Search - Santana :: Ultimate Santana

Kind of an odd collection

Jason Weber | 08/09/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Imagine what a CD titled Ultimate Michael Jackson that only contains 7 songs from his Off the Wall, Thriller, and Bad albums, and the remaining 12 or so songs from his History and Invincible albums. As much as I love Santana, this CD is kind of a strange collection with much of his older songs not included in favor of his newer albums, including two versions of Game of Love. I much preferred the older Santana during his peak in the early 70s with Evil Ways and Oye Como Va, and it does include his absolute most famous older songs such as those and Black Magic Woman, but also leaves much to be desired. His newer songs are good, but some of them are nowhere near the level of expertise and professionalism and soul as his earlier songs. If you are more of a fan of his newer songs, this album might appeal to you, and you do get a few of his old songs, but if you are a fan of Santana's 70s hits, this CD will only disappointed you. I recommend passing this CD up to get a compiliation album of his older material, and then buying his newer albums if you like his new style and updated sound. Of course you still get kind of a jazzy/soulful sound with his newer stuff, but its nowhere near as groundbreaking as his older stuff, and I can't stress that enough. This is still a good album, but it just is a very odd compilation, that includes more of his less desirable stuff, and less of his absolute best."