Search - Santana :: III (Legacy Edition)

Sounds Great !!

P. Andre Gosselin | 03/21/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Beautiful music that will keep you groovin'.

Nice package but the real treat is the overall sound on both these discs wich is very natural and close to the analog warmth of the original release,PLUS the live disc, wich you will find yourself listening to as often as the studio version."

SABOR AMIGOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sergio Rodriguez Heredia | san clemente del tuyu, Buenos Aires Argentina | 07/26/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"WILD ERUPTION OF BURNIN' MELODIE...Incandescent kaleidoscope of crude improvisation..magnificent edition of Legacy recreating the Santana's third disc,besides offering "the live at Fillmore West"!!! too much, too much for the mediocrity of the current discs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Last of the First

Richard B. Luhrs | Jackson Heights, NY United States | 06/19/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"With their 1971 third album, the members of the "old" Santana band furthered the jazz, Latin and soul grooves which had distinguished their earlier recordings and also expanded their lineup. The result was a stylish and powerful entry which would, alas, also prove to be the group's swan song - at least in this form.

The timbale-led groove which sets "Batuka" in motion sounds familiar enough, but the blazing performance which follows reveals just how much Santana had grown since the previous year's ABRAXAS. Sixteen-year-old newcomer Neal Schon (who would later form Journey with keyboardist/singer Gregg Rolie) offers up lead guitar licks which at times are even more furious than Carlos Santana's own, and the rest of the band keeps pace with what by this point were some of the most accomplished chops in the music world. "No One to Depend On," which was released in heavily edited form as a single, is far better appreciated in its stomping original incarnation. "Taboo" is a nice Rolie composition, by turns dreamily romantic and screamingly straightforward. "Toussaint L'Overture," one of Santana's most famed instrumentals, seamlessly blends rock and Latin styles in a scorched-earth performance by all hands.

Side two of the original LP opens with Santana's most overt nod to straight soul music, "Everybody's Everything." Backed by a full horn section, this celebratory sermon changes the mood considerably, as in its turn does the unadulterated south-of-the-border groove of "Guajira." "Jungle Strut" is yet another instrumental which cooks on a very high flame, while "Everything's Coming Our Way" offers leader Carlos a chance to try out his vocal skills (for which, dare I say it, he's not likely to win any prizes) on a bit of hippie philosophizing. Easily the album's weakest track, it nevertheless adds some more variety before "Para Los Rumberos" takes things out at a pace so breathless the listener can't decide whether to dance or crack up laughing.

Three excellent unreleased instrumental numbers, as well as the single edit of "No One to Depend On," round out the first disc of this Legacy Edition reissue, making it a more than essential purchase in its own right. But disc two literally doubles the pleasure with Santana's complete Independence Day 1971 concert at the Fillmore West in San Francisco, the final band to hit the stage on the famed venue's final night. Much of the then-yet-to-be-released SANTANA III gets tackled in fine fashion, along with a selection of earlier gems and a nice reworking of Joe Zawinul and Miles Davis' "In a Silent Way." Now, if that's not reason enough for an upgrade, I don't know what is."