Progarchives, the progressive rock ultimate discography
Santana - Lotus CD (album) cover

LOTUS

Santana

 

Jazz Rock/Fusion

3.85 | 128 ratings

From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website

ZowieZiggy
Prog Reviewer
3 stars At the time of release (1974), it was the first official live album from Santana. It was recorded at Osaka on July 3rd and 4th, 1973.

It is a pity that Caranvanserai is not more representedand since they haven't released a "legacy" one for it. I'm afraid we won't get more live performances form this wonderful album. This tour was the Welcome support but Santana will only play two numbers from it : "Going Home" and "Yours Is The Light").

At that time already, Carlos was very mystical : look at the leaflet inside the double CD with lots of religious pictures : from catholic to buddhist; to be convinced. This tendancy will only increase and start to be a bit unbearable during the concerts.

There are some very good live moments on this album : "Every Step of the Way", "Gypsy Queen", "Yours Is the Light", a samba version for "Samba Pa' Ti" which I like very much even if it is quite different from the original. It is really a samba during the second half. I like it a lot in this version.

There are some stupid cuts in great songs : why did they play "Batuka" for 54 seconds ? On top of that, there's no way to tell that it is a part of the original song ! "Stone Flower" only features the introduction which is also a pity for this great track. It should have definitely deserves more.

There are quite a few weak and unknown tracks as well : "A1Funk", "Xibaba", "Mantra", "Kyoto" (with long drum solo) , "Mr. Udo" and "Free Angela") : these all together reach about thirty-two minutes (25% of the album).

At last, there are some average ones : "Going Home", "Black Magic Woman" due to the poor vocals otherwise it is good, "Waiting", "Castillos de Arena", and "Samba De Sausalito".

All in all it is not as bad an effort as it is often said but Santana will produce better live efforts later on.

Considered that 25% is poor, another 25 is average and 50% are good to very good, my rating is three stars.

ZowieZiggy | 3/5 |

MEMBERS LOGIN ZONE

As a registered member (register here if not), you can post rating/reviews (& edit later), comments reviews and submit new albums.

You are not logged, please complete authentication before continuing (use forum credentials).

Forum user
Forum password

Share this SANTANA review

Social review comments () BETA







Review related links

Copyright Prog Archives, All rights reserved. | Legal Notice | Privacy Policy | Advertise | RSS + syndications

Other sites in the MAC network: JazzMusicArchives.com — jazz music reviews and archives | MetalMusicArchives.com — metal music reviews and archives

Donate monthly and keep PA fast-loading and ad-free forever.