At last !! a new Santana album that rawks !!

[SeeMoore]

Downloaded the new Santana release "Guitar Heaven", and so far Sunshine of your Love and While my Guitar Gently Weeps are my favorites.

Most of the guitar work is a big cut above the last offering and the "guest star" theme actualy works this time..

It's all covers but in the style of Santana and a couple songs really remind me of the old Santana, jammin' just for the sake of jammin'.

There is a vid offered which shows "the making of.." and it gives one a behind the scenes look with lots of amps, but didn't see a Dumble on the first viewing.

Not to mention that Santana will be on Dancing with the Stars tonight, which the only "made for chicks, celeb, reality, off with your head phone voting" thing I can tolerate.

[Ziggy AngelDust]

This board has already shat all over this record.

I heard some (most?) of the clips on youtube and thought I heard some phat tones and fiery playing, but it appears that we are in the minority.

[SeeMoore]

I'll have to do a search and see what the concensus is, not that it really matters, I like the album.

[reo73]

I will give him credit for some phat tone, BUT I can't stand his tired and repetitive phrasing in all his solos. How he ever became some type of guitar legend is beyond me.

[goodsal]

I'm a huge Santana fan, but I was terribly disappointed by this album. It sounded like a wedding band playing cheesy covers, with Carlos wanking some solos over the mix. The vocals on most tracks reminded me of those old William Shatner covers from the late 60s. I did like the While My Guitar Gently Weeps track and the Back in Black hip-hop version, but otherwise I found myself cringing a lot.

[pickaguitar]

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/sho...=santana+shark

[2HBStrat]

If you're only familiar with "Smooth" and the Michelle Branch/Santana collaborations and you think that Santana is finally rocking then you need to go back to the beginning. There's some fiery rocking stuff from every period of Santana's career. Judging Santana solely on 'Smooth' is like judging Clapton on 'My father's Eyes' and 'Tears in Heaven'.

[Curt]

I love his playing...but the new album is terrible.
It sounded like rock and roll with easy listening back up singers.
Just plain disappointing.

[iamdavea]

Deciding to do a Van Halen cover, and then selecting "Dance The Night Away" tells me all I need to know.

[markbosko]

If you go back to some of his best stuff, early Santana at Woodstock, what makes him stand out is his tone and passion, not really his technical prowness on the guitar. It's mostly straight forward dorian mode runs, arpeggios, and a few basic blues licks and bends. It doesn't have to be complex to sound great. His more recent playing has too much processing in his sound and it robs him of his tone and neutralizes his passion.

[BryanMatthews]

Originally Posted by reo73

I will give him credit for some phat tone, BUT I can't stand his tired and repetitive phrasing in all his solos. How he ever became some type of guitar legend is beyond me.

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was this triplets pull off phrase in any (all ) of the songs ?

i swear if i hear him play it one more time.......

[lhallam]

One of things that makes Carlos unique is that he was pretty much the first guy to infuse latin stylings into rock music.

He also plays some tasteful licks.

Also for those tired of his "same old", gtr playing there are precious, precious few that can re-invent themselves. At least he is trying different musical styles and ideas, from working the McLaughlin to the more pop stuff.

[pete692]

Originally Posted by iamdavea

Deciding to do a Van Halen cover, and then selecting "Dance The Night Away" tells me all I need to know.

[iamdavea]

Thanks, Pete, I'll be here all week; don't forget to tip your waitresses; you've been beautiful!

[Scott Auld]

Originally Posted by markbosko

...early Santana at Woodstock, what makes him stand out is his tone and passion, not really his technical prowness on the guitar. It's mostly straight forward dorian mode runs, arpeggios, and a few basic blues licks and bends. It doesn't have to be complex to sound great.

Great post.