Supernatural (Santana album)
| Santana
Supernatural (Santana album)
Supernatural is the eighteenth studio album by Latin rock band Santana, released on June 15, 1999 on Arista Records. After the group found themselves without a label in the mid-1990s, founding member and guitarist Carlos Santana began talks with Arista president Clive Davis, who first signed the group in 1969, which led to a new record deal. The pair collaborated with A&R man Pete Ganbarg on the production of Supernatural as Santana wanted to focus his musical direction towards pop and radio friendly material and proceeded to do so by collaborating with various contemporary guest artists, including Eric Clapton, Rob Thomas, Eagle-Eye Cherry, Lauryn Hill, Dave Matthews, Maná, KC Porter and Cee-Lo Green.-Wikiedia
Critic Reviews
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Rolling Stone
July 9, 2003. Eclectic, lively and only occasionally goofy, Supernatural offers a glossy but winning context of musical fusion that highlights Santana’s unique ability to make that guitar of his cry expressively.
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Classic Rock Review
March 16, 2019. Supernatural was forged with a desire to produce more radio friendly songs and its sound is a blend of elements that combine “vintage Santana” with contemporary influences from several genres.
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AV Club
November 13, 2012. Santana’s Supernatural was 1999’s most surprisingly successful album.
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AllMusic
At first listen, there doesn't seem to be a track that doesn't have a guest star, which brings up the primary problem with the album -- despite several interesting or excellent moments, it never develops a consistent voice that holds the album together.
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Ultimate Classic Rock
June 15, 2015. Where his debut record and 1970's Abraxas – in the true spirit of the Woodstock generation – were chock full of songs that seemingly knew no boundaries and thrived on a certain type of musical freedom, Supernatural just played things a little too safe.
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Plugged In
With only minor lyrical exceptions, Supernatural earns high marks and may actually help bridge a musical generation gap in many homes.
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Gamescene
November 3, 2014. If you are looking for a different sound for your collection, look no further. Supernatural is the definitive Latin-rock album. Supernatural is an album that is diverse in its way yet cohesive in its sound. It is truly remarkable how nearly every track is fitting for both easy-listening and dancing.
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The Music Box
May 18, 2010. . . . Supernatural is a pop-oriented album that approaches the mastery of Santana’s earliest endeavors.
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BC - Blog Critics
February 28, 2010. Supernatural was one of the better selling albums of all time and so twenty-five million music lovers will need to decide whether to purchase this expanded Legacy Edition.
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Enjoy the Music.com
This album was recorded in many different places, different studios, at different times. The sound quality is that of today's multi-track pop releases. Quite good but i surely wish for something more, well, natural and realistic sounding... or supernatural as it were (pun intended).
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VintageRock.com
. . . Santana tapped into a creative wellspring that effectively kept the wolves at bay and roped in the youngsters. A sticky note of diversified interludes, ranging from simple blues to African jazz, gave Supernatural gumption enough to set up camp for 102 weeks on Billboard’s Top 200 (it sat at Number One, intermittently, for 12 weeks).
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The Wall Street Journal
February 15, 2010. Carlos Santana's 1999 album "Supernatural" was an unnatural kind of blockbuster--it was an unexpected hit from an artist who was anything but a fluke. Santana, the leader of the band that bears his name, is an acknowledged guitar master, and an entertainer with a string of hits . . . .
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Record Collector Magazine
Though the resulting album, Supernatural, elicited a mixed critical reaction, it ignited the public imagination and sold 25 million copies and grabbed nine Grammies.
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Wilson & Alroy's Record Reviews
Perhaps the weirdest story of 1999 pop was the uncanny chart dominance of this so-so album by a semi-retired geezer. It's definitely got its moments: the single "Smooth," a deliberate throwback to early 70s salsa-plus-electric guitar Santana written and sung by Rob Thomas of Matchbox 20, is undeniably catchy, and it topped the charts for months.
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Rock Times Archiv
"Supernatural", however, broke all records. With a mix of Latin groove, pop, hip-hop, and decent rock, the unmistakable guitar (now the Paul Reed Smith brand) was a common thread, bringing the clever warrior to the fans of the various camps on the dance floor. "Supernatural" is not 'above ground', but rock history and belongs in every neatly sorted CD cabinet!
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Ultimate Santana
Supernatural set, broke or tied so many records that it's hard to believe its centerpoint was a 52-year-old guitar player with a 30-year career behind him.
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laut.de
While Altstars often team up with young, up-and-coming musicians to make a come-back, Mr. Santana does not need this on the one hand, on the other he thinks in other dimensions: "You can really feel God's hand in this. [...] On Supernatural, We all hit the bullseye. "
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The Great Albums
There is no understating just how massive a comeback Carlos Santana and his band achieved with this disc. . . . But, hit singles aside, the disc is strong from start to finish (and even closes on a rapturous note with the Eric Clapton collaboration “The Calling”) and is arguably the band’s finest album since Abraxas. A
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Daily Vault
October 18, 1999. Supernatural probably won't shock old-school Santana fans, 'cause there's enough of a throwback to the early days that will keep their level of comfort up. New fans will undoubtedly be pulled in by the alternative rock guests. It's not a bad album in any sense of the word, but one wonders if Santana will be able to keep the momentum going -- and keep the fan base he's winning with this album.
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Jazz Music Archives
February 13, 2011. With the exception of some moments in about 2 or 3 cuts there's not a lot of intriguing jazz-tinted music to be found here. . . . It's not as terrible as his worst but it's far from his acme.
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