★★★★★ (Essential Listening)
In the pantheon of rock history, few stories are as astonishing as the resurrection of Carlos Santana in 1999. Before the turn of the millennium, the legendary guitarist was viewed by many as a legacy act—a brilliant but fading star of the 1960s and 70s. Record labels hesitated. Critics yawned. Fans seemed content to listen to Abraxas on classic rock radio. santana supernatural album
Santana was disillusioned with the music business. He felt pressured to make "Santana-sounding" records that mimicked his past. Clive Davis, the legendary founder of Arista Records, had a different idea. Davis, who had signed Santana decades earlier, approached him with a radical pitch: Don't try to sound like old Santana. Instead, let a new generation of songwriters and singers come to you. Critics yawned
The won 8 awards that night (plus 1 for Rob Thomas's songwriting on "Smooth," bringing the total to 9 for the project). The haul tied Michael Jackson’s Thriller for the most Grammys won by a single artist in one night. He felt pressured to make "Santana-sounding" records that
Carlos Santana was 52 when that album dropped—an age when most rock musicians are writing memoirs or playing county fairs. Instead, he defined the sound of the summer of '99 and walked away with more Grammys than he could hold.
Then came Supernatural .
Supernatural remains the ultimate "comeback" story in music history. It is the sound of a master guitarist plugging into the cosmos, finding a second wind, and reminding the world that true soul has no expiration date.