Carlos Santana, the namesake of this band, is a musical legend in many ways. After all, Santana did play at the well-renowned and famous 1969 Woodstock gig, and he put on a legendary performance there. However, by the 1990s, Santana was very much washed up and unable to land a proper record deal for some time, being mostly considered as too old and outdated by record label executives. Eventually, their original label Arista Records took Santana back on and Santana felt he had a masterpiece of an album, waiting to be unleashed to the music world. That was this album, the highest-selling album ever by a Hispanic-based artist. The album itself reached #1 in 11 countries around the globe and won multiple Grammy Awards as well. The album was recorded between 1997 and 1999, has a ton of guests, and has the following huge array of producers: Carlos Santana; Clive Davis; Jerry ‘Wonder’ Duplessis; The Dust Brothers; Alex Gonzalez; Charles Goodan; Lauryn Hill; Art Hodge; Wyclef Jean; Fher Olvera; KC Porter; Dante Ross; Matt Serletic and Stephen Harris. The album was also produced at Fantasy Studios in California and was released on June 15, 1999, to critical acclaim globally. Let’s take a listen to this album, and we shall hear where it takes us.

(Da Le) Yaleo launches the album into a gorgeous frenzy of Latin-based beats, piano and some great guitar playing. This sounds much like a Disco tune but sounds interesting, catchy and fresh from the start of it all. This music is a really awesome listen, and Carlos Santana proves himself to be a naturally great electric guitarist throughout. There are some extremely cool wah-wah guitar leads and soloing throughout, which sound extremely good to hear. A wonderful and energetic mash-up of sound is here, alongside some really awesome vocals to listen to. An awesome listening experience that is essential and a must hear for fans of Rock based guitar music. All in all, it is a really cool and lively musical tune. There is some neat piano soloing in the midsection of the song, which sounds really awesome. This is followed by some bluesy-sounding guitar playing that sounds awesome, powerful and fantastic, all in one. The music and array of sounds throughout sound extremely cool, lively and different from much else out there, to this very day. Santana fuses his love of music and cultural background into a simply enjoyable tune to listen to. This sounds like some loud and awesome mix-up of musical styles, performances and genres into a totally enjoyable song to listen to. Nonetheless, this is really a great listen. It lasts for nearly six minutes, before wrapping up with a sweet fade out. Excellent.

Love of My Life (feat. Dave Matthews & Carter Beauford) launches into a very unusual and rather groovy-sounding tune from the start. Carlos Santana plays guitar quite unlike anyone else out there. Indeed, he sounds really smooth and groovy throughout. The vocals, however, aren’t the best. They sound fairly raspy and a bit off to this otherwise fantastic music to listen to. Still, even so, this is an excellent and tasteful masterwork that sounds incredibly cool. This sounds gorgeous and different throughout and is a masterclass of great music to listen to. A gentle, smooth and romantic song, this sounds extremely good to hear. Santana himself is not just a great guitarist, but a fine musician with a very gifted musical ear throughout. This music is a really tremendously cool listen, and it sounds very lovely, pretty and adventurous throughout. The second half changes dramatically and launches into a superb Latin American-based piece of music for all to listen to. Very interesting and fun to hear, this sounds absolutely awesome and magical to listen to. A sweet, enjoyable and powerful piece of music that has some absolutely pretty guitar playing and music throughout, words do not do justice to how good and original this tune is. 100% worth your ears and time, with some tasty piano and pseudo-guitar shred which never gets dull, even towards the end of this tune. A real joy to listen to.

Put Your Lights On (feat. Everlast) begins with some sweet-sounding acoustic guitar strumming, and has some atmospheric lead guitar licks by Santana here. All in all, this does sound melodic, moving and brilliant. Carlos Santana definitely had a great ear for some of the best music out there, and this tune gradually evolves into a gorgeous musical ballad that sounds fresh and amazing to this day. A really awesome tune to hear and enjoy, this is some of the best and freshest guitar work from this era. It also proved that Santana still had it, decades after his debut. It progresses into a pseudo-Metallica piece with distorted guitars and wah-wah soloing aplenty. No doubt the spirit of Jimi Hendrix was being distilled here. It all returns to the acoustic guitar strumming and bongos, with delayed vocals over the top. A really cool tune to listen to and enjoy, this sounds amazingly surreal. A really unique and fantastic song, Santana knows music like nobody else. Definitely worth hearing, for all its unique glory. Santana plays a mean guitar, too.

Africa Bamba begins with an unusual mixture of 1980s-styled atmospheric sounds, and acoustic guitars that sound sparkly clean and launches into a sweet-sounding piece of music. A really great and inspired tune, this has some Spanish singing on it and it sounds energetic and brilliant, in its own unique way. A really cool tune to listen to and to hear, Santana and friends make some neat tunes with a deep ode to African Music itself. Of course, English speakers may not be able to easily transcribe the lyrics, if they only know English. Even so, this is a really gorgeous and wonderful listening experience that is dreamy and ethereal to listen to, oddly enough for guitar-based music. In the second half, some layered horns enter the scene and this continues to be a gorgeous joy to listen to. A really excellent and adventurous listen, this music is a really cool and wonderfully interesting listen. Towards the end, it breaks into a furious and gloriously gorgeous section of Latin-based music which sounds excellent. It fades out at the end.

Smooth (feat. Rob Thomas) is a major hit from this album, and is instantly recognisable around the world upon hearing. The singing is a bit different from Matchbox Twenty’s Rob Thomas. Regardless, this sounds extremely cool and is definitely worth your time and ears. An extremely wonderful and catchy tune to listen to. Santana plays some terrific guitar here, and he sounds truly awesome to listen to. The guitar figure is melodic, sweet and memorable throughout. A truly wonderful piece of music to listen to, this is a great Latin American-flavored classic song from start to finish. This song could go on for 15 minutes, and it would still sound just as amazing and great as it already does. A great mixture of music, melody and interesting sounds, Santana struck gold on this song. If you need a signature tune from this album, this is it. A really cool and interesting listening experience, this music is indeed, a compelling yet fruitful listen. Worth your ears? Absolutely, this is an amazing and sweet listen from start to finish. Worth hearing, time and time again. The shredding at the end is awesome.

Do You Like The Way (feat. Lauryn Hill & Cee-Lo) begins with some brass-based sounds, sounding a bit like James Bond-styled music to begin with. Soon enough, this piece of music launches into action with the guests singing and rapping away. This is straight-up terrible. Santana makes a big mistake on this part of the album with some poorly thought-out musical judgments on what works. This proves you cannot mix USA-based Rap Music with some contemporary Rock Music stylings. It just doesn’t work, even though Santana does his best to play some neat guitar work along the way. You can go ahead and skip this one, you’re not missing out on a great deal on this tune. Points go for a musical adventure, but lose points here due to the poor mixture of style over substance musically speaking. This is better without some of the rapping in the second half, but this still sounds a lot like a polished you-know-what. This album also comes across as a music celebrity 1990s compilation, which isn’t always worth enjoying throughout. Anyway, this is okay but nothing phenomenal throughout. The second towards the end is somewhat redeeming, but this track points out the obvious flaws of this album. It’s okay but you can definitely skip ahead, especially as it is nearly six minutes long. Not really worth it.

Maria Maria (feat. The Product G&B) is a weird-sounding mixture of Hip Hop beats, rumbling basslines and Spanish guitars. This is not at all impressive or normal sounding. This album does have good moments, but this is definitely not one of them, once again. Santana would have been far better off recording a Jimi Hendrix-inspired guitar instrumental album, rather than this rather mixed bag of a sell-out themed release. Again, one can skip ahead, you are not missing out on much on this tune. It may be fairly popular, but then again, Michael Jackson is clear proof that being popular does not always equal greatness. The guitars are quite good throughout, but apart from that, this is a bit of a major miss to listen to. A really unimpressive and poor listening experience, this could have been done infinitely better than this final result. More of a mixture of style rather than substance, this is something that is never played on the radio today. That says a lot. Skip ahead.

Migra begins with some punchy drumming, which is nice for a change. Some warped guitars emerge, and some chanting emerges. By this point of the album, the music is rapidly degrading and sounds like Carlos Santana needn’t have been bothered by this point in his life making such ordinary music. The guitar playing is fresh and good, but aside from that, this isn’t a great listen. Oddly enough, it is better than the previous two tracks but is far away from being a good listen. If you aren’t asleep yet after getting to this point of the album, you are doing extremely well. The horns towards the midsection are a nice touch, but even so, this is not the classic album by Santana that you need to hear. The midsection has some minimal drumming and nimble bass guitar, followed by some nice electric guitar playing. If Carlos Santana should be remembered in any way, it should be for his quite amazing guitar work, as opposed to his musical approach. It sounds like the record executives were pressuring him to sell out big time on this album, and Santana reluctantly went ahead with this idea. Which was likely the case. Anyway, this tune is okay but it sounds like mere filler. A good listen, although this is quite long at over five minutes in length. Santana is a great guitar player, however.

Corazon Espinado (feat. Mana) is a catchy and memorable song by Santana, although this sounds as though it is a mere rehash of other Latin American Music. This is a much better sounding and major improvement on the previous several songs, and Santana and crew play in a naturally appealing and wonderful way here. Mana’s vocals are really sweet, too. All in all, this does sound really energetic, lovely and fantastic throughout. It proves that Santana, without pretentious sell-out musical influences, really could make some good music. This album is the best example of why a respected artist should never sell out their musical agenda, no matter what amount of money is offered for that. This is a better song than expected, and Santana and the crew sound absolutely on fire throughout here. A wonderful and tasty tune that showcases some better potential by our main man. Worth your time and ears, this extended jam sounds really fine and smooth like butter. Some great guitar soloing is at the end here. Good work.

Wishing It Was (feat. Eagle-Eye Cherry) begins with some good Latin American Salsa instrumentation and loud guitars and moves along smoothly. Again, this does sound like a sell-out piece and is rather cheesy. Unfortunately, this album is somewhat a glimpse into the future of music where a trillion guests alongside a celebrity with a laptop take centre stage, which is especially unrealistic for Rock Music. This is a little toxic a musical concept as a result. Still, even so, this is a really good song to listen to and it definitely has potential throughout. One of the better songs from this album, Santana did not need to sell out so much on this album. Literally, his own music would have been enough without adding so many randoms onto an album. Santana’s guitar work is extremely good, all the same. He plays quite unlike anyone else, with some excellent use of musical techniques and shredding throughout. A cool tune, all the same. Santana and friends do deliver a nice listen musically, even if this album is a flawed listen. This is a cool tune to hear, and the music within is extremely good to listen to. A bit lengthy as well, but that is okay. Still a good listen, without being a great listening experience. The guitar work to conclude with is very neat.

El Farol begins with some soft percussion and basslines, with some sweet acoustic guitar licks being played over the top. Eventually, some nice electric guitar enters the scene, and this tune gets going. Again, the album could have been bettered in many ways, although this is a nice addition as we approach the end of it all. A sweet, smooth and soulful instrumental that sounds epic and lovely. A really genuinely good tune throughout, this music is a very impressive listening experience that sounds absolutely magical. The percussion and rhythm section throughout are very, very good. All in all, this music is different but good. This is the sort of Santana tune that, although not exactly overly popular, is good to sit and have a nice alcoholic drink with. Santana is a very expressive guitar player, and it sounds here as though he is putting his musical heart on his sleeve. A good listen throughout that is tasteful and does not disappoint, unlike other moments on this album. A lengthy fade-out occurs at the end, with the organ being prominent. Decent for what it is.

Primavera is a longish track of over six minutes long. It begins with some interesting guitar work, and launches into a good but not great Latin American musical piece. By this point of the album, the formula wears thin a bit. Still, Santana rips some excellent lead guitar playing throughout, and he sounds really spirited and on fire when he does so. This is a good listen, but smells a lot like sell-out musical territory musically, which drags the music down. Clearly, Santana is at his best when not having a trillion guests on his music and when he is doing some great guitar work. Hence, the major flaw of this album. Regardless, this is a good listen but miles away from being overly memorable. The guitar playing is tasty and different sounding, and Santana does play some mean guitar throughout. In the midsection, he sounds a heck of a lot like David Gilmour with a larger emphasis on shred present. The guitar playing saves an otherwise average song from mediocrity. A really awesome and sweet tune to listen to, this music is a joyous listen, even if it isn’t the best. Even for a sell-out album, this does have its moments, and this is one of them, in a way. Good to hear, although the track length is a bit lengthy.

The Calling (feat. Eric Clapton) begins with some bluesy guitar leads in the right channel, followed by some other instrumentation and duelling leads throughout. This does sound gloriously good and showcases the two main guitarists doing their best in a musical sense. Very, very cool. This tune is a brilliant and interesting sonic landscape-styled piece, with a ton of Fender Stratocaster playing that sounds extremely good. A really awesome and thoroughly listenable tune that has some interesting sounds and playing, this sounds really terrifically sweet. This instrumental section is very good, but unfortunately, it is too lengthy and drags on quite a bit. Such is much the case for the rest of the album as well. Eventually, electronic beats enter and this tune gets into a very 1980s-sounding groove-based piece. Enter the eye-rolling territory of Santana’s music, this is quite honestly, pure filler. Also, this outstays its welcome by the middle of this nearly eight-minute-long tune. The harmonies in the background are okay, but again, this is a wasted opportunity and has a musical dead horse being flogged for no real reason on this tune. Yes, Oasis’s 1997 album Be Here Now is not as dull as this. The guitar work is okay to listen to, but aside from that, this lacks some energy and focus throughout. This will only appeal to a select amount of listeners throughout. Nice to hear, but hardly original music here. This is okay but is nothing sensational to listen to. The music is different to hear, and it has a cool feel throughout. This gradually begins to wrap up after seven or so long minutes of listening. It fades out at the end.

Day Of Celebration is the final track on this lengthy and odd album. It begins with some quirky guitar and sounds quite different, before launching into a pretty but needless instrumental at this point. It is quite clear that selling out was not a good idea for Santana on this album. The quality of this release is so mixed that one cannot help but think other releases by Santana would have been much better than this one. This track sounds like more filler, and it is not outright bad, but rather forgettable to listen to. Even so, one can appreciate Santana’s excellent guitar playing and use of extraordinary soloing techniques on that instrumentation. Some singing enters, and this is an okay listen. Sadly, Santana has not really delivered a totally fantastic album to listen to here. The music is good but is ruined by a lack of focus and it lacks a real wow factor to it. This begins to wrap up with some good guitar work and other interesting sounds. You’ll be rather glad when this tune finishes, nothing really worth hearing on this track.

This album is a missed opportunity, sonically speaking, although it was commercially successful. The fact is that Santana was more interested in pushing units than actually making a great album. Therefore, it created a big blueprint for today’s postmodern music, i.e. who cares about the music, just sell out as much as possible. Sadly, this does not cut the mustard. Should you listen to this album? Probably not, one can do better elsewhere.

Mediocre.

5/10