Abraxas

great sounding guitar foward album, doesn't overstay it's welcome

Pioneering restaurant rock band, offers my snarl; kudos to them, adds my egalitarian, along with a fourth star on second listen. More originals would’ve been welcome, as those there are an effervescent, foot-twisting loosening of prog, though I’m touched by the odd particularity of their breakout being a cover of a blues song by a reserved North Londoner.

I like what Santana does with "Black Magic Woman" and "Oye Como Va" (of course); the rest meanders and grunts pleasantly without too much fuss.

Enjoyable, brief, feel like I'm transported into the 70s leopard-skin y-fronts of a west-coast oud-smelling lady killer. Heard the big tracks before and they are undeniably the best stuff, but they sit nicely among a general lava lamp shag pile weed cloud waterbed aesthetic. Would definitely put on in the background of an opium den.

Grei

Id use it as background for movie or video

the eredar lord of the burning legion?

Great tone, good album.

So far the week is off to a good start! A 5 star on Monday and now an incredibly solid psychedelic Latin rock album. I had heard the hits before and don't find them too overplayed. The rest of the album, while not perfect, never got boring or predictable and made for a great experience. 4/5

Not a fan but realise this is a genre defining album.

Singing Winds, Crying Beasts - 8/10. Outstanding Latin fusion. Black Magic Woman - 10/10. An all time classic. Shifts into another gear at 3:50. Oye Como Va - 11/10. Incredible tune. Straight to 11. Incident at Neshabur - 9/10. Massive banger of a foundational riff. Great jam, slick music. Se a Cabo - 9/10. Wow. Crazy great percussion, awesome guitar work, no notes. Mother's Daughter - 9/10. Another killer. Samba Pa Ti - 10/10. Killer again. Hope You're Feeling Better - 8/10. Great song. El Nicoya - 8/10. Overall Rating - 4.56/5 (9.11/10). All killers, no fillers. I missed out by not going any deeper than the two big hits before.

This album just got better each listen. Quite the surprise, I didn't expect so many good songs.

I've never heard a Santana album before but this is pretty much what I imagined it would be like, only with more congas/bongos. Doesn't do much for me but the percussion gets it a 3.

Very enjoyable - I think I it's a little too unfocused to score a four but it's close

Album starts soooo strong. Moody, mysterious, spiritual. The insanely cool album cover is an afrocentric reimagining of the Virgin Mary's Holy Annunciation. "Singing Winds, Crying Beasts" saunters its way through the witching hour before kicking off the indelible classic "Black Magic Woman." "Oye Como Va" lightens the mood just a touch with an infectious gang vocal and that same sizzling lead guitar. I'm in, this album rocks. But then "Mother's Daughter" fucks it all up and spoils the magic. It's the exact kind of early 70s blues buttrock that has aged as poorly as Eric Clapton's jawline, a song about leaving your girlfriend for her mother. Nice, dude. "Hope You're Feeling Better" is more of the same. I can't stand to hear Gregg Rolie's voice lay the groundwork for Nickelback. Look up Gregg Rolie. He's the exact guy you're already picturing. I'd like to write off these two tracks as exceptions, except for the fact that this is effectively an eight song album. That's 1/4 ass. A stark reminder that for all the spiritual voodoo these '70s festival legends feign to conjure, at least 25% of the time they were actually just stoned dumbasses watching a lava lamp. As are most musicians, myself included.

Whateva

"You tell me to name the best guitarist, I'm saying Santana every time." -My drunk college roommate c.2015

classic

One of the cooler and most unique albums out there; a wonderful melding of Latin, jazz and rock musics. This album is perfectly constructed and absolutely timeless.

Creativity, crazy chops, and a mash up of styles

Not on Apple Music. Rating based on other album.

1 - Singing Winds, Crying Beasts - 🤷🏻‍♂️ 2 - Black Magic Woman / Gypsy Queen - 👏 3 - Oye Como Va - 👏 4 - Incident At Neshabur - 👍 5 - Se A Cabo - 👍 6 - Mother’s Daughter - 👍 7 - Samba Pa Ti - 🤷🏻‍♂️ 8 - Hope You’re Feeling Better - 👏 9 - El Nicoya - 🤷🏻‍♂️ 3/5

Amazing album. Perfect blend of rock and Latin music. Peak Santana, who then became a bit too "pop" and commercial after this.

wasnt bad. pretty chill, i like santana

Abraxas was a really solid album. I haven't been too familiar with Santana's discography outside of Smooth and The Game Of Love and i do remember getting them mixed up with Sublime because their names were a bit similar to me. This album though, was a rather nice listen. It mainly hopped between two vibes back and forth throughout, one being this more relaxing and airy vibe and the other being a style with a lot more energy. I thought that both styles were executed quite well even if some of the songs kinda went in one ear and out the other. I still thought it was solid at being both background music and a serious listening experience. Best Song: Hope You're Feeling Better Worst Song: El Nicoya

Hey it’s the smooth guy

Oh, Carlos. You do make the strings sing with a little Latin flair that always charms me. It’s just so… carnival-like at times.

Fantastic album. The soulful guitar leads so many amazing rhythmic grooves. Loved the mix of instrumental songs and songs with vocals. Couldn't help but sway with some of the tracks. Faves were: Black Magic Woman, Oye Como Va, Incident at Neshabur, and Samba Pa Ti.

Carlos Santana always seems to have had a fairly distinctive guitar sound and style and he has rarely strayed from it as far as I am aware. I would imagine that back in 1970, this would have sounded much more fresh and unusual but to be honest, for me having grown up hearing his endless winding solos, it actually sounds a bit stale now.

ok

Who doesn’t like Santana?

Sehr cool, sehr interessant. Irgendwie das Classic Psychedelic in einigen Songs, in den meisten aber irgendwas jazziges. Jeder Song hat so spaß und Laune gemacht.

Great album!

Wow you can make a very simple sound go on and on in a rather hypnotic way. Not sure I loved it but stayed with me more than I thought. Perfect for an early morning on the way back from Italy.

After a first listen and a discussion with John in the Uber last night, I listened again during an early drive this morning as the mist lifted on the M4. As often happens, the more you listen, the more you hear. I was firmly in low three star territory, but elevated to four, not least for Carlos Santana's mighty fine moustache in his Spoty pic.

Samba Pa Ti is fabulous….

I normally run a mile when fusion is mentioned. But if you have working ears it's impossible to resist the Latin swing Santana gives to this jazz-rock mix. Brilliant. 4*

probably need to listen properly and not as a background while working. the piano is as good - if not better - as the guitar ;D 3.5, rounded.

Masterpiece! Perfect album, perfect guitar. 'Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen' and 'Oye Como Va' are brilliant. "Samba Pa Ti" is very nice.

I knew of it, and had heard it, since I can remember. However, I had never really heard it as an album, and as such a piece of musical freedom and exploration.

Fantastic

(5/7) smooth

I own this album. It is a long time favorite of mine.

Classic Santana. It's alright. It's no 'Soul Sacrifice' from Woodstock, but whatevs.

it was ok, nice guitar playing

I have a special relationship with Santana's discography because of my father (who is also doing this list, and we're in the same group, although I don't think he reads my reviews). I've been listening to Santana since I was a child, and these songs are like my happy place. But if I speak as a grown-up, some songs feel more like jam sessions. If those tracks were more solid, this would be an absolute 5-star album.

Not as good as the first album but still damn good

Good 3. Very smooth.

This album is really nice to listen at anytime. The congas add a groovy and ryhmic ambiance, the guitar add a rock aspect and a beauitful melody.

Objectively great guitar playing and tight instrumentation. When it hits it hits. Some of the songs are a little bit noodlely for my taste. Rating: 8/10

He did me smooooooooth, if you know what I mean.

This man has a guitar, a piano, and maybe some bongos. They all get played under poopwater to make this album. Straight boomer copium here. Avoid!

Doesn't feel like its from the 70s, feels more contemporary. I guess it's timeless.

The first track is kind of a waste of time, but the rest of it is real good! The extended instrumentals draw you in in a way that extended instrumentals usually don’t.

Santana is great! Maybe not an every day listen, but pleasant when it’s on.

Interesting cover art. Decent album

Predivno uzivala sam u svakoj pesmi definitivno

I’ve heard black magic woman before. So it was interesting to see how it fit into an album. Some amazing almost zeppelinesque guitars in the later half.

As a ‘90s kid, I associate Santana with the sustained guitar in that Rob Thomas hit “Smooth.” And there is plenty of that here, like in the track “Samba Pa Ti,” but I thought the whole album would be that. Instead, there is a lot more rhythmic complexity and layering going on. I can’t say that any track will have me coming back again. Obviously “Oye Como Va” is a vibe, but it’s been overused in films to the point of predictability. That goes for the album as a whole: it feels predictable, which is probably the opposite of what it was going for (and how it probably landed originally). No liked tracks for me, but I’m not mad I gave it a listen. The musicianship is off the charts.

Great guitar which was obviously expected. So what really impressed me was the percussion. It was a surprise treat and at times for me outshined the guitar.

This album is excellent. Such impressive guitar work and drums and just next level musical craftsmanship.

A great time, mexican shit, soft rock shit, hard rock shit, proggy shit, good shit no bad shit.

Yeah, fine. You're a guitar virtuoso. Big whoop. Wanna fight about it?

Mangler revidering

It has got some classic tunes, which I'm a fan of, but it also got some guitar noodleing. Of which I'm not a fan of.

Abraxas de Santana es una joya del rock latino que fusiona magistralmente psicodelia, jazz y ritmos afrocubanos con solos inolvidables como en "Samba Pa Ti"

Lo quiero escuchar más, no suelo ser tan fan de guitarristas, pero Santana pufff. Locura.

GREAT ALBUM COVER GETS BONUS POINTS I can imagine old white dudes getting absolutely smashed at a Santana concert. I need an outdoor venue and a margarita with a crazy straw please. The instrumentals are great, whenever there were vocals it was a nice addition. Multiple layers to each song and can shift to a totally different sound by the end of it. Oye Como Va is the obvious banger here but was also a fan of Incident at Neshabur, Mothers Daughter, and the one with the weird title lol. Songs kinda blended together so it was hard to tell when a new one starts and one ends,but they all had amazing energy it made up for it. There's a Jojo character named after this!

A trip of nostalgia whilst embracing Thursday morning. Shoutout to my band teacher in the 8th grade for introducing me to the work of Carlos Santana. I had such an era of listening to this album as well as Inner Secrets (1978) and Santana (1969), while it introduced me to more jazz and guitar. Truly, Abraxas doesn't have a skippable song and is just a constant vibe; a masterclass in songwriting. Legit makes me wanna dance!!!! In like 2012, I was big into discovering the artists for cool album covers liek this (I think the catalyst was Gorillaz tbh, shocker). Like Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, King Crimson, this cover was on the list. Mati Klarwein is the artist and its such a cool painting. Fav songs: Oye Como Va, Black Magic Woman & Samba Pa Ti

Only good if on drugs lol

10. oktobar 2026. 23.55h ovako sam saznala da je bio bend santana a ne da je on sve vrijeme bio solo kao drugo italiana tina time kao trece crazyyy album best: singin winds crying beasts, incident at neshabur

One of the guitar greats. Filthy licks

Refreshing album. A cool mixture of genres and great musicianship. Favourites: Oye Como Va, Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen and Samba Pa Ti

Très chill vrm cool

Really good but seemingly quite repetitive, 3.5 down to 3

Latin fusion brilliance.

One of the best covers oat, and such a great prog record. Samba pa ti and Black Magic Woman are all time classics for me, add to them a great set of caribbean prog and you have a recipe for success

Sublime latin fusion rock with nice touches from the psychedelic era.

Favorite songs: Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen, Oye Cómo Va, Se a Cabo, Samba Pa Ti

What an experience this album was, a perfect example of why I continue working my way through this list among all the crap I still have to listen to. I likely would have gone my whole life without ever hearing this otherwise, so I'm so glad I have discovered it. I really don't think I've ever heard anything like this before, it's so psychaedelic and trippy in a way that almost borders on being messy. But it still just manages to hold itself together, creating one hell of a ride that they somehow managed to fit into just over half an hour, truly impressive stuff.

The songs on this that I loved, I really loved (ex. Black magic woman)

10/10

szeretem én a groove-okat, a jammelést is szeretem, meg jól tud esni a pszichedélia, és a latin zenét sem gyűlölöm, de én ehhez – a csodás borítót leszámítva – mégis képtelen vagyok kapcsolódni, és azt a csillagállást is nehezen képzelem el, ami alatt ez meg fog változni.

oh fuck yes Sir

A really great album to vibe to with two major hits.

Ahh, Santana, the renowned Latin rock/jazz fusion group formed by Mexican-American guitarist extraordinaire Carlos Santana. I'm already familiar with the two big singles from this album: the cover of Tito Puente's "Oye Como Va" and the medley of Fleetwood Mac's "Black Magic Woman" and Gábor Szabó's "Gypsy Queen". I would consider both very transformative from their originals: the former boasts a driving rock cadence, with Gregg Rolie's Hammond organ providing the necessary block chords, while the latter is given a mambo-style percussive syncopation. Both are catchy as sin, and it made me wonder what the rest of Abraxas held. To little surprise, this album was a treat. It is quite the spectacle how each band member felt equally involved in the songwriting and arrangement of this record. Sure, I come to a Santana record expecting Carlos Santana on guitar, and his phrasing is superb, letting his guitar speak in a manner not unlike what John Coltrane achieved on A Love Supreme. But it's also a testament to the classic lineup how they managed to incorporate three different percussionists without the mix getting too busy: José "Chepito" Areas and Michael Carabello with their Latin syncopated beats on the congas and timbales, and Michael Shrieve with his jazz-inspired cadence on drums. David Brown added sparse bass nestled neatly opposite Carlos's guitar work. Gregg Rolie went from a soft swoon on "Black Magic Woman" to a feverish snarl on "Hope You're Feeling Better", and he proved just as effortless on the keyboards. All these ingredients combined into a lush, eclectic melting pot of styles, ranging from rock, jazz, blues, merengue, salsa, and more. Abraxas is jam-packed with such distinct moments. The breezy, unintrusive introduction of "Singing Winds, Crying Beasts", that 6/8 motif central to the busywork of "Incident at Neshabur", the African rhythms working their magic on "Se a Cabó", the straightforward yet hard-rocking number "Mother's Daughter", the sentimental bolero "Samba Pa Ti", that Deep Purple-sounding heavy-hitter "Hope You're Feeling Better", and the fun little chant at the end with "El Nicoya" made for such an enjoyable experience from front to back. Sure, the second half could have been arranged a little differently in the track order, and "Mother's Daughter" seemed to be yet another song about dealing with a cheating woman. But those are nitpicks that don't really hamper my listening. Overall, Abraxas was such a delightful, mystique-filled album. Of course, Santana the band would go through lineup changes and further style experimentation, and even saw a career resurgence toward the end of the 1990s with Supernatural and its big singles "Maria Maria" and "Smooth". It's cool to see Carlos and his band still going strong decades later.

I did really like the fusions on display here. It has a bit off jazz, a bit of rock, a bit of blues, and it does work together really well. It kind of started sounding like generic and mostly skippable rock by the end, but still short and sweet enough for it to be worth a listen.

Classic!

First half is untouchable, then it sorta loses steam. Was almost a 5

I have not heard this before. I have heard most of these songs on classic rock radio or at hippie parties in college. I’d been avoiding anything Santa since he released that solo album with the collaborations with other artists including the god awful Smooth featuring the Matchbox 20 douchebag on vocals. So! The stink of Smooth and the other dreck from that album are nowhere to be found here. I think this is the same lineup he had for Woodstock including the 19 year old kid on drums who can absolutely wail. Great mix of hard rock and latin music and the only downer parts is when they go for a standard hard rock sound. I’m not a big fan of Santana’s guitar playing but it’s not bad here and is the weakest link, everyone else in the band is fantastic. So I’m glad I can reassess Santana. I am not going to reassess Smooth.

Stand-out tracks: Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen, Oye Como Va, Incident at Neshabur, Hope You're Feeling Better The first half of this album is just a vibe and if it stayed that way throughout it would be a 5. The kind of tribal feel of the bongos and just the percussion in general is so addicting to listen to. The later half loses that vibe for me.

Not a fan lately.

muy buen instrumental, mezcla de todo

Fun and funky last gasp of the 60s psychedelic vibe.

this was a weird one. felt like a lot of different things going on at the same time. some bits i enjoyed more, but i don’t usually care for instrumental-onlys unless its an orchestra. settling on a confused lower-ish 3.

This is fantastic, to have black magic woman, Oye como va and samba pa ti on one album is tremendous. Samba pa ti has my favourite organ line ever played. The bit where it first comes in after the second round of the guitar tune. Glorious. I feel like the other tunes don't quite rack up to those, even though they are still very good and therefore it's not something I seek out to put on, so I'm gonna give it a really high 4.

album cover is awesome, music is a bit more boring dad rock

reckon it's peak.

4/5

Boring