Corazón- Santana

Santana caught my interest again late last year when I heard that Carlos would be reuniting the original lineup, including the amazing drummer Michael Shrieve. Unfortunately, this is the last I've heard of it, and the original lineup does not perform on this album, though maybe the recordings with them will come out later. This album is being advertised as Santana's first Spanish language album in the bands five decade history. Is it really? With Spanish being spoken on a little over half of the songs, I wouldn't call it that. Abraxas had Spanish on it, but I wouldn't call it a Spanish language album.

Anyway, is it any good? To me, this is a yes and no. First off, Santana has recruited vocalists Supernatural style, and these are definitely hit or miss. That Pitbull desecration of 'Oye Como Va' was really hard to come back from, and it didn't help that most of the livelier tracks preceded it. If I ever hear Pitbull, his whooping intro that he does before every "verse" that is totally interchangeable with and his non punchlines (Really? Mandela? Why do people keep throwing his name out there? Don't try to add poignancy to your crappy verse by disturbing the dead, please) it'll be far too soon. That song alone almost killed the album for me. The Nas featured 'Back in Black' cover of Guitar Heaven was better than that.

A lot of this album came off as too polished and soft for me. The tracks after 'Iron Lion Zion', which was good minus that awkward Spanish rap at the end, all kind of blended into each other, and totally underutilized Carlos' soloing abilities. People are listening to Santana for some inventive guitar, or at least I am. Also, that Latin country song 'Feel it Coming Back' was so weird.

That is not to say this album doesn't have its high points. The first three tracks, especially 'Mal Bicho' are pretty awesome, and I wish this album had more uptempo moments where Carlos really let loose on the guitar. Throughout this album, I didn't really feel too much energy or enthusiasm in Carlos' playing. I'm not sure if this was a project he was particularly excited about, or maybe it was just something he thought people wanted out of him, so he just did it. It's kind of disappointing, and it hurts me to say this stuff about an artist I really respect. Santana's run of albums from their debut to Borboletta are some amazing albums showcasing innovative music and amazing guitar work, and I just wish some of that energy could have come across in this. I think this project could have been salvaged if the Pitbull feature were cut, and a few livelier tracks were put on. To me, the ballads and slow songs, while not bad, weren't of particular interest, and grossly underutilized one of the best guitarists to ever walk the earth. The first half of the album (minus 'Oye 2014') was actually very good, so it was surprising that it went downhill so quickly. People might disagree when I talk badly of this album, but I doubt anyone will disagree when I say that Carlos Santana has much better songs in him than these.

Out of a total of five stars, I give this one:

Still looking forward to that original lineup reunion album. Maybe playing with the old band can rekindle that spark.

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