Album Review : All That I Am by Santana

The greatest Latin-American musician (and the other all fall far behind him), Carlos Santana released his newest album late 2005. I bought it this past week but it took me almost 6 days to get it playing in my CD player due to other obligations. I was not going to be dissapointed in the number of very listenable songs that are established in this cd. The new CD marks the third Santana album release on Arista Records and features a Who's Who of world class musicians artists including Steven Tyler, Michelle Branch & The Wreckers, OutKast's Big Boi, Mary J. Blige, Metallica's Kirk Hammett, Sean Paul, Los Lonely Boys, Joss Stone, will.i.am, Anthony Hamilton, Bo Bice and Robert Randolph. Carlos Santana co-produced "All That I Am" with Arista/J Records founder/BMG U.S. Chairman & CEO Clive Davis, who also produced the multi-platinum and Grammy® award winning albums "Supernatural" and "Shaman", which have sold 30 million copies world wide in just six years since their release.

Several songs stand out in the new album, especially "Just Feel Better" with vocals provided by none other than old rubber lips Steven Tyler - singer for Boston rock legends Aerosmith. This is such a great song to sing along to and I am sure it will be a favourite for years to come. "I'm Feeling You", which is sung by Michelle Branch, is the other hit from the album - but even though it has good music, I do have issues with this song. First of all Michelle Branch singing "Life is Good" in that so casual way of hers, gives me the impression of a youngster who has no idea about what happens in the rest of the world. For another, why is Santana only doing albums that features other big stars? This is the third album he has done so and his greatest commercial success is tied to it. But there are some of us who have been his fan for years before "Supernatural" came out. We prefer Santana to just stick to his band and have a few collaborations like "Smooth" (not that I like Rob Thomas but it is a cool song), "Corazon Espinado" & with Tyler. The much awaited duet with Bo Bice, "Brown Skinned Girl", is a bit dull though.



Song for the day - "Just Feel Better" - CARLOS SANTANA with STEVEN TYLER