Santana IV
| Santana
Santana IV
Santana IV is the twenty-fourth studio album (thirty eighth album overall) by American rock band Santana, released in April 2016. The album reunited most of the surviving members from the early 1970s lineup of the band (including Carlos Santana, Gregg Rolie, Neal Schon, Mike Carabello and Michael Shrieve) and was the first time that the quintet had recorded together since 1971's Santana III. Timbalist José Areas was not invited to participate. Joining these "core" members were later Santana members Karl Perazzo (percussion) and Benny Rietveld (bass), with vocalist Ronald Isley guesting on two cuts. Santana IV included 16 new tracks written and produced by the band.-Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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Ultimate Classic Rock
April 14, 2016. Clearly emboldened by their reconciliation, and understandably inclined to let everyone join in the conversation, a few songs simply go on too long. But that also traces back to Santana's earliest days together as a band, and so – to paraphrase the title of a seven-plus minute workout that closes out this 16-track album – we forgive.
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NPR
April 7, 2016. Being in a band feels a lot like being in a relationship: Making music with another person borders on spiritual, and is one of the most intimate experiences you can share with another individual. That's precisely why the long-awaited reunion of mid-'70s-era Santana works so well on record: These musicians' chemistry is palpable, and it flows through Santana IV, their new album together.
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Rolling Stone
April 14, 2016. The songwriting falls back on familiar moods and grooves – “Leave Me Alone” equals “Evil Ways” on 1969’s Santana – but it’s nostalgia with an edge, reunion as confession. Santana IV is arguably the group’s best lineup admitting they threw it all away, way too soon.
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Consequence of Sound
April 11, 2016. Classic lineup reunites for a step in the right direction.
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AllMusic
Two years in the making, Santana IV marks the reunion of nearly all members of the 1971-1972 band, arguably its greatest lineup. . . . Unlike the reunions of most classic rockers, this one proves its musical mettle, even when the album gives in to excess.
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USA Today
April 14, 2916. Reunited musicians jam, winningly, on 'Santana IV'.
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Sputnik Music
April 18, 2016. After 45 years, most of the original members reunited to create a proper follow-up to III . . . .
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Off The Tracks
July 17, 2016. It was always going to be a gamble and it’s been long overdue – and while Santana IV is not (consistently) great and is far, far too long . . . it is the best thing Carlos Santana has been involved with since 1990s Spirits Dancing In The Flesh.
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Red Dirt Report
July 5, 2016. "Santana IV" album successfully reunites classic-era lineup. The band, all things said, is tight and playful. They all sound as if they were actually ready to get back in the studio and rekindle that old Santana magic.
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Relix
May 19, 2016. Santana IV is nothing less than a masterwork, one of the most dazzling, impeccably crafted creations that any of these musicians has ever been involved with.
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Live for Live Music
April 10, 2016. The music on Santana IV just sounds so fresh; so full of life. While there’s no denying that the classics are indeed classics, the pure energy and wisdom exuded from IV makes it a sure contender for the guitarist’s best albums yet.
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Boston Herald
Apirl 15, 2016. This is a bit bloated at 16 songs and the lyrics are often weak, but there’s no denying the instrumental fire these musicians bring to the table 45 years later.
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Record Collector
. . . Santana IV rolls back the years to the time when the band melded spicy percussive Latin grooves with searing blues-rock.
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Something Else!
April 14, 2016. Even if all this record accomplished was to remind us of what made the Santana band so groundbreaking, influential and appealing back when it was creating a stir at Woodstock and dominating the radio, this could be called a success. It does that, plus a little bit more.
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Guitar Player
August 29, 2016. Remarkably, the band pretty much picks up right where the third album left off a whopping 45 years ago. The interplay between Schon and Santana is stellar throughout.
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The Fire Note
June 8, 2016. This collaboration is long overdue and worth the wait.
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Rock The Body Electric
April 13, 2016. A mixed bag and an odd overall feel.
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Glide Magazine
April 19, 2016. In drawing on their fundamental influences for Santana IV—blues, hard rock and Latin strains— this group transcends self-consciousness and allows the music to come to them naturally. Virtually nothing sounds forced here, the musicianship instead replete with the abandon of their previous work, leavened with a self-discipline deriving from experience, a crucial element that only further elevates its resonance.
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AP News
April 15, 2016. You’ll find everything here — including what feels like at times, the kitchen sink.
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Blank Gold Coast
March 6, 2016. This is an album full of jams traversing the Latin, jazz, blues and rock idioms fused by a group of players who implicitly understand each other’s strengths working off every nuance and taking the music into new and uncharted territory.
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Herald Standard - Clints Music Review
April 21, 2016. From the opening notes of the funky “Yambu” to the tender closing of “Forgiveness,” “Santana IV” carries a vibrant energy as the band picks up right where it left off by delivering another stirring set of spirited songs possessing elements of blues, rock and Latin flavorings earlier offered on Santana’s first three albums.
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GIGsoup
May 9, 2016. Yet effortlessly, amazingly, magically, the original Woodstock lineup comes together to create a sound every bit as cool as it was back when they made their first three albums. They make it official by naming their project ‘Santana IV’. A spiritual successor if ever there was one.
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NCPR News
April 7, 2016. . . . if it sounds more familiar today than it did 40 years ago, that's to be expected — especially from the performers who invented this sound. To this day, no one does it better.
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Financial Times
From the opening notes of “Yambu”, it is 1970 all over again: winds sing, beasts cry, and Shamanic chants ring out against liquid Latin guitar. The album is percussion-heavy, with Mike Carabello to the fore: the band sound as if they could still rock Woodstock.
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The Progressive Aspect
August 2, 2016. This is the reunion album you have been waiting for. Santana has created a template that I hope other future reunions will follow. IV is a masterpiece and proof that this reunion should not be a one–off and I hope they will come back with Santana V as they should never have broken up in the first place. Enjoy every minute of this album… as soon as you can.
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thebluze
April 14, 2016. It still is an amazing album. This is an album I want to hear again and again. It conjures up the magic from long ago without sounding dated. It also does not sound like they are pandering to current audiences and sounding out of touch. People, this is a big accomplishment and it should be acknowledged. Buy this album.
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ARockR
Apirl 11, 2016. Santana IV is not without its highlights; some of the songs on this album mark the closest we have gotten to that “classic” Santana sound in years. But at the same time, the album feels lacking, like something is missing.
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cleveland.com
April 13, 2016. Carlos Santana and Neal Schon "put the band back together'' from 1971's "Santana III'' for the new release, and managed to capture all the magic of that album, the last Santana album until "Supernatural'' in 1999 to hit No. 1 on the charts.
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Blues Magazine
April 21, 2016. But as a big surprise Santana is now completely back. With a brand new album. As if nothing happened between 1971 and 2016, . . . . And the band does not disappoint with this leap back in time. The recognisability radiates from it.
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Rolling Stone.de
May 20, 2016. . . . "Santana IV" brings together the cast of the early 70s for an album that could hardly be more classical. . . . The (old, necessarily outdated) vibe actually sets in, the energy level is right, the performance is agile.
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Classic Rock Magazin
Apirl 15, 2016. After intensive studio recordings in the past two years, The SANTANA IV, wrapped in a debut-memory cover by Heather Griffin-Vine, actually blends seamlessly with the Multiplatin works SANTANA (1969), ABRAXAS (1970) and SANTANA III (1971) in terms of quality and authenticity: . . . .
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The Dedicated Rocker Society
The album signifies the first time since 1971's Santana III that this line up has recorded together. The album is a triumph of great mix of latin and pop music. It resurrects much of the original Latin rock sound without attempting to imitate the band's early sound. It sounds new, refreshing, & highly energized. Highly Recommended
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Amoeba Music
April 15, 2016. Santana has never sounded more like the Santana people love until this came along. The perfect rock album to listen to while enjoying a cold drink on these hot days.
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laut.de
April 15, 2016. "IV" proves that Carlos Santana is a great guitarist who, as an artist, is extremely dependent on his musical environment. Now he has finally come home.
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Get Ready To Rock
April 13, 2016. If there is a criticism – and I suppose we are 45 years on – there is a lack of real urgency in this update . . . and in particular the absence of incendiary, extended duelling from Messrs. Santana, Rolie and Schon. But, to be honest, it is a joy to hear Carlos’ guitar cut through unencumbered by mediocrity (‘Guitar Heaven’) or the strictures of a more purely Latin approach . . . .
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Metaleater
April 16, 2016. Suffice it to say that Santana IV is everything we could have hoped for it to be, and much more. It boasts a total of 16 diverse tracks and is loaded with all the staple elements you would expect to find on an authentic Santana release. Afro-Cuban rhythms; Latin-inspired hooks; B3 organ vibes; soulful, uplifting vocals; bluesy, Rock-infused guitar riffs/solos; it's all here. This is the stuff Santana are made of!
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Wheel In The Sky
April 15, 2016. Few bands can pick up a musical dialog after 45 years apart, but on Santana IV each band member reaches a new level of virtuosity and communal intuition on a collection of songs that easily stands side-by-side with the group's treasured early work.
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Music Enthusiast
And I like what I hear enough to hope that they do a follow-up, definitely with a better lyricist and with some really magical tunes, ones that have more “personality” if you know what I mean.
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Vintage Rock
A touching sendoff, indeed. You spin through Santana IV and you think these guys shouldn’t have ever stopped making music together.
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San Francisco Chronicle
April 20, 2016. “Santana IV” is the quintet’s first album together since 1971’s multi-platinum “Santana III,” and delves right back into the captivating rhythms, psychedelic grooves and clean tones of the group’s imperial phase. Even after almost five decades apart, they tap into the magic that made their original albums foundation pieces.
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The Great Albums
. . . fans expecting a return to the greatness of Santana or Abraxas should temper their expectations, because this disc falls well short of being on par with those classics, and for two primary reasons: the disc, at nearly seventy-six minutes, is just too long for its own good, and the songs just aren’t nearly as strong or as memorable as the singles from the band’s early heyday.
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Daily Vault
May 9, 2016. Uncharacteristically for such ventures, Santana IV is more than just a reunion, it’s a true sequel, and overall a damned impressive one, an energetic, powerful set fueled by genuine heat and soul. Forty-five years later, this band clearly still remembers what made them special in the first place.
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Cryptic Rock
There is no question the buzz surrounding this reunion of the classic Santana lineup is everything fans thought it would be. IV is a sixteen track journey into pure musical ecstatic that easily fits alongside Santana’s classic records . . . . Each of the songs has its own spirit on IV, but the album must be listened to from start to finish to truly appreciate its brilliance.
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Louder Sound
Fans of Santana’s first trio of albums have wished for this project to happen for years. Now it’s here, most are likely to be very pleasantly surprised by how successfully it’s been done.
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ABS-CBN Nsws
A lot of the tracks skyrocket exuberantly courtesy of Santana and Schon’s great fretwork and the new album succeeds magnificently despite the extra fuss.
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