There are some Santana records that count amongst my very favourites (Lotus, Welcome, Caravanserai, Abraxas, Illuminations) and some that I wouldn’t recommend at all. I feel Carlos benefited greatly from having the right kind of creative personnel surrounding him and, from the 80s on, Santana was less likely to surround himself with musicians that pushed him and contexts that challenged him. He also has a tendency to showboat and to play the same solos but his expressive melody playing is still very fine indeed.

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