Supernatural

上世纪六十年代后期，Carlos Santana成为开启拉丁摇滚的潮流先锋，驰骋乐坛40年，领导桑塔纳乐团缔造全球1亿张专辑销售纪录，获得包括14座格莱美大奖在内的无数荣耀。1998年进入“摇滚名人殿堂”成为终身荣誉会员。他是音乐的魔法师，在他弹指之间巧妙融合拉丁、蓝调、灵魂、嘻哈、饶舌、节奏蓝调、舞曲、古巴音乐、吉普赛音乐、爵士、民谣以及流行等不同风格的乐章，将那极具渲染力的摇滚魅力雕塑出更为丰富的图像。神乎其技的吉他精湛演奏，使桑塔纳入选滚石杂志“史上百大杰出吉他手”第15名，同时也位列“史上百大艺人”行列之中。

自1968年Clive Davis撮合桑塔纳和哥伦比亚唱片签下一纸合约后，桑塔纳便一步步向国际巨星之路迈进。1999年的《Supernatural》是Soundscan统计系统启动以来，全美销售量第六高的专辑，全球狂销两千五百万张，停留Billboard专辑榜长达102周。至今仍在舞厅历久不衰的歌曲“Smooth”，蝉联单曲榜冠军长达12周，接着“Maria Maria”获得流行榜十周冠军。凭借这张大获成功的专辑，桑塔纳风光地抱走了九座格莱美奖，创下了有史以来以单张专辑得到最多奖项的纪录。

Santana was still a respected rock veteran in 1999, but it had been years since he had a hit, even if he continued to fare well on the concert circuits. Clive Davis, the man who had signed Santana to Columbia in 1968, offered him the opportunity to set up shop at his label, Arista. In the tradition of comebacks and label debuts by veteran artists in the '90s, Supernatural, Santana's first effort for Arista, is designed as a star-studded event. At first listen, there doesn't seem to be a track that doesn't have a guest star, which brings up the primary problem with the album -- despite several interesting or excellent moments, it never develops a consistent voice that holds the album together. The fault doesn't lay with the guest stars or even with Santana, who continues to turn in fine performances. There's just a general directionless feeling to the record, enhanced by several songs that seem like excuses for jams, which, truth be told, isn't all that foreign on latter-day Santana records. Then again, the grooves often play better than the ploys for radio play, but that's not always the case, since Lauryn Hill's "Do You Like the Way" and the Dust Brothers-produced, Eagle-Eye Cherry-sung "Wishing It Was" are as captivating as the Eric Clapton duet, "The Calling." But that just confirms that Supernatural just doesn't have much of a direction, flipping between traditional Santana numbers and polished contemporary collaborations, with both extremes being equally likely to hit or miss. That doesn't quite constitute a triumph, but the peak moments of Supernatural are some of Santana's best music of the '90s, which does make it a successful comeback.