Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood
Mr D. | Cave Creek, Az United States | 04/15/2004
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Back in the Stone Age, in the age of disco and before many of you were born, there was a magnificent band by the name of Santa Esmeralda. Now if any of you think Salsa and Latin American influence in popular American music is a relatively new phenomenon, let me dissuade you of that perception. First, we had the irrepressible Carlos Santana leading off the most famous rock concert of all time in the sixties with songs like "Black Magic Woman" and "Evil Ways". Then in the wonderful dance craze days of the seventies, with their lengthly, Latin versions of "House of the Rising Sun" and "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood", both covers and remakes of old Animals songs from the sixties, we have Santa Esmeralda. Anyway, with this album, we have 76 plus minutes of Santa Esmeralda's best music, including their all-time best, the fourteen minute version of "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood", the short version of "House of the Rising Sun", their cover of "Gloria", "C'est Magnifique", "Another Cha Cha", "You're My Everything", a remix of "Misunderstood and" seven other lesser tracks. Keep in mind that many of these songs like "Misunderstood" are dance songs and have an infectious beat, so it's not easy to sit still while listening to them. Conclusion Personally, I would buy this album for the two versions of "Don't Let me Be Misunderstood" and "House of the Rising Sun". The other four noted songs are also nice but of the remaining seven songs only "Sevilla Lights", "Black Pot" and the cover of "Hush" do anything for me and that's why I only gave the album 4 stars instead of five. Ironically if they would have left off the other four songs I would have given it 5 stars."
Track Listings (14) - Disc #1