Some news on the upcoming Santana remasters

Found this info on the upcoming reissues. I'm a little disappointed by the bonus material...no live stuff and nothing on Caravanserai. I'm stoked to hear the track Mantra on Welcome; it's very good on the Lotus album. As for Love Devotion Surrender, I've heard that the quad version had an alternate solo by McLaughlin on the track The Life Divine, but that's not set for inclusion here, it seems...something for an upcoming multichannel SACD, perhaps? ;-)
The Moonflower bonus tracks don't exactly seem like they're esssential...

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June 4, 2003

(NEW YORK) - A quartet of classic Santana albums will be reissued Aug. 12 via Columbia/Legacy. All four titles -- "Caravanserai," "Moonflower," "Love Devotion Surrender" (with Mahavishnu John McLaughlin), and "Welcome" -- date back to the 1970s, and have been remixed and remastered for re-release. They feature newly written liner notes by Hal Miller; all but 1972's "Caravanserai" feature bonus tracks. "Caravanserai" marked the beginning of the Carlos Santana-led band's jazz fusion foray, and peaked at No. 8 on Billboard's album chart. "Love Devotion Surrender" and "Welcome" saw the bandleader diving further into the genre's exploration. Released a few months apart in 1973, the sets peaked at No. 14 and No. 25, respectively, on Billboard's album chart. The former features Carlos Santana and fellow guitarist McLaughlin, both at the time followers of spiritual guru Sri Chinmoy, joined by members of Santana and the Mahavishnu Orchestra. The resulting five-track album was a near-religious experience that kicked off with an interpretation of John Coltrane's "A Love Supreme." An alternate take of that cut, as well as an alternate take on Coltrane's "Naima," have been added to the reissue. The title cut of "Welcome" is also a Coltrane original. The previously unreleased song "Mantra" bolsters the re-release of the album. Finally, 1977's double-disc "Moonflower" was a mix of live and studio material that grows here with the inclusion of single versions of three of the album's songs: "Black Magic Woman," "I'll Be Waiting," and the Zombies' "She's Not There." The latter reached No. 27 on the Billboard Hot 100, while the album peaked at No. 10. As previously reported, Santana is donating all proceeds from his summer tour to Artists for a New South Africa (ANSA), which raises funds to fight aids. The trek begins June 11 in Atlanta, with support from Angelique Kidjo.

 

This is great news. I loved the first batch of remasters and these are long in coming. I can't wait for Caravanserai, one of my all time favorite Santana cd's. It'll be interesting to hear how the sound compares to the existing issue that's out there.

 

The JSACD Caravanserai is the one to get.

 

I've been holding off from that one, awaiting a US/European release. A little expensive. With these redbooks coming up, it might still happen. Is the JSACD multichannel? I'm not set up for that, but I prefer MCh discs if they're available, if I decide to go MCh in the future.
Of course, the lack of bonus tracks on the redbook makes the JSACD even more alluring...

 

Shakti,

The Japanese "Caravanserai" SACD is stereo, and sounds incredible.





Ed Hurdle
HeavyDistortion

 

I second that! Maybe CBS will see fit to give these new Santana reissues an SACD release. Probably not likely given that they still haven't released 1 and 3 on SACD.

 

What is this "remixed" crap?? Has this been verified?

 

I'd predict they'll eventually be released on SACD. Of course they're owned by Sony, not CBS.

 

Sounds very good to these ears (your milage will vary )

The remaster had best be leaps and bounds better than this (which'll be hard to do, I think) for me to buy it again, 'cause the standard "Nice Price" CD sounds just fine to me.

 

Looking forward to Love Devotion Surrender...hoping for an SACD of that one day...

 

Santana's records are of the kind that will benefit enormously by the SACD treatment, IMHO. 70s records with lots of percussion and funky bass and synth sounds invariably lose something in the transition from digital to analog, in my epxerience. If my SACDs of Head Hunters and Mysterious Traveller are anything to go by, then SACD does those things much, much better.
I don't have any vinyl to compare Caravanserai on vinyl vs the standard CD available now. It sounds OK, I think, but nothing to get worked up about. I know that my Welcome LP trounces the current CD (which AFAIK is only available in Europe). And Love Devotion Surrender was the first CD I got which I really thought sounded lacklustre (had a noisy vinyl before that, but it still conveyed so much more of the music).

Let's start a lobby for SACD now!! If these are indeed remixed, that must mean they've had the multis out of the vaults...bodes well for MCH SACDs, doesn't it?