The Best of Santana [Columbia]

Performer: Santana
Distributor: Sony Music Distribution (

Notes: Santana includes: Carlos Santana (vocals, guitar). Includes liner notes by David Fricke. This anthology covers some of the highlights of Santana's long and varied career. Though it's occasionally dipped its collective toe into the AOR waters, Santana is one of the few psychedelic-era San Francisco bands that's maintained its career without embarrassing itself. Though diehards might lament the lack of more obscure material, there's only so much a single disc can cover of this band's esteemed legacy. Consider it a Santana starter kit; you get the basics from the band's first incarnation ("Black Magic Woman," "Evil Ways") the aforementioned AOR efforts ("Winning") and everything in between. THE BEST OF SANTANA does a good job of summing the band's fusion of rock, Latin music and jazz for those who haven't yet begun to explore Santana's venerable catalog.

Carlos Santana is one of those rare guitarists whose sound is instantly recognizable. His fiery, soulful blend of rock, blues, and Latin music made his band, also named Santana, an international success. From 1960s San Francisco psychedelia to '70s fusion to enormously successful pop crossovers in the early 2000s, Carlos Santana has remained a respected and influential force in music. Though he scored hits with his band from the late '60s to the early '80s, Santana operated under the mainstream radar for much of the '80s and '90s until the multi-platinum 1999 "comeback" album, SUPERNATURAL, studded with pop-star collaborations, brought him (and the band) a whole new audience.

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