Abraxas (2016 Vinyl)＜完全生産限定盤＞

サンタナ『Abraxas』(邦題:天の守護神)、アナログ盤で再発売。1970年作品。"ラテン・ロック"とも評される新たなジャンルを確立した作品として史上に燦然と輝くサンタナのセカンド・アルバム。初の全米チャート1位を獲得した作品であり、世界中で空前のヒットを記録した定番中の定番。フリートウッド・マックのカヴァーながら別解釈に生まれ変わった「ブラック・マジック・ウーマン」は全米4位のヒットを記録し、彼らの代名詞とも言えるアンセムになった。ラテンのリズムと"泣きのギター"に血湧き肉踊る傑作。

Rolling Stone (12/24/70, p.54) - "...On ABRAXAS, Santana is a popularized Mongo Santamaria and they might do for Latin music what Chuck Berry did for the blues....a total boogie and the music is right from start to finish." Q (5/00, p.131) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...Displays even more grace and power...[than their] fresh, fierce debut..." Uncut (p.83) - "[A] mix of psych, blues and salsa, all tied together by the fluid guitar of one of rock's great stylists." Vibe (12/99, p.156) - Included in Vibe's 100 Essential Albums of the 20th Century 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..."

The San Francisco Bay Area rock scene of the late '60s was one that encouraged radical experimentation and discouraged the type of mindless conformity that's often plagued corporate rock. When one considers just how different Santana, Jefferson Airplane, Moby Grape, and the Grateful Dead sounded, it becomes obvious just how much it was encouraged. In the mid-'90s, an album as eclectic as Abraxas would be considered a marketing exec's worst nightmare. But at the dawn of the 1970s, this unorthodox mix of rock, jazz, salsa, and blues proved quite successful. Whether adding rock elements to salsa king Tito Puente's "Oye Como Va," embracing instrumental jazz-rock on "Incident at Neshabur" and "Samba Pa Ti," or tackling moody blues-rock on Fleetwood Mac's "Black Magic Woman," the band keeps things unpredictable yet cohesive. Many of the Santana albums that came out in the '70s are worth acquiring, but for novices, Abraxas is an excellent place to start. ~ Alex Henderson