BLACK MAGIC WOMAN, THE BEST OF

"I am convinced that this band, which is really a city band bringing us the hot pavements and the cool nights as well as the rumble and roar of the city, is solidly linked back to the hill country, the savannahs and the inlands plains music of Africa and Cuba ." - Ralph J. Gleason, Rolling Stone, November, 1971.

Well, I think that statement which appears at the opening part of CD sleeve of this compilation has proven to be right as we can see how big Santana is today. As far as reviewing this compilation please do not expect me to say something about how prog the music is as most of Santana's music to my ears do not seem like any prog style at all. But it's okay, I still enjoy the music of Santana is this is part of my life and was part of my childhood favorites as well. I remember vividly during fasting period of Ramadhan I played Santana music all day long with songs like "No One To Depend On", "Guajira", "Oye Comova", "Black Magic Woman" and "El Raton" (collaborative effort with other musician).

This compilation is I think one of the best compilations I have ever known. It's not because of selection of songs but from the perspective of how this is packaged. The CD sleeve, in folded glossy paper, is very informative. There is one big chart that indicates Santana "Family Tree" from the band's first inception. So, listeners will have a full picture on how thae band was started and the who's who.

The sleeve also features detailed information from which album each track in this compilation is taken plus the information on released date (no just year) complete with picture of album cover. This is quite rare that a compilation album has such detailed information, useful for collectors.

I don't intend to review at track by track level as most of the songs are vary familiar with most of us. For me personally, this is an excellent compilation. Keep on proggin' ..!

When you are entering the average recored shop, you will be flooded by Santana compilations, incredible how many has been released, often for very low prices and with a 'smell of bootleg'. The main reason to review this compilation is that the track list looks good featuring the classic compositions with the Latin-rock sound like Black Magic Woman, Evil Ways, Jingo (mindblowing percussive riff) and Oye Como Va. I am not a fan of songs like HOld On, I'll Be Waiting, Winning and Wnning but you will be very pleased with two excellent instrumentals: the known Europa and the very overlooked I love You Much Too Much, the guitarwork in that song is so moving and captures the spirit of Santana his unsurpassed emotional guitarplay, a big hand for the 'master of the sustain'!