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+--- Thread: Santana - Shapeshifter (/showthread.php?tid=6995)
Santana - Shapeshifter - danielkr94 - 15-05-2012
This is it...the day has finaly come where Santana releases an album not influenced by the success of Supernatural, now only one question remains...does it live up to the hype?
Ever since Santana anounced that he would be realising a series of albums, influenced not by his rescent albums, but his albums of the 70's starting with an instrumental album, i and countless of fans have been living with a perminant smile on our faces as it marked a new beginning for Santana and his music.
Now after months of waiting his first instrumental album, in nearly 20 years is finaly out and it doesn't dissapoint.
The album is entitled Shapeshifter, a title that perfectly sums up Santana's ability to transcend through genres and time. The album opens with the title-track Shapeshifter, a great track where Santana manages to capture the sound of yesteryear. The song starts of with Carlos playing melodic licks on his spanish guitar, while other instruments slowly join in. This introduction is fantastic, as it manages to create not only a great rythm, by the help of some solid drumming, but also a great build-up for the rest of the song. After the intro the song kicks in to high gear, with the inclusion of the main melody played by Carlos on his signature PRS and fastpased drumming.
I also have to mention the amazing organ playing, that as in the early years of Santana plays a major part in setting the atmosphere of not only the title-track, but the entire album, while managing to challenge the dominance of Carlos' guitarplaying.
It's a great track and it sets the bar high for the rest of the album.
In fear of making this review to long and boring i wil try to restrain myself and keep the rest of the review short.
One of my favorite tracks on the album is Spark of Devine, despite of the fact that it's only one minute long (yes that's right only one minute...) it manages to create an emotional impact in the same way song of the wind and love theme from spartacus did.
Another great track is Eres La Luz. It's the only track that features vocals and it has a latin vibe that will have you shaking your entire body.
The final track of the album also diserves a special mention. The track is called Ah, Sweet Dancer and features Carlos' son Salvador on the piano and you can feel the love between the two when they take turns playing some of the most beatiful music on the entire album.
Eventhough it isn't every track that manages to feel memorable, the album still succeeds in creating a great musical experince in the likes of the albums he made in the early 90's, that every Santana fan will enjoy.
4/5
Santana - Shapeshifter - Music Head - 15-05-2012
great review Daniel
stop holding back on us
you should do more
Santana - Shapeshifter - Jerome - 15-05-2012
danielkr94 Wrote:This is it...the day has finaly come where Santana releases an album not influenced by the success of Supernatural, now only one question remains...does it live up to the hype?
Ever since Santana anounced that he would be realising a series of albums, influenced not by his rescent albums, but his albums of the 70's starting with an instrumental album, i and countless of fans have been living with a perminant smile on our faces as it marked a new beginning for Santana and his music.
Now after months of waiting his first instrumental album, in nearly 20 years is finaly out and it doesn't dissapoint.
The album is entitled Shapeshifter, a title that perfectly sums up Santana's ability to transcend through genres and time. The album opens with the title-track Shapeshifter, a great track where Santana manages to capture the sound of yesteryear. The song starts of with Carlos playing melodic licks on his spanish guitar, while other instruments slowly join in. This introduction is fantastic, as it manages to create not only a great rythm, by the help of some solid drumming, but also a great build-up for the rest of the song. After the intro the song kicks in to high gear, with the inclusion of the main melody played by Carlos on his signature PRS and fastpased drumming.
I also have to mention the amazing organ playing, that as in the early years of Santana plays a major part in setting the atmosphere of not only the title-track, but the entire album, while managing to challenge the dominance of Carlos' guitarplaying.
It's a great track and it sets the bar high for the rest of the album.
In fear of making this review to long and boring i wil try to restrain myself and keep the rest of the review short.
One of my favorite tracks on the album is Spark of Devine, despite of the fact that it's only one minute long (yes that's right only one minute...) it manages to create an emotional impact in the same way song of the wind and love theme from spartacus did.
Another great track is Eres La Luz. It's the only track that features vocals and it has a latin vibe that will have you shaking your entire body.
The final track of the album also diserves a special mention. The track is called Ah, Sweet Dancer and features Carlos' son Salvador on the piano and you can feel the love between the two when they take turns playing some of the most beatiful music on the entire album.
Eventhough it isn't every track that manages to feel memorable, the album still succeeds in creating a great musical experince in the likes of the albums he made in the early 90's, that every Santana fan will enjoy.
4/5
Will be buying based purely on your review. MH is right - you should do more reviews.
Santana - Shapeshifter - SteveO - 15-05-2012
Please do more reviews Daniel !!!!
Santana - Shapeshifter - LMD - 16-05-2012
Agree with Daniel's take. I've been waiting for this album for a while and it does not disappoint. At all. I'd probably rank it around a 9.3-9.4/10 so far. Its just some beautiful instrumentals from Santana, which have been sorely missing from his catalog of late. My favorite thing about the album is that none of the 3 songs Daniel points out as being great make my top 3 because the album is just that damn good, in my opinion. For those who care, my top 3 would be "In The Light of a New Day" (The beautiful, spiritual guitar licking-piece before hitting the riffs that Carlos is known for, ala a condensed version of "All The Love of the Universe" for a point of reference, without the vocals), "Nomad" (The straight rocker that shows off not only Carlos' famous tone and beautiful arrangements but also his mastery of the guitar in general to create the images of the nights and days that the Native Americans spent wandering around. Or at least, those are the images that I see, which is what makes instrumental music so awesome to me; the ability to define the songs anyway you want.
) and "Macumba in Budapest" (The obligatory "Rest of band" showcase driven by some beautiful keyboards and percussion bringing the whole album together with some peace from outside of Carlos' guitar, which is always appreciated by this listener.). Though really, you could substitute any song in for any of those 3 and I probably wouldn't notice. Its been a long time coming, but Carlos and friends really knocked this one out of the park in my books. I couldn't be more pleased with the purchase.
Santana - Shapeshifter - R_burke - 16-05-2012
A lot of people (myself included) have been hesitant about this because of his last few releases and the fact that sound samples haven't been available. These reviews are good news for me, and I just sampled the tracks on AMG All Music and liked what I heard. I'm old enough and from the SF Bay Area, so I remember Santana from when they were called the Santana Blues Band. I'm glad that Carlos has chosen to go back to playing what I consider to be good music and not what IMO was pop pablum.