Rolling Stone - 4 stars out of 5 - "[A] nonstop thirty-seven-minute rhythmic onslaught..." Rolling Stone - Ranked #150 in Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Albums Of All Time" - "[The album] combined Latin rhythms with jazz-inspired improvisation, hard-rock guitar and lyrical, B.B. King-style blues..." Rolling Stone - 4 stars out of 5 - "...thrilling....This is music with ambition, soul and absolute conviction - every moment played straight from the heart." Q - 4 stars out of 5 - "...Genuinely fresh, fierce stuff even the dead-legged Woodstock generation couldn't ignore..." Musician - "...Sony Legacy's sonic wizards have made...[Santana's] first three albums reappear, each appended with additional live recordings....epochal works...an explosive fusion of Hispanic-edged rock, Afro-Caribbean rhythms, and interstellar improvisation..." Uncut - 4 stars out of 5 - "[S]omething vital and fresh that's still enthralling today." Rolling Stone (3/2/00, p.100) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...thrilling....This is music with ambition, soul and absolute conviction - every moment played straight from the heart." Q (5/00, p.131) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...Genuinely fresh, fierce stuff even the dead-legged Woodstock generation couldn't ignore..." Musician (7/98, pp.86-88) - "...Sony Legacy's sonic wizards have made...[Santana's] first three albums reappear, each appended with additional live recordings....epochal works...an explosive fusion of Hispanic-edged rock, Afro-Caribbean rhythms, and interstellar improvisation..."

Rovi

Before the arrival of Carlos Santana's eponymous band, the San Francisco rock scene drew the inspiration for its jam-oriented music mainly from blues, rock, and Eastern modalities. Santana added Latin music to the mix, forever changing the course of rock & roll history. On Santana's groundbreaking debut album, the group mixes Latin percussion with driving rock grooves. Santana's unique guitar style, alternately biting and liquid, vies with the multiple percussionists for the sonic focus.
Unlike later efforts, Santana's first album features an abundance of loose collective compositions based on a couple of simple riffs ("Jingo", "Soul Sacrifice"). This approach allows for Santana and his bandmates to flex their improvisational muscles to fine effect. The high energy level on SANTANA is infectious--the laid-back feel of other '60s S.F. groups was clearly not for Carlos and company.|

Rovi