Search - Santana :: Dance of the Rainbow Serpent

LACKS PROPER REMASTERING; BUY THE INDIVIDUAL CD'S

BOB | LOS ANGELES, CA | 11/14/2004

(2 out of 5 stars)

"
Although the packaging for this set is lavish, the sound quality of the earlier tracks is very disappointing. "Evil Ways" sounds like it's coming out of an AM radio station, and the tracks from "ABARXAS" don't sound much better.



Fans should skip this set and buy the first 3 Santana albums that were remastered in 1998 (which sound better than even the Mobile Fidelity CD's).



Those 3 CD's also contain extra live tracks from the era of the original album's release that make ownership a must.



In addition: Columbia/Legacy has released the first Santana album as a "Legacy Edition". Expanded to two discs, it delivers the first album, remastered again in 2004, with additional session tracks; the first, discarded recorded sessions for that album, plus for the first time, the entire Woodstock performance set."

Excellent overview, plus great production

K. L. Woomer | San Antonio Texas | 05/08/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Okay, Santana has been alive and recording long enough, that it would take a small loan from a bank to gather all his collective recording together for purchase (not that you could find them all at one source)... so, in an effort to condense them all, I would recommend getting this recording.



I suspect if you are buying this collection, you must already know something about Santana... so I won't go into every song on this outing, but some really good ones are the Woodstock playing of Soul Sacrifice... that is quite good. The drumming is good, if you enjoy drumming that is.. then the jam kicks in and it is quite enjoyable.



One of my favorite CS songs is Samba Pa Ti. This version is so clean and production so good, it sounds like heaven in the earphones.



Another great song is the tune (on the third CD) called Wings Of Grace. Sometimes I feel as though in an effort to make his songs sound so free, CS often gets clumbsy, but this song Wings Of Grace is so soaring.



Side Note: I saw CS in 97 before Supernatural made him the great comeback kid, and he opened up for Dave Matthews (who really gave CS a shot in the arm introducing him to an audience that helped spur the sales of Supernatural) and there were only a spotty bunch of us in the crowd that was not there to see DMB, but to see CS. It was fun.. we had the T Shirts on and kept yelling CARLOS inbetween songs. Roots opened up for CS that night, then it was on to DMB all three sets were great..."

More than worth the money!

Fruit Loop | Down South | 11/15/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This fabulous collection of Santana's best (as of this collection's release date, anyway) is a feast for his fans and sure to attract new ones from the present generation. The tracks on Disc One alone make the set worth its purchase price with its splendid renderings of "Black Magic Woman" and "Oye Como Va". Thanks, Carlos, for giving such a treat to your fans."