Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 6-10 of 31
 For his recent fans - Very heavy on the later (i.e. - the "Featuring...") years October 19, 2007
B. Dobie (Madison, WI USA)
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
It is true that this Best Of... disc covers Santana's entire career, and it DOES cover Santana's music on Columbia and Arista, but don't be fooled by those ideas. It is VERY loaded with more recent Santana hits, with a few of his more classic songs thrown in for good measure.
Most of the songs are from the Supernatural era and beyond (1999-), so you are missing a great, great chunk of Santana's 60's - 80's music. For most of Santana's relatively new fans, this is a fine compliation of pop hits. More serious/long-term fans are probably better suited to hold onto their previously bought (one of many) compilation CDs.
The ULTIMATE collection? This is not. Santana needs a substantial double-CD covering everything: the 60's and 70's latin soul jams, the 80's pop stuff (yes, including "Winning"), while still including the Arista years. Wait for it.
All things considered, this is a fine compilation. The mastering is very clean and dynamic--it does sound great. Unfortunately, the track selection just misses the mark...
Good disc for the casual fan November 2, 2007
A. Gammill (West Point, MS United States)
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
Of course, there will always be two types of Santana fans: Those who cherish the band's "classic"-era output like "Black Magic", "Evil Ways," etc.; and those who didn't discover them until the latter-day collaboration discs with the likes of Rob Thomas, Michelle Branch, etc. I'm not sure which type of fan I am, because I like most of the songs on this disc. But's it's not a perfect compilation.
While the emphasis on more recent songs is understandable--there are at least FOUR other best of/greatest hits/essential collections out there--the exlusion of the Michelle Branch collaboration "I'm Feeling You" is hard to forgive.
Of the new songs, only the collaboration with Jennifer Lopez really works. The first single, "Into the Night," with Nickelback's Chad Kroeger, is just awful. Now, I realize Nickelback has sold millions of albums and all that, but Kroeger's droning monotone voice is completely wrong for a Latin-flavored song of passion. Maybe the band felt obliged to work with him again after his song on SHAMAN ("Why Don't You and I") was re-recorded and made into a hit with Alex Band. "Game of Love," redone with Tina Turner doesn't fair much better, if only because it reminds one of how Michelle Branch's version was just that much better.
For casual fans, this single-disc collection could be all the Santana they need. But "Ultimate" Santana it ain't.
 Viva Santana! October 19, 2007
Robert Lanxner (Millsboro, Pa)
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
All in all this is a great CD. My feeling is that it should have been a double disk as it's impossible to fit the Ultimate Santana onto one CD. Where is She's not there, Winning, Well alright, Open invitation, All I ever wanted. With that said, if we look at a single disk version as a great collection of Santana songs, here you go. Every song is incredible, remastering is perfect. The older tracks blend seamlessly with the newer ones. There is not a weak track on the CD, enjoyable listening. Carlos's guitar work get's better with age, if that's possible. Don't look at this as missing tracks and being incomplete, look at it as a masterful body of work and play it loud!
Recently recruited fan and loving it! November 4, 2007
frisky2000 (smallville)
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
I'll admit, I never knew more than a handful of this Latin rocker's tunes growing up, and until he released SMOOTH with R. Thomas, and THE GAME OF LOVE with M. Branch, I never bought a single album. This one, however, has brought me up to date on the Carlos Santana of later years, and for new fans such as myself, it is the perfect compilation of some old and lots of recent hits. I know the original fans of this icon won't appreciate that many of the early hits are missing here, but for a new recruit like me, it includes the well known older songs, plus all the recent ones and is one terrific disc. It's already on REPEAT in my disc player. Bravo!
 Re-hash of old Santana November 17, 2007
Theodore L. Medina (Northern California)
1 out of 4 found this review helpful
I have been listening to Santana for over 30 years and this is nothing new. To re-hash the same music and sell it is an embarassment to the great musician that Carlos Santana is. If I want to hear old/greatest hits of Santana, I will get out my old records/CD's.
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