ABRAXAS

Abraxas is the second album of the famous latin-proggers Santana. They show a more sophisticated and professional sound and with the major hit "black magic woman" - which is actually a cover of Fleetwood Mac - this became the absolute breakthrough record for Santana. Because of the colourfull covers Santana is often related to the psychedelic scene, but the music fits far better in the the progressive/fusion scene, because of the percussion, which is not so different from Miles Davis on Bitches Brew, and songwriting. The latin influences in the music became Santana's trademark and are prominent on these early records.

The record is mainly filled with instrumental parts, which differ from latin hardrock to latin ballads. Carlos Santana's guitarsound is mainly subtle, but can rock on the heavier parts. The more song-like parts also change from subtle (on black magic woman) to distorted (on Hope you're feeling better). The percussion is the other most important part of Santana's sound and sounds fine. Santana highly skilled guitarplay makes this a good record; not much better then their debut however. A nice, but easy listening.