MOONFLOWER

Santana is one of those artists that I've known for years, but never gave the effort to get better acquainted with. Moonflower was the first Santana album I picked up 20 years ago and even though I generally enjoy it a lot, I still haven't gotten much further into his discography. Suggestions are welcome!

Moonflower is a strange hybrid of new studio tracks mixed with live performances. The musical terrain covered over the course of its 90 minute length is huge, going from jazz-fusion, soul, blues, Latin percussion and heavy rock to smooth pop. The eclectic nature of it is guaranteed to challenge anyone's taste. For me, the pop of I'll Be Waiting and the velvety muzak of Transcendance is quite tedious, not to say annoying. It's sure competent in its own right but it makes me cringe, can't help it. By contrast, other hits such as Black Magic Woman, Europe and She's Not There work a lot better. The highlights for me are the more vivacious tracks such as Let The Children Play/Jugando, Soul Sacrifice and Savor.

If I ever get around to listening to earlier Sanatana work, this album might need to take a step down to 3 stars, but for now, the invigorating musicianship and Carlos Santana's emotive guitar playing sure warrant 4 stars.