[Shangó] -- Our first Flashback for the month of August acknowledges the 40th anniversary of Santana's 13th studio album, Shangó. Very few fans would rank Shangó – released early in August 1982 – as their favorite Santana album. And there are those who consider it the very worst in the Santana catalog. But I find this disc to be highly listenable, and it even features a few highlights. After all, it did peak at #22 on the Billboard 200 Album Chart. And it's first single, "Hold On" (a remake of the song “Hold On,” by Canadian singer-songwriter Ian Thomas), charted well: It peaked at #15 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and #17 on Billboard's Top Tracks charts. "Nowhere to Run," the album's second single, peaked at #66 and #13 on the Hot 100 and Mainstream Rock charts respectively. There's good guitar playing throughout, though if you like your Santana a bit more on the prog side, you might be disappointed. And tracks like "Nueva York," "Shango," and "Oxun (Oshun)" feature the kind of percussive grooves other bands try vainly to copy. The instrumental "Nueva York" in particular shines with percussion and organ riffs that harken back to Santana's earlier efforts.
Give it a try. It's not a great album, but it does hold up very well in retrospect.
Flashback: Shangó (August 1982)
That's all till next week. Dedicated 80s-philes can find more flashbacks in the Prophet or Madman archives or via Bookended's 80s Flashback tag. As always, your comments are welcome on today's, or any other, flashback post. And if you like what I'm doing here, please share the link with your friends. If, however, you don't like the flashback, feel free to share it with your enemies.
I'll see you in seven!
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