Santana - Abraxas

Santana's 1970 follow-up to their Woodstock-propelled smash '69 debut found leader Carlos Santana further expanding his San Francisco group's already broad musical boundaries. To wit: two hit singles that emanated from opposite ends of the spectrum--"Black Magic Woman," originally written and recorded by English blues-rock guitarist Peter Green and Fleetwood Mac, and New York Latin percussionist/dance music king Tito Puente's infectious "Oye Como Va." Tying blues, rock, and salsa together in one pancultural package, Abraxas also featured such standout tracks as "Gypsy Queen" and "Singing Winds, Crying Beasts." The latter underscored the growing Eastern sensibilities of guitarist Santana. --Billy Altman Amazon.com essential recording

Abraxas

Santana-Abraxas ****1/2

When some people think of the Gibson SG guitar they think of Angus Young of AC/DC or Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath or sometimes even Pete Townsend of The Who, and while all of those are great guitarists, None of them was able to make that baby cry like Carlos Santana was on the groups first two albums. Weaving his guitar lines through hit singles like their reading of the (original) Fleetwood Macs 'Black Magic Women' and 'Oye Como Va' for the mainstream to hear that the guitar could be played more than just one way....with passion.

Passion is what fueled Abraxas, the passion to make a better album than their first. This certainly did become a bigger album, and even to this day is the bands signature release, and while I myself am partial to the debut, I must give this the recognition it deserves.

Songs like the Aretha Franklin meets Miles Davis 'Incident At Nesbar' and the rocking 'Hope Your Feeling Better' are straight up rockers. The former contains a fantastic organ solo from Rolie, and the latter has amazing production and a catchy chorus, not to mention some amazing wha-wha pedal work from Carlos. The Carlos original 'Samba Pa Ti' transcends beauty with power to create one of the most sublime recordings in all of rock, rivaled only by his own 'Europa' which would come a few albums later. 'Se A Cabo' 'Mothers Daughter' and 'El Nicoya' show the percussion of the band as heard on the debut, and that is my only complaint with Abraxas is that the Latin and African rhythm has almost all but disappeared.

Santana set out to make a great rock n' roll record with Abraxas and ultimately that is what they did. I loved the debut because of it's variety and instrumental prowess into multiple genres and worldly music, some of that was lost here, but this still remains a great rock album, and one of the all time best in fact.

Now some releases of Abraxas come with three bonus tracks. 'Se A Cabo' and 'Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen' are both here live recorded at The Royal Albert Hall in 1970, but 'Toussaint L'Overture' is also included live from that same show, and it is one hell of a performance. So if you have the choice of either the original version or with the bonus tracks go for the extra as it costs the same and is way worth it. May 29, 2008

Worst sound I've ever heard

If you think to spent your money on this DTS, save it.
If you already have it and think that it sounds good, please send me your recommendations in order that I can hear it to.
It's the worst mix of the century. April 17, 2008

Love this masterpiece

I have always loved Santana's earlier work. I'm purchasing this in CD because I want to have it forever. Those who rate this album negatively probably weren't even alive when Santana recorded it. Ignore the negatives. This is one that shouldn't be missed! December 24, 2007

great listen

While not the very best Santana album (that would be the jazzier Caravanserai) Abraxas really opened the door for more great music just a couple years later for the highly original-sounding Santana. If you've never heard any Santana before, well, that's just wrong because you HAVE heard at least three of their songs (and maybe even the lost classic "Winning") you'd know the band is known for mixing latin rhythms into their rock and roll sound. Every Santana album in the early 70's had this style. It made them stand out from other musical artists BIG time back then.

Abraxas is the most popular album mainly because it features the two biggest hits from the band "Black Magic Woman" and "Oye Como Va". Those aren't the only great songs, in fact, those are just the tunes that warm you up for the rest of the album, which is probably even better than the two hits. "Singing Winds, Crying Beasts" opens the album on a quiet note, building in suspense the great guitar and keyboard work that the Abraxas album pulls off so well. "Incident At Neshabur" is probably the best song on here, because it leans more on the jazzy side and gives Santana a chance to really get a feel for his guitar playing.

The second side of the album is just really solid latin rock/hard rock. I really made a mistake when I originally said this album was overrated. Nope, far from it. The music is too good to be ignored. July 12, 2007

A masterpiece....

...other than the two Gregg Rolie tracks, anyway. I always thought Santana was a world-class guitarist with a stellar backing band who made several good albums, but never anything excellent. Other than Abraxas, anyway. Now, I found myself begging for mercy on the two Gregg Rolie vocal tracks (Mother's Daughter, Hope You're Feeling Better) - hey buddy, shut the #!@% up and play your organ! And don't step on Santana, either. And the group lacked a quality lyricist at this point - only Rolie, who of course WROTE Mother's Daughter and Hope You're Feeling Better - brainless lyrics and all. Okay, no more dissing Rolie, because that'll take away from the main intent of this review. Abraxas is awesome-and-a-half, off the power of the subliminally beautiful Samba Pa' Ti, killer jam Oye Como Va (my favorite Santana song), fusion pieces Singing Winds Crying Beasts and Incident at Neshabur, and especially the ever-popular Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen, exquisite Latin blues thanks to Santana's leads, which sparkle. There's a lot of jamming here, but it's tight and focused - nothing runs longer than five-and-a-half minutes. And hey, these guys had the Latin/rock/funk/blues/jazz/whatever-else-came-their-way groove DOWN. So be sure to buy this if Santana does anything for you, since this is easily the best thing to bear the Santana name. The debut, III, Caravanesari and Love, Devotion, Surrender shouldn't be missed either. March 7, 2007

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