ONENESS - SILVER DREAMS, GOLDEN REALITY

I bought this cassette 30 years ago. It was a favorite of mine back then. 25 years after I listened to it for the last time, I grabbed it and a cassette player again and listened to it for a week.

This album is a mix of fusion dominated by Carlos Santana's excellent guitarplaying and some other elements I do not care too much about. Those elements are funk and latin-pop. The title track is a pop ballad, no less. A pretty good one, I have to add. But there is some other stuff here which reminds me about Lionel Ritchie and Commodores. I can live with the funk stuff, but not with that pop stuff. But thankfully, Carlos Santana let his guitar rip enough times to make me almost forget those moments. His guitars and the fusion stuff are the stuff here I really like. It also makes me more interested in his other work and I will explore more of his stuff in the coming years.

My main gripe with this album is the huge diversity which to me seems like a ship without a captain. This album feels like a mix of whatever came floating down the river. Anyway, I love some of the stuff on this album and I am pleased. My musical taste was not that hopeless 30 years ago. Viva Carlos Santana.

3 stars