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..." Rolling Stone - "...This is music to dance to, but it is music that shrieks for more advanced, dextrous and imaginative dancing than some of the freeform body motion that rock dancing has accepted..." Q - 4 stars out of 5 - "...Displays even more grace and power...[than their] fresh, fierce debut..." Rolling Stone - 4 stars out of 5 -- "Everybody sounds stoked -- the rhythm section drives guitarist Carlo Santana into simultaneously agitated and poised solos that sustain an elusive state of polyrhythmic bliss." Uncut - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[C]onsistent, refined and confident, with the core six-piece adding teenage guitar sensation Neal Schon to spar aggressively with Carlos Santana on the blistering 'Jungle Strut'." Dirty Linen - "The live set shows just how far the band had come since Woodstock....The entire set shows the band at the peak of their creative powers." Down Beat - 4 stars out of 5 -- "Showcasing solid original material and well-chosen covers, SANTANA III contains the perfect balance of flash and substance, grace and power, and mind and body."

Rovi

Santana III is an album that undeservingly stands in the shadows behind the towering legend that is the band's second album, Abraxas. This was also the album that brought guitarist Neal Schon -- who was 17 years old -- into the original core lineup of Santana. Percussionist Thomas "Coke" Escovedo was brought in to replace (temporarily) Jose Chepito Areas, who had suffered a brain aneurysm, yet who recovered quickly and rejoined the band. The rest were Carlos, organist Gregg Rolie, drummer Michael Schrieve, bassist David Brown, and conguero Michael Carabello. "Batuka" is the powerful first evidence of something being very different. The band was rawer, darker, and more powerful with twin leads and Schon's harder, edgier rock & roll sound paired with Carlos' blend of ecstatic high notes and soulful fills. It cooks -- funky, mean, and tough. "Batuka" immediately transforms itself into "No One to Depend On," by Escovedo, Carabello, and Rolie. The middle section is highlighted by frantic handclaps, call-and-response lines between Schon and Rolie, and Carlos joining the fray until the entire track explodes into a frenzied finale. And what's most remarkable is that the set just keeps on cooking, from the subtle slow burn of "Taboo" to the percussive jam workout that is "Toussaint l'Overture," a live staple in the band's set list recorded here for the first time (and featuring some cooking Rolie organ work at its beginning). "Everybody's Everything" is here, as is "Guajira" and "Jungle Strut" -- tunes that are still part of Santana's live show. With acoustic guitars, gorgeous hand percussion, and Santana's fragile lead vocal, "Everything's Coming Our Way" is the only "feel good" track here, but it's a fitting way to begin winding the album down with its Schon and Santana guitar breaks. The album ends with a completely transformed reading of Tito Puente's "Para los Rumberos," complete with horns and frantic, almost insanely fast hand drumming and cowbell playing. It's an album that has aged extremely well due to its spare production (by Carlos and the band) and its live sound. This is essential Santana, a record that deserves to be reconsidered in light of its lasting abundance and vision. ~ Thom Jurek|

Rovi