love the guitar and organ so far. Fun bass, lots of fun percussion. The opening track is a great instrumental. Makes you wanna shake it! The rhythm section here is doing SO MUCH work. Lush composition, very sensual, good flow and shift. This feels like a record bands like Yes or King Crimson hump at bigtime. Fuck, this shift in Incident At Neshabur feels like 70s prog rock with different percussion syncopation. Surprised I haven't heard more prog nerds sucking off Santana. Nah, this is really good, and I want to listen to more! Jazzy, fusion-y maybe?, latin rhythms, good mix of motion and technical showiness and melody.
Need to listen to last half of album. good shuit. Love it need to listen to more santana
This is a great guitar album good mix of Latin and rock music. Really enjoyed this.
Sexy groovy guitar, very listenable - sorta sounds like a dad driving album though. Solid
Fun Latin beats
Un viaje, para acompañar la rutina y llegar al final del día o para bajar mil cambios y no hacer nada.
Solid album. Hope you’re feeling better, black magic woman, and oye como va, are all belters.
Great album which I really enjoyed
¡Ay curamba!
Como si una galaxia latinoamericana cayera de punta sobre California.
groovy baby
Had no Idea that Black Magic Woman and Oye Como Va we're off the same album, let alone right after one another. Great album all the way down. Incedent in Neshabur is a great tune as well. Santana is one of those bands that is cleshae to like, right? They're great
Great guitar work across the board. Very fun stuff.
Good album. I was only familiar with “ Black Magic Woman” and “Oye Como Va” - love both of these classic songs! “Samba Pa Ti” is beautiful! The rest of the songs on the album exhibit solid musicianship but are not songs that I could listen to more than one.
Great Album all the way through. Every track brings something new and worth listening too. Overall fantastic .
Not my usual kind of thing but this is clearly a top top quality album
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
A little boring.
Great Latin beat
I really dug me some Santana during the late-90's "Latin takeover" of popular music (Smooth featuring Rob Thomas? ¡Muy buena!). I always felt like a poser though, because classic Santana didn't do much for me - although there are some awesome remixes of Oye como va out there. And turns out it still doesn't - it's not bad, and you do have to respect a Latino artist bringing Spanish-language tracks and the Cali experience to the mainstream for the first time since Richie Valens (is this true? Don't know, but sounds good). But most of it sounds like the jam part of a Grateful Dead album, if Jerry Garcia were really good on guitar. So #Respect Carlos, but you're still getting a big tres from me.
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.
Classic
Great guitarist
Is it jazz? Rock? Salsa, latin, prog? Santana makes easy many types of music on this album. It's a great listen for a variety of moods. 4/5.
This is a great album. This has all the hits. This also led me to finally listen to Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, since he essentially wrote Black Magic Woman. This is the definitive starting ground for Santana's discography and a lot of jam bands from the era.
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
I loved the transition from Singing Winds, Crying Beast into Black Magic Woman starting a great three songs stretch to open the album. Santana is just a magician with the guitar and you could just listen to him on his own, which he knows and gives us in this album. Sleeper(?)pick Mother’s Daughter
Pretty good
3/5
Trop bon, tellememt de classique. J'ai toujours ete fan de santana 1 et celui ci edt la suite logique. Mervi a peter green pour blacl magic woman !
4.5
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.
4.2 + Even better than I remembered. Santana's guitar work clean and cool. I love all of the rhythms that keep an upbeat, sunny flow. This is the perfect summer afternoon soundtrack. Standouts: "Black Magic Woman", "Oye Como Va", "Hope You're Feeling Better."
First listen 1-oh fuck yeah that's a good opening song 2- ive heard this song before but goddamn the way it flows from the first song is nice 3-groovy 4-really like this one 5-okayy yes 6-this whole album just flows so well. 7-another slow one also very good though so grooovyyyy 8-guitar is just so good might be a top song for me 9-interesting closing choice. 8/10
Starts off strong, first few songs a very solid. Music flows well and has a good beat. Funky rock, piano and guitar Not working background
Got lost in some amazing guitar work
•Pink Floyd vibes •black magic woman is a classic •not really a fan of this sound but glad i listened to it
Enjoyed it as a kid, very nostalgic as an adult.
Black Magic Woman is brilliant
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.
The best rhythm n' trip!
I started this album on my lunch break, and was lucky enough to listen while driving straight into a wicked storm descending on the previously gorgeous day. Honestly, 10/10 ambiance. Would recommend. Black magic woman is of course incredible. When Oye Como Va came on, I thought of the pool party scene from Boogie Nights for some reason but I looked it up afterwards, it wasn’t in that movie but they used it in the Big Lebowski. Either way, another great song along with hope you’re feeling better. I also really enjoyed the instrumental tracks singing winds, incident, se a cabo, I’m always looking for instrumental tracks to listen to when concentrating at work.
I love Santana and was already familiar with this album. My mom actually used to play this album a lot. Black Magic Woman is a classic. Oye Como Va is great as well.
Phenomenal album, creative covers. Impressive guitaring.
it's fucking santana, ofc i'm going to like it
Spanish music, could be a good movie soundtrack, was vibey but not great
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.
Old funky guitar rifts.
Pretty classic album!
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.
It's hard to give this anything less than a 4 with Black Magic Woman and Oye Como Va, as the 2nd and 3rd songs on the LP. While they are not original compositions, Santana's versions defined that late sixties experimental sound and they're still in high rotation today, sounding a fresh now as they did 50+ years ago. Gregg Rolie's voice is perfect in BMG as is his organ playing. I also like Samba Pa Ti as a guitar "opus" and the percussion throughout is terrific.
Although this album is over 50 years old it still sounds fresh and kicks ass. The singles still get me playing air guitar and bongos whenever I hear them. Apart from the virtuosic guitar, which is obvious, The percussion is just brilliant. Definitely one of Santana’s best, if not his best album.
Mad decent for Santana, not my jam tho
Solid
Pensar que aquest era només el seu segon disc i ja era tota una celebritat, després de l'èxit del primer i de la mítica actuació a Woodstock, li dóna encara més mèrit al risc i l'evolució que presenta des de la seva estrena discogràfica. El pes principal és tota la càrrega llatina a temes com 'Oye Como Va' o 'Samba Pa Ti', boníssimes les dues. La versió de 'Black Magic Woman' es menja l'original de Peter Green, i la resta de temes no dista molt lluny de l'excelència d'aquestes tres meravelles
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
Rating: 7/10 Best songs: Black magic woman, Oye como va, Hope you’re feeling better
This album is a beautiful melting pot of musical influences, merging together the rhythms and dance inducing energy of latin music, with the expressiveness guitar of classic rock, the cleverness and organic flow of jazz, and the fuzzy blur of psychedelic. Beyond the classics that this album has become known for, 'Incident at Neshabur' and 'Mother's Daughter' are perfect examples of how all of these genres come together into perfect harmony together.
Appreciate the importance. Just not my thing
Black Magic Woman is funky and brings me back to playing guitar hero, outside of that, kind of meh? Not super memorable.
Very lovely. Samba Pa Ti is beautiful.
This is very good, but maybe just a tad boring? (besides Black Magic Woman & Oye Como Va)
Free-form-Latin-stoner music. Good stuff even if you're stone cold sober.
Instant classic album
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.
Not usually a big fan of meandering guitars, this was very enjoyable though.
Ik vond het vroeger te gepolijst, te glad. En eigenlijk vind ik dat nog steeds, hoewel dat niet voor alle nummers op gaat.
Very good album! Sound modern stillm
Great Start, lacklustre finish
The seminal Santana album. Found a few I didn’t realize were as good as they were.
middle school jazz band flashbacks solid jams and a classic song
That was fun.
Noodly doodly doo
Good album, the first of many. Considering i never did listen to santana it was good.
Can't believe I've never heard more than 2 songs from this album before.
My Dad is a big Santana fan so I have a bit of nostalgia points for this. I certainly enjoyed Black Magic Woman / Gypsy Queen and Oye Como Va.
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.
eventhough i dont like it, i cannot deny its a good mostly instrumental album combining different genres to a complete whole
the ones you know are decent, rest meh/noise
Nace una estrella
Eh...kind of uninspiring. 2/5
have not liked Santana in the past so was surprised how much i liked this. much more jazz like then i ever expected
Conflicted feelings on this one but overall it’s solid
Different but nice and cool.
Awesome album from beginning to end. Santana is a rock god.
Very good, not exactly what I expected, but I really enjoyed it
Some lovely old grooves, but it is a bit samey and just washes over you
When I first heard this album in the 70's, as sad as it was, this was probably the first time I heard any Latin rock. I know, I wasn't exposed to a lot of diverse music in my youth, but with the help of film footage and music from Woodstock (etc), I knew who Santana was. This record has some absolute classic essential tracks on it that everyone has heard and hearing it today, it's still timeless music! The rest of record isn't bad either!
3.5/5 niceish, i'll have to relisten
3, classics
All around great album: this song has great Latin stuff in Oye Como Va as well as bluesier stuff like Hope You’re Feeling Better.
A little bit rock, a little bit prog, a little bit jazz and a little bit Latin. Sounds like a good mix on paper and admittedly, there are some good tracks on ‘Abraxas’, but as a whole, it just lacks that little something to really elevate it.
A very enjoyable listen. The combination of latin rhythms, jazz and hard rock (and Carlos Santana's virtuoso guitar) works really well, especially on Oye Como Va, to me the standout track on the album. Black Magic Woman and Samba Pa Ti are the obvious crowdpleasers on here, but I think every track stands up - there are no fillers.
I've never found Santana's music to be interesting. His guitar player (on studio albums) doesn't seem as loose as say, SRV or Clapton, which is what I prefer. It's a decent album, but dull. Didn't add.
Love it!
Nice enough
I've actually never listened to an entire Santana album, but I really enjoyed this!
Jazzy Latin Rock. 3 big tracks on here...C Santana is undoubtedly a great guitarist . I find it a bit wearing after a whole album (you need to be in the mood for that percussion) but it is solid stuff. 3
I always had an aversion to Santana due to his collaboration with Rob Thomas (Matchbox 20) which never sat right with me. But due to exposure from my father-in-law my ears have been more open to it. Was pleasantly surprised with listening through on this album.
Black Magic Woman
Santano, polako sa tim pokretima, zatrudnit ćeš gitaru!
Expected an ok album with just 2 famous hits. Instead heard an impressively cohesive album that innovates in an inviting way. From the sound of it, they're a bluesy jam band that incorporates Latino percussion (and guitar play and singing in the first few tracks) and jazz fusion in several others. The production is fantastic. It's psychedelic in its echoey sound and smooth transitions between tracks. As a fan of bands like Malo and Chicago, blending Latino and jazz without sounding rough around the edges is one way to keep me engaged. Unfortunately, they mostly abandon both genres in the second half, with "El Nicoya" teasing us. Still, all the tracks have something to offer. After out 2 big hits, "Incident at Neshabur" goes big on jazz, and "Se a Cabo" on instrumental hard Latino rock (with some jazz). "Mother's Daughter" is the bluesiest jam track, but a really good one at that. "Samba Pa Ti" is a softer jam track with Latino percussion, a pleasant listen. Finally, "Hope You're Feeling Better" is a psychedelic jam piece, also really decent.
Love Santana! This isn't my fave of their albums but Oye Como Va is SUCH an undeniable fucking banger!!! WHAT a tune.
Honestly so close to giving this a 5 star but it is hard to know when to save them for the super special things. It is 100% a 4.5 though, what let it down was just one slightly meandering song. Absolutely LOVED listening to this, did 2 rounds back-to-back and enjoyed it so much. The mix of slow and sexy, fun and up beat, relaxing and tranquil, mix of genres. SO great
Yes maaaaaaate, such a sound. Love it
Love it!
Goodness me, that's quite a lot of art on the cover. So many things to look at. Honestly, I can't look away. I hope this album sounds like it looks! A h, yes, I've always had quite a soft spot in my heart for Oye Como Va. Besides Black Magic Woman I was not previously familiar with the songs on this album. Incident at Neshabur was a particular highlight, but really I enjoyed it all.
beautiful!
- 1970, holy shit - pleasant fusion of jazz, latin, psychedelic rock
Beautiful
great!
cool
Love me some Santana! Amazing guitar and great mix of rock, Latin flair and jazziness...just so entertaining and fun musically! Listened to this during my childhood and it more than holds up!!
This was a great listen. Love Santana's guitar.
Carlos Santana is an unbelievable guitarist but I don’t need to tell you that. His riffs are incredible but personally I can’t give this a 5 only because listening to this straight through wasn’t my ideal jam. Still, a great album!
Album was too short, so many great tunes.
I have this on vinyl and have always enjoyed it. It’s not great, but just good. You have to be in the mood for Santana, and luckily I was. There are some of their classic hits, mixed in with some all around good tunes.
Brilliant. 4/5 Standouts: Black Magic Woman, Oye como Va, Samba Pa Ti, Hope You're Feeling Better.
8/10. Quite good
Quite a treat! 9/10
Loved it
Thia album is beautiful, so much going on- so much rythemic and melodic texture, some of the songs even move like mini classical pieces with the way they proceed and resolve. The standout for me is Incident at Neshabur. Of course, Oye Como Va is a standout as well-along with the other hit Black Magic Women. All in all, amazing!
strange but great to wake up from
Quite good fun. A couple of his most well known tracks here but the others stand up well on their own. A jam album with some fantastic instrumentalism going on.
Mex I can
Solid from start to finish.
I mean it's OK...
Excellent fusion of genres. You have latin, jazz, blues-rock, and jam all under the hood on Abraxas. This album captures a lot of different ideas that were happening at the time in music and presents it masterfully to the world.
It was bloomin great. Oye Como Va, Samba Pa Tiand Black Magic Woman are all absolutely brilliant and all on my summer BBQ playlist now. The rest is all solid, Latin grooves, some great keyboard (Rhodes I think?) Leading everything, with Santana's lovely smooth distortion zipping over it. Absolutely lovely.
This was very good ol' Santana is pretty good at the guitar it turns out
Great album. Not much else to say here. It's in my rotation for a while now and I don't see me getting bored with it.
1.75