I have a few of Santanas earlier albums on vinyl and I'm in the process of buying CD versions. My wife bought me 'Supernatural' as a present.

There are a few good tracks but I found 'Supernatural' disappointing, given that it was a big commercial success. Tracks fall into two categories - collaborations with some contemporary artists (most of which don't work for me), and music that is reminiscent of the band's earlier work

THE GOOD :

DE LA YALEO - Strong Afro-Latin feel, jazzy piano and guitar solo; AFRICA BAMBA - Latin/Mexican feel, wistful guitar sound; MIGRA - Great guitar playing, nice horn arrangement, solid percussion; EL FAROL - Relaxed but unexciting, but enough good guitar playing to make it very listenable.

THE UNEXCEPTIONAL :

SMOOTH, MARIA MARIA, LOVE OF MY LIFE, CORAZON ESPINADO, WISHING IT WAS.

THE UGLY :

PUT YOUR LIGHTS ON - Boring and repetitive; DO YOU LIKE THE WAY - A mess, awful;
PRIMAVERA - Monotonous and predictable; THE CALLING - Collaboration with Eric Clapton. Neither guitarists do themselves justice. Background vocals are repetitive and tedious. Too long.

If you liked those tracks rated 'The Good', and you are not familiar with Santana's earlier work, then check out 'Abraxas', 'Santana III' (in my opinion, their finest album), 'Caravanserai', and 'Borboletta'; after these, the band moved closer to jazz fusion.
I have a few of Santanas earlier albums on vinyl and I'm in the process of buying CD versions. My wife bought me 'Supernatural' as a present. There are a few good tracks but I found 'Supernatural' disappointing, given that it was a big commercial success. Tracks fall into two categories - collaborations with some contemporary artists (most of which don't work for me), and music that is reminiscent of the band's earlier work

THE GOOD :

DE LA YALEO - Strong Afro-Latin feel, jazzy piano and guitar solo; AFRICA BAMBA - Latin/Mexican feel, wistful guitar sound; MIGRA - Great guitar playing, nice horn arrangement, solid percussion; EL FAROL - Relaxed but unexciting, but enough good guitar playing to make it very listenable. THE UNEXCEPTIONAL :

SMOOTH, MARIA MARIA, LOVE OF MY LIFE, CORAZON ESPINADO, WISHING IT WAS. THE UGLY :

PUT YOUR LIGHTS ON - Boring and repetitive; DO YOU LIKE THE WAY - A mess, awful;
PRIMAVERA - Monotonous and predictable; THE CALLING - Collaboration with Eric Clapton. Neither guitarists do themselves justice. Background vocals are repetitive and tedious. Too long. If you liked those tracks rated 'The Good', and you are not familiar with Santana's earlier work, then check out 'Abraxas', 'Santana III' (in my opinion, their finest album), 'Caravanserai', and 'Borboletta'; after these, the band moved closer to jazz fusion.