SANTANA — Moonflower (review)

SANTANA — Moonflower album cover Live album · 1977 · Latin Rock/Soul Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
Sean Trane
As the triple album Lotus was not released world wide (it was a Japan-only release at first) Columbia took the decision to release another live album, this time a double, but Moonflower turned outtgo be a bit of a mixed product between live tracks and yet unreleased studio tracks. One of the most striking cover ever graces the album in full stride with some of the most delightful music ever. Don’t get me wrong the overall level of the album is not that high, but there are some moments of pure bliss on this album.

This strange mix of live and studio tracks is rather unsettling (I would’ve preferred a separate disc of live and studio tracks or even a three-to-one side affair), but ultimately I find the studio tracks more interesting. Blessed with the exhilaratingly happy She’s Not There, the luscious and fusional El Morrocco, the great Zulu/Bahia suite, the opening Dawn/Go Within, Had the group pulled of one or two more tracks of this calibre and released a single album, thismight’ve been one of their very best.

The live tracks are a good mix of newer albums (Amigos) and older stuff (the first three albums) getting a fair share of exposure (often in an extended version including solos and jams), but the best albums (Caravanserai, Borboletta and Illuminations) are not featured here. Still a bit dismaying are some of the tracks being notably faster than the studio originals.

While not really essential, it is rather hard to pass opver this album, especially when comparing it with the triple Lotus: I think the studio tracks guive this one an edge on the other.
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