16-05-2012, 07:28
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.
) 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.