Search - Santana :: San Mateo Sessions

Not quite ready for prime-time

06/29/2002

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Well, there's good news and bad news. First the bad news - they didn't find their groove on these sessions - they're kinda stiff. The good news - they didn't stop practicing. There's still hope for all of us frustrated musicians. The first Santana album (with the lion cover) is almost the same line-up, some of the same songs, and from the same time period, but what a difference. For early work, I prefer "Live at the Fillmore 1968 [LIVE]"; a year earlier, a few different musicians, but performing live seems to have loosened them up. BTW, what ever happened to Dave Brown (bass)? He laid a great foundation."

Raw Psychedelica

J. Brown | Lancaster, PA | 05/25/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Not ready for prime time," one reviewer writes, forgetting to remind us that "prime time" is the TV slot for middle of the road, "accessible" programming. Instead, let's say this is completely ready for cable.



This CD rocks because it reveals the band as it wanted itself to be in its raw form. Consider this sugar in the raw compared to Satana's relatively over-produced processed sugar of the later studio albums. If you're using to dumping white sugar in your coffee, it'll take some getting used to."