BORBOLETTA

Like I already said in my review of Caravanserai I will do only 3 Santana albums (reason: see there). And of those three I think this is the all time greatest by this guitar master and his band. Maybe not even compositionswise but at least where the mood/atmosphere is concerned and also where the arrengement of the songs is concerned. The build up of this album is more than brilliant !

First about the mood/atmosphere factor: this is the only album in my entire collection that always brings me in a fine mood. This album simply breathes summer and sunshine to me. Must be also thanks to the very beginning and the very end of it producing the jungle sounds. That alone is already stunning and brilliant because it's the start of my good mood. After this short overture a very fine instrumental follows in a way only Santana can play them. Talking about atmosphere ! Next three are wonderful accessible songs that flow over in each other very nicely and complete the great mood it can get you into. It's a process, I don't even know how they do it and maybe I'm the only one that experiences this but it works every time !

And if you think this was the best: wrong ! The best is yet to come. Not in the 5 middle songs, they just see to it that you stay in the great mood before the highlight track sets in: Promise of a fisherman. The short song before that sets it in (Flor de Canela) and imperceptibly it flows over in the great rhythmic supersong. I try to drum it along for a quarter of a century now (it's very contagious) but it always causes a pair of sore arms.

The already mentioned jungle sounds round things up with this (almost) masterpiece. Because it's almost I will give it 4 stars but it's actually 4,4.