Album Club, April 2015: Santana - 'Abraxas'

[Album Club]

Album Club, April 2015: Santana – ‘Abraxas’

April’s Album Club choice comes courtesy of Barry, who due to a ‘no show’ has stepped in at the last minute with Santana’s ‘Abraxas’. Please listen to the album in its entirety before you vote.


Santana – ‘Abraxas’




The version I used is the ‘Vinyl Classics’ re-master: Sony Columbia COL 489543 2 (1998)

This is the second album recorded by Santana in 1970 and was the one, which in the opinion of many propelled Santana to global stardom.



What I like about this album is the combination of Afro-Caribbean music with that of Mexican mariachi and Latin American music. In particular, I love the way the tracks segue one into another, especially on side one of the LP, as can be heard here with the tracks: Singing Winds - Crying Beasts; Black Magic Woman, and Gypsy Queen.



This album has it all – from the first track, designed to test the resolution of your system, to tracks that if they don’t get you up out of your listening chair and have you dancing around the room will at least make you tap your foot. If it doesn’t move you, you are either dead or have a lousy audio system!

Santana first promoted their style of Afro-Latin music fused with rock and roll as “Music to make love to” – which says it all really. Enjoy!

Oh – if you’re wondering why the album is called ‘Abraxas’, well it’s taken from a passage in the book: Demian by Herman Hesse:

“We stood before it and began to freeze inside from the exertion.
We questioned the painting, berated it, made love to it, prayed to it:
We called it mother, called it whore and slut, called it our beloved, called it Abraxas…”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraxas_(album)


Spotify: Santana – Singing Winds, Crying Beasts
(https://open.spotify.com/album/1CHUX...Ry6eJmrf5zz4H?)

Grooveshark: http://grooveshark.com/#!/album/Abraxas/7888562

[Tarzan]

Great LP!

'Mother's daughter', a great track.

[Audio Al]

I gave it a 7 , Nice album but not outstanding

Thanks Barry

[Tarzan]

I gave it a 7 , Nice album but not outstanding

Thanks Barry

Thought you was off the drugs Al?

[RichB]

I'm not the biggest Santana fan but this is a perfectly good listen for a Saturday morning.

7 out of 10 from me.

[struth]

thread crapping is not allowed and posts have been deleted re rules

[Macca]

Ah now this one truly is a classic. Taped a copy off the hippy down the street way back in 1990; just left college couldn't get a job for love nor money. Spent my evenings smoking gold seal, drinking peach wine and listening to music and this was on my regular rotation. Still is in fact. Every time I hear that intro to Black Magic Woman it transports me back in time to those days. Tito on the toms, man that is some good listening. Ten out of Ten.

[Tim]

Can't be any other score than 10 - a timeless classic. Owned it on LP, cassette and now just have the CD which is ripped to FLAC. Not played it in eon's so really great to re-visit it again.

[Bazil]

I've never properly listened to Santana , I'm not a big guitar music fan but I'll give this plenty of listening before voting.

[high.spirits]

Dug out my old vinyl copy and it brought back loads of memories!!!

Not so keen of the heavy organ use (very 70s) and never really got the "Incident at Neshabur" track.

Carlos still uses distortion on his guitar to get his sound as heard on more modern albums like Supernatural -just love the bass on Maria Maria...

7/10 as a bit dated now.