Since September 2010, this blog has recorded the journey of this music junkie as I attempt to listen to all the music in my CD collection. CDs revisited in their entirety from start to finish - no skipping tracks, no shuffle. Compact Discs only - no vinyl, no tapes, no files.

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Ultimate Santana (2007)


I don't consider myself a Santana fan; I bought this disc for the same reason I bought a Sugar Ray CD: this stuff is perfectly suited for hot afternoons spent enjoying the pool. This compilation plays like a collection of highlights from Santana's late career comebacks, along with a couple of classic rock oldies.  I probably would have been better off with a different compilation disc that focused on the band's earlier releases, but oh well - it ain't gonna matter too much when I'm in the water.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: #8

Tracks:  Lots of music here - 18 tracks covering 77 minutes (which means we get single edits, not albums cuts). I like the classic rock stuff from 1970's Abraxas album (even my sons know that stuff, mainly from its inclusion in Guitar Hero games) and Everybody's Everything.  Of the newer stuff, I like the collaboration with Michelle Branch, The Game Of Love. There are three new songs on this compilation and none of them do much for me, but after the chart-topping success of the Supernatural album, you can't blame them for repeating the same formula as long as it was making $.

SongYearHot 100
Into The Night200726
This Boy's Fire2007
Smooth19991
Maria Maria19991
Oye Como Va197113
Black Magic Woman19704
Evil Ways19699
Corazon Espinado2000
Europa (Earth's Cry Heaven's Smile)1976
The Game Of Love (feat. Tina Turner)2002
Put Your Lights On1999118
Why Don't You & I20038
Everybody's Everything197112
Just Feel Better2005
Samba Pa Ti1973
No One To Depend On197236
The Game Of Love (feat. Michelle Branch)20025
Interplanetary Party2007

Missing Top 40 hits: She's Not There (#27, 1977), Stormy (#32, 1979), You Know That I Love You (#35, 1980), Winning (#17, 1981), and Hold On (#15, 1982).

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: The early '70s stuff reminds me of hot, desert nights growing up in Odessa. The late '90s/early '00s collaborations remind me of teaching at a small, rural school around that time.

1 comment:

  1. In Summer 2007, a few months before this CD was released, HERC compiled his own Santana mix CD for (you guessed it) a pool party. Drawing from both CDs and vinyl LPs, he managed to compile a disc with 15 tracks that lasted just under 70 minutes. Although he had plans grande to segue the songs, he never could find a sequence he liked so went with the old tried and true: chronological order.

    Evil Ways
    Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen
    Oye Como Va
    Europa (Earth's Cry Heaven's Smile)
    She's Not There
    Well All Right
    All I Ever Wanted
    Winning
    Hold On
    Nowhere To Run
    Say It Again
    Smooth
    Put Your Lights On
    Maria Maria
    Why Don't You & I
    The Game of Love

    HERC paid $9.99 for Ultimate Santana at Target for this track only. It remains one of his favorite driving songs, sounding particularly sweet in The Blueberry.

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