Tag: Album Review

Santana – Abraxas …album review

One thing I love about this album is that the percussion never feels like a decoration or forced. It drives the songs. Many rock bands added congas or timbales for color. Santana built the entire foundation of the music around them. That’s probably why those tracks still sound so powerful today. Carlos gets the notice, but Abraxas is really a statement in what a great band can do when every member is playing at their peak. I usually reserve saying that mostly for the Allman Brothers, Little Feat, and The Dead. I was just going to cover one song…but no…the album had me transfixed with its rhythms.

When Santana recorded Abraxas in 1970, they were no longer just another San Francisco band. Their performance at the Woodstock Festival the year before had turned them into stars almost overnight. Their debut album had already produced hits like Evil Ways, but on Abraxas, everything came together. The band was firing on all cylinders. Carlos Santana’s guitar was just scorching, and Gregg Rolie handled the vocals and keyboards, and the rhythm section was incredible. Rolie was always one of my favorite members, and I’m glad I got to see him live.

Santana was a music machine built around rhythm. Michael Shrieve’s drumming worked alongside the congas, timbales, and percussion of José “Chepito” Areas and Michael Carabello. The result was a sound that felt alive. Songs like Oye Como Va and Black Magic Woman seemed to move in several directions at once, yet never lost the groove. You can hear rock, jazz, blues, and Cuban influences all blending together. No one sounded like Santana in 1970, and nobody really has since.

Carlos Santana’s guitar playing deserves all the praise it gets, but what made this album special was that he wasn’t carrying the band alone. There wasn’t a weak link anywhere. That is one reason Abraxas still sounds great more than fifty years later. If you want to be transfixed, like I was, just put on the album with headphones and enjoy the rhythms that Santana brought.

The album produced classics like Black Magic Woman, Oye Como Va, and the beautiful instrumental Samba Pa Ti. I would also add Mother’s Daughter, its a song with an infectious groove written by Gregg Rolie. It became Santana’s first number-one album and remains one of the finest examples of Latin rock ever recorded. For me, Abraxas captures a band at the perfect moment. They had the hunger of a young group, the confidence that came from Woodstock, and enough talent to fill two bands. When I listen to Abraxas, I don’t just hear Carlos Santana, I hear a band at its peak.

The album peaked at #1 on the Billboard Album Charts, #3 in Canada, and #7 in the UK in 1970.

Paul Westerberg – 14 Songs …album review

Everyone knows I’m a huge Replacements fan. In the 1980s, I leaned more toward them than mainstream bands. They would produce music that I always hoped the mainstream would, but that didn’t happen. They broke up on July 4, 1991. Westerberg released his debut album, 14 Songs, two years later in 1993. I’ve never explored his solo albums a bunch, but now it’s time.

The album doesn’t sound like a Replacements record, and it doesn’t go after anything modern for the time. It sounds like Westerberg was finding his way without the baggage of the Replacements. With this album, he did find his way just fine.

The album moves between loose home recordings and more finished studio tracks, and that contrast works. Songs like Love You in the Fall and Runaway Wind sound close and personal, almost like letters instead of songs. Westerberg keeps the arrangements simple, letting the songs breathe and sometimes wobble. The roughness isn’t fixed because it doesn’t need to be. The opening song, Knockin’ On Mine (live version here), kicks the door in with a rough, cool, welcoming riff.

He tried some different styles with this album, like Black Eyed Susan and Even Here We Are, with a slight folk feel. The song that really won me over is A Few Minutes of Silence. It’s punchy and powerful, and Westerberg’s voice is on target. Dice Behind Your Shades and Mannequin Shop are two rocking songs that spoke to me right off the bat. 

I also noticed on this album that his voice is slightly different. I always loved his voice for the human feel and the roughness. He doesn’t lose that with this album, but it’s more concise and not all over the place…it seems more focused.

What holds 14 Songs together is the writing. Westerberg writes in everyday language and trusts the melody to do the rest. There’s humor, regret, and acceptance, often in the same verse, which again shows his songwriting skills. I always thought that Westerberg was one of the best songwriters of the 1980s, and he didn’t disappoint on this one.