Santana "Multi-Dimensional Warrior" Legacy Sounds like: Someone forgot to stop shaking the maracas for two hours
Thank you, Santana, for making your new album, "Multi-Dimensional Warrior," easy to review. This record's 28 compiled tracks over two discs last nearly two and a half hours. Apparently each of these tracks was hand-selected from the Rolodex of Santana tunes spanning over the past 30-plus years.
Here's the good news: There is plenty of music for any listener to enjoy, or at least listen to (the entire first disc is dedicated to vocal performances in songs, while the second disc is entirely instrumental). There are certainly some clear signs of this man's talent as a musician and songwriter (just listen to "Europa"), but with every good comes a bad.
So here's the bad news: There's not really a heck of a lot to get into. If you're a Santana lover, you've probably heard everything, and if you're a Santana hater, you probably won't like anything. To pitch this album to a new listener would be a sin - it doesn't even contain a lot of Santana's best work. Come on, the record's title sounds like it could be a popular online war game.
Sadly, the negatives continue to outweigh the positives on "Warrior." Once through the first hour-long disc, one will only find what appears to be the soundtrack to the Weather Channel on the second disc.
Santana might have been better off playing a two-hour version of "Black Magic Woman."
- R.N.
