SANTANA — Amigos (review)

SANTANA — Amigos album cover Album · 1976 · Latin Rock/Soul Buy this album from MMA partners
2/5 ·
dreadpirateroberts
This one is tough to review, because I find myself focusing on what is missing from the album, in terms of what I enjoyed in previous works. Ultimately this is unfair to ‘Amigos’ as a distinct work, as opposed to ‘Amigos’ as an album that represents a single point in the band’s discography. Because taken as a work isolated from the rest of Santana’s discography, it’s not bad.

While the jazz component is reduced and a more ‘sing along’ feel appears on some of the songs, there’s still adequate space for solos, only now Carlos is treading over well-worn ground and the material that might appeal to the single market isn’t as punchy or catchy. Pieces like ‘Take Me With You’ recall some of the ‘old’ Santana, but in a totally derivative manner, the rhythm being lifted from ‘Incident at Neshabur.’ While ‘Let Me’ cranks along a bit it fails to deliver a distinctive vocal line (something ‘Tell Me Are you Tired’ also suffers from). Thankfully, the more traditional Mexican approach in ‘Gitano’ is a great break in the album and I’d have loved to hear Santana do a little more in this style, rather than the safe-sounding funk outings like ‘Let it Shine.’

Generally the album is dragged down due to the fact that most of the songs could have been trimmed for excess. Despite this ‘Dance Sister Dance’ is one of the better pieces on the album, achieving that classic Santana cruise but bringing in a kind of Head Hunters inspired second half that gets a little spacey, which is a pleasant surprise.

I can’t go over two stars for this one, but nor can I say it’s a terrible album. There are some great moments but ultimately not enough to lift ‘Amigos’ any higher. People who consider themselves big Santana fans might still like this, but it’s not for casual listeners, not for someone who would call themselves an ‘average jazz fan’ nor will fusion-addicts find all that much to sink their teeth into here.

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