I'm basing this on The Ultimate Santana which I got for Christmas. Disc one (which covers up till '77) absolutely rocks!

Disc two largely makes me cringe. Is his post-70s material really that bad or should I stick with it?
[Edited 1/12/07 2:20am]

Heh, "Satana". Misspelling Santana never ceases to be amusing. Classic comedy at its best.

Oh, sorry. I don't know anything about Santana myself, but I'd assume what you are assuming is pretty much the case.

Whoops! Typing error.

Could've been worse... I could've put "Sultana"...

Many artists who were popular in the 70s had a hard time adapting to the changing trends of the 80s.Santana did okay,but none of their 80s albums can compete with their 70s work.The best Santana album of the 80s is 'Zebop',released in 1980:


The follow-up 'Shango' is notable for the song "Hold On",which is their best single of the 80s imo The rest of the album isn't too bad.

The albums that come after that are spotty,but there's some good songs scattered throughout.Take your time and investigate these albums.

There are a couple of interesting moments on every Santana album, even the 80s albums but you´re right , the best Santana music came out in the 70´s , I have almost all of his albums except for Supernatural and everything that came out after it but I hardly ever listen to the 80s releases, at least not all the way through...but there are always some interesting solos or someting on every Santana album.

SoulAlive said:

Brightest Star!

SenseOfDoubt said:

I also like "Searchin"...a great rock tune with a nice Latin-styled ending

'Havana Moon' from 1983 is a really good album imo. A good mixture of Santana-flavoured R n'B and latin rock.

I loved "Blues for Salvador".

SoulAlive said:

Hm, I guess I have to pick that up. I had it in my hands a couple of days ago, but could not decide. And the price is very okay, too.

KoolEaze said:

Agreed.Even when the songs themselves are weak,there's Carlos' guitar playing,which is always superb.Btw,I think the worst Santana album of all is 1987's 'Freedom'.

Milagro is a solid album that's 92, the last real album of his career so far. I can't wait for his new one... he promised no more guests or at least no more vocals.

rainman1985 said:

It's a 2-CD instrumental set titled 'Shapeshifter'.Carlos wanted to release it last year,six months after 'All That I Am',but Arista refused.He owes them one more album but they don't want an instrumental album.Later this year,they're gonna release a Greatest Hits compilation that only features material from the last three Santana albums.This will fulfill his contractual obligations.No word on the release of 'Shapeshifter' but I'm eagerly awaiting it's release.

rainman1985 said:

'Milagro' is superb.Filled with strong songs like the soulful "Make Somebody Happy",the Marvin Gaye cover "Right On","Free All The People (South Africa)" and "Somewhere In Heaven".

MattyJam said:

Not as many pop hits so that makes it suck?

Blues for Salvador, Milagro and Santana Brothers all had some great songs on them. I absolutely LOVE the title track from Blues for Salvador and Bella is also a beautiful (no pun intended) track on that album. Milagro had some nice stuff too. I loved the positivity of Somewhere In Heaven and Make Somebody Happy. Santana Brothers is mostly instrumentals. Some of my favs on that album are En Aranjuez Con Tu Amor, Contigo, and Blues Latino .
[Edited 1/15/07 14:48pm]

SoulAlive said:

I'm wondering when/ if this very interesting-sounding album will get released, but it's good to see that Carlos might be back to making music again, not just money.

all of it largely sucks, imo. not my cup of tea.

I think that its the case with many artists in music, in that they have a great streak of really terrific albums with hardly any filler on them, and then go onto release several mediocre ones with a few very cool songs on them(the rolling stones are really a perfect example of this).
It was also correct in Santana's case, in which even his most uninteresting records had some very wonderful material on them. For me personally, I would state examples of some great songs on his more unremarkable albums as being:

Inner Secrets-'The Facts Of Love', lovely r&b type song featuring some really great guitar work.

Shango-'The Nile' and 'Hold On', both beautiful and haunting songs with yet more wonderful guitar on them.

Beyond Apperances-'Written In Sand', one of my very favorite Santana songs with a mysterious atmosphere and a guitar solo in the middle of the song that simply gets me everytime that I hear it.

Miles said:

it'll be refreshing to finally hear a new Santana CD without all the guest stars and pop collaborations

PurpleJam said:

'Beyond Appearances' is one of his better 80s albums.I haven't listened to it in awhile but when I do,I find alot of great moments throughout