June 15, 1999 - Supernatural

It's a quadruple release day! On this very popular day and over five and a half years since their last brief appearance in my library, Santana released their eighteenth album "Supernatural" on June 15, 1999 and it's my first full album of theirs since the 70s! Of course Carlos Santana is still the main attraction on guitar but there are a lot of different musicians who help out on this album, with no two songs having the same line-up! The most common ones are bassist Benny Rietveld, percussionists Raul Rekow (who was actually around in the late 70s) and Karl Perazzo and keyboardist Chester Thompson, but even they aren't on every song. There is no official singer on this album either, Carlos does some vocals himself but there's usually a guest doing the vocals on this album. Santana wanted to work with a bunch of the biggest artists at the time so this album has a ton of guest appearances and it was also massively popular, hitting #1 in several different countries. Let's see what Santana can do!

The album begins with "(Da Le) Yaleo" and Thompson plays some nice piano to lead the way while Carlos and percussionist Perazzo are the ones singing the Spanish lyrics. Carlos adds some pretty coop guitar overtop the main riff at times and after a bit we reach solo time! It starts with Thompson playing a cool little piano solo, then Carlos is up and he of course delivers some pretty sweet guitar in his solo. After the guitar solo the percussionists get their own solo, or rather duo, as Rekow and Perazzo combine for some pretty cool congas and percussion. Carlos then solos overtop the main riff as they jam and jam until things eventually fade to a close. A very Santana way to kick things off and it was pretty good! Up next is "Love Of My Life" and it's featuring Dave Matthews on vocals as well as his drummer Carter Beauford. Beauford plays a nice drum beat as Carlos leads the way with some slow but super epic guitar. Matthews vocals are not my favourite but he sounds decent enough and it fits with this smooth and light mood. After a few rounds of this the mood shifts to a more upbeat Latina beat and Carlos plays some nice guitar to lead the way. This goes on for several minutes, right until the end of the song and there's lots of guitar and some nice percussion by Perazzo as well. I liked the instrumental part the best for sure! Track 3 is "Put Your Lights On" and it's featuring hip-hop singer Everlast and he has a very low and raspy voice that sounds more like blues than it does hip-hop. It's Everlast who plays the rhythm guitar that keeps the pace while Carlos plays the epic lead part. The verse is pretty smooth and Everlast sounds solid and this Carrie's over into the similar chorus which has some pretty cool guitar by Carlos. There's an even a short breakdown that sounds decently heavy and this is not what I expected at all but I like it! It's very smooth and nicely done. The next track is "Africa Bamba" and Carlos does lead vocals in addition to his guitar as this song has Spanish lyrics as well. It has a nice chill Latin vibe to it and Carlos plays some pretty cool lead guitar overtop of the light backdrop that includes some pretty cool Spanish guitar. Carlos vocals are nothing special honestly, but they keep things sounding very Spanish indeed and I think the two different guitar sounds sound pretty awesome to alternate between. Carlos delivers a pretty good solo and then things explode into a louder finale with lots of nice percussion, guitar and all kinds of backing vocals while Carlos rants in Spanish. It's a chaotic but pretty cool finish to another nice, smooth song. Track 5 is one of the massively successful singles "Smooth" and it features Rob Thomas from Matchbox 20 on lead vocals. It's got an extremely catchy main riff with some great drums, some nice horns, some great guitar and some pretty solid vocals by Thomas. It's an apt title because the song is very smooth indeed and the chorus is impossible not to sing along with. It's no surprise this was a huge success and Carlos of course delivers an epic guitar solo to match the mood perfectly. He continues to play some great guitar as they jam out the ending and they really nailed it with this one, it sounds great! Up next is "Do You Like The Way" featuring hip-hop artists Lauryn Hill and Cee-Lo Green on vocals and for me, it's easily the worst song on the album. Lauryn Hill's rapping vocals sound awful in my opinion and Cee-Lo's backing vocals are nothing special either. The horns sound alright and Carlos eventually does play some solid guitar, but the song is definitely ruined for me by Hill's and Green's poor vocals. Carlos cannot save this from being the black eye on an otherwise pretty good album. Track 7 is another massively succesful single "Maria Maria" and it features rap duo The Product G&B on lead vocals. It's got a pretty catchy rhythm section that features a whole strings section and Carlos plays some pretty cool Spanish guitar to lead the way while one of the G&B guys sings in a high, very pop-y voice. It's definitely not my thing, but it's tolerable and it does fit the mood pretty well. When Carlos switches to electric guitar he plays some epic stuff, and then returns to the Spanish guitar for another pop-y verse. The other G&B guy is barely noticeable in the background and if it wasn't for Carlos' guitar this would definitely not be a good song, but in this case I think Carlos does do enough to save it and make things at least decent. The next track is "Migra" and drummer Rodney Holmes plays a nice beat, Carlos plays some pretty epic and cool guitar and percussionist Karl Perazzo does the vocals on this song and his shouting vocals match the mood really nicely, in both Spanish and English! Carlos is the star of course with some great guitar throughout but Thompson adds some interesting keyboards as well and there's some cool trumpet and trombone too. Rietveldt plays a nice bass line midway through to set the stage for Carlos's solo and he nails this one with a long and pretty great solo before they return to the main riff to jam things out. I thought it was a pretty bumpin' tune! Track 9 is "Corazón Espinado" and it's featuring Spanish artist Manà on lead vocals. It's got a groovy piano riff to start things off and everyone builds nicely around it for a smooth Latin riff with Carlos coming in and out with some nice guitar bits. Mana's vocals sound very Spanish indeed but I think he sounds solid and fits the mood perfectly. Santana delivers a nice solo midway through and then another pretty great one as they jam out the ending and I loved the vibe on this one, this is the kind of stuff I want from Santana! Up next is "Wishing It Was" and this time lead vocals are done by Swedish singer Eagle-Eye Cherry. It's got a smooth rhythm guitar riff as well as some smooth bass by Rietveldt and of course Carlos plays some epic lead guitar overtop. Eagle-Eye Cherry has a bit of an unusual voice but it's not bad and as usual it fits the mood of the song pretty well. Thompson plays some nice old-school organ that I like and while it's a little repetitive, it is a pretty smooth main riff. Guess how Carlos's solo was? Pretty freaking good, duh! And it continues into the final verse as Santana continue to pump out the smooth and accessible tunes. Track 11 is "El Farol" and it has a pretty slow pace with some decent slow bass while Carlos plays some epicly slow guitar to lead the way. There are no vocals on this song and I think the lack of a guest singer is welcome as Santana play some great instrumental music. Carlos picks it up a little in the latter half of the song and while the mood and pace is not what I normally want from Santana, they do a good job with this one. The next track is "Primavera" and the lead vocals on this one are done by K.C. Porter, who helped Thompson out with additional keyboards on a few songs this album as well. Porter sings in a mix of Spanish and English and his voice is alright but it's too pop-y for me. It's a pretty catchy main riff with some cool percussion by Perazzo and of course Carlos coming in and out with cool guitar parts. If not for Carlos this would be a lesser song, but as usual the guitar is pretty good and it's enough to save this song, even though over six minutes feels long. The final track on the album is "The Calling" and it's listed at over twelve minutes long and it also features Eric Clapton joining Carlos on guitar! Thompson plays some epic droning keyboards in the background as Carlos and Eric both come in and out with guitar bits that all sound pretty sweet. After two and a half minutes of this the bass and drums finally come in and establish a new riff that is pretty catchy and Thompson follows with some solid keyboards and then comes some cool guitar! Tony Lindsay and Jeanie Tracy sing together and they sound solid singing together overtop this catchy new riff. Carlos and Eric take turns in a long solo that sounds pretty good and after a long fadeout this song actually ends at 7:49. After a short bit of silence we get the bonus track "Day Of Celebration" which has Carlos playing some pretty sweet Spanish guitar and also lots of great percussion. The bass in the background is solid as well and along with some smooth backing keyboards this is a pretty cool bonus track at the end of the album! After a really awesome solo by Carlos, Tony Lindsay shows up again and he sings a verse on his own and I don't like him nearly as much without the female singer as well. Thankfully the music continues to be great and this is still a great way to wrap things up.

That is the end of "Supernatural" and I thought it was a good album for the most part. Some of the guest singers were not my favourite, but some of them were decent and overall it was a solid enough album. Carlos Santana plays a ton of great guitar, which is obviously why we're here, and it's very easy to see why this album was so succesful and globally widespread. It's pretty pop-y at times for me though and it's certainly not one of their better albums in my opinion. I think it still beats the bottom rung of "Caravanserai" but it's not as good as "Welcome" and so 9th out 10 is where this star-studded effort falls. Carlos definitely still has it though!