Customer Reviews

Caravanserai

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I waited years for a remastered version of "Caravanserai". I honestly think it is one of the greatest pieces of music of the 20th century - right up there with works by Miles Davis, Aaron Copland, the Beatles, etc.

So what do we finally get? A mix with little bass, little clarity and no dynamics. It looks like the only way anyone will be able to fully enjoy this music from now on is if they can find an old vinyl copy. As other reviewers have pointed out, Sony didn't even bother to put much effort into the liner notes - nope, just cranking out another McCD for the masses. Very sad.

I don't know about ya'll, but I'm about gettin tired of this "remastered" business. Firstly, at this stage of the game, many of these "remastered" albums are just being equalized from the previous digital copy (most likely a 16 bit Sony 1630 digital master), this release makes no mention of using the analog masters. For lovers of Caravansari, keep your old disc and save your money unless you just gotta have those extended liner notes. The other reviewer is absolutely correct....great album, one of Santana's most daring and experimental... a very rewarding listen, but the reissue is mostly about greed....cheap case and thinner disc than previous one with virtually identical sound. The remaster is a little brighter...which will make it more or less appealing depending on your tastes...but basically there is not enough difference to buy again. No bonus tracks either, they did'nt even do "super bit mapping" this time. Of the reissues by Santana, Abraxas is the only one that has some really good bonus material (live tracks from the same period) which makes it worthwhile. Get "Welcome" or "Love, Devotion Surrender" instead of this. Let me see if I'm understanding this correctly- "Hey what we sold you before was crap, and even the one after that, and sometimes the next one after that was crappy too...this new one is the good one"...if you want to believe it go ahead...usually the differences are small, once in a while you get a significant improvement, but the passage of time and it's effects on analog tape is making that less likely.

(Please note this is a review ONLY of the remastered release of Caravanserai, by Columbia Legacy, released on Sept. 30, 2003)

First, some context: I am a 30 + year avid Santana fan. I have seen them in concert over 40 times. I own the Caravanserai LP, purchased on the day of its release in 1972. I also owned the previously released Caravanserai CD. It is possibly my favorite album of all time.

Having said that, this remastered re-release from Columbia is a BIG disappointment.

Its sound quality is perhaps a hair better than the previous CD release of Caravanserai, but arguably there is little difference in the sound quality.

The back side album cover incorrectly states it was released in 1973. The theft protector sealer tape incorrectly notes the album is by "Carlos Santana." The plastic jewel case reflects a new level of cheapness. I quickly reassembled the contents into an older, sturdier jewel case. The article within the enhanced liner notes is interesting and adds some value to the package.

Cheapness and sloppiness aside, it is the sound that disappoints. I expected much greater depth and frequency range. This remastering added little. Perhaps a remix, to account for the technology changes over 30 years, would have been the way to go.

And there was no added bonus tracks as there have been on previous Columbia Santana CD re-releases.

Columbia, you did Santana fans a disservice. Fans, find the vinyl version of Caravanserai or the CD released in the late '90s.

Besides Santana's "Welcome" and "Illuminations," this has to be another one of his brilliant albums. If you ever listen to this album you will probably like the last four songs. The best track which happens to be the very last song on the album 'Every Step of the Way' played with Neil Schone is extremely charismatic and energetic. This song deserves some type of recognition of a tour de force of tunes that has an impact on the music circuit. The other song which is played with a lot of percussions is 'Future Primitive' with a neat and mellow synthesizer background that carries out through the rest of the album. If you like Santana's music you will miss out what a great artist he is if you don't take a look at this album, including Welcome as mentioned above, Barboletta and Illuminations.

When Santana recorded Caravanserai in 1972, he was inspired by The Mahavishnu Orchestra that had made its mark earlier in 1971 with their debut album Inner Mounting Flame. Carlos & drummer Michael Shrieve who were largely responsible for the production & composition of most tracks draw heavy influences from Elvin Jones,Gabor Szabo,John Coltrane,Miles Davis & Pharoah Sanders. The result is an extremly satisfying album that again ear-marked Santana to superstardom. Starting with the number Eternal Caravan of Reincarnation Carlos creates an eerie atmospheric effect by using just sax, double bass, piano & guitar, all the way to great rocking numbers like Waves Within, Song of the Universe, Just in time to see the sun etc. Neal Schon's sensitive guitar playing highlights one of the album's best compositions - Song of the Wind. There is a version of Jobim's Stone Flower as well as the exceptional La Fuente Del Ritmo featuring mind-blowing percussion work from James Mingo Lewis & keyboardist Tom Coster who debuts on this song. Remastered in 2003 for better sound, Caravanserai is worth the money. One major disappointment was that there are no bonus tracks in 2003 remastered version. Wonder why ? considering Columbia have an archive of Carlos live material from 1972 which could have been added as a bonus.

One of the best albums of all time in any category. beautiful compositions, amazing band, Carlos and Neal are at there melodic best. What bothers me and many other fans is that there's no vintage photos as stated by the stickers when you buy this disk new. There's no bonus tracks or outtakes? Why? These guys had to have played some great stuff during these sessions, just at rehersal, come on! Something from a live show during this time, anything. You don't just better the sound a bit, (and it's just a bit) and not put a least one photo of Carlos and Neal Jamming. Especially if you state, "vintage photos", "extra tracks," These things would have been so easy to include. I don't get it! I LOVE this album, I just think all of these reissues could have been done better.

Carlos Santana was at the top of his powers as a guitarist, in full command of the riches treasures of his cultural heritage and on fire with his new found spiritual devotion when he recorded this brilliant testament. This is an absolutely must-have, DID, whatever you want to call it CD. Somehow you should not be allowed to escape the wheel of reincarnation without absorbing the spiritual dimensions of this music. There is only Coltrane's LOVE SUPREME that stands in the same light.
Having said that, the remastering done for this release is spectacular. t is positively gorgeous all the way through. You will swear you are heaing this for the first time. I loved this record on vinyl and felt the first CD pressing did it a great disservice. The restoration here, however, is to be applauded.
Throughout this disc, Santana was wroking with the core of the group he had assembled to break into and light aflame the muisc world when he emerged from San Francisco. He was never to really find the same spirit of mission in any later works. All of this ensembles efforts are extraordinary, and this one in particular comes from someplace very deep in the devotional soul of a very fine human being.
This is GREAT MUSIC lovingly and respectfully restored to it first and undeniable power.

I had no idea that this had been remastered until five minutes ago, and that the earlier CD version is out of stock. I own the CD released in the early 90s, so this review is no commentary on the remastering of the original work. Frankly I'm always suspicious of "remastered" CDs, which often do not provide any additional improvements or insights and usually cost more than the original. But sometimes they display marked improvement so it's really impossible to say without hearing the CD whether it is worth the purchase or not.

Anyways...this album is my favorite Santana release, and of course tends to be seriously overlooked and underrated by music buyers. Why? It's a bit more inaccessible than the earlier, more rock-oriented works and gets no radio play. The songs are largely instrumentals. Well, as a fan of jazz from the late 60s and early 70s, I'd say this fits right in with great releases like "B****es Brew" and "In a Silent Way" by Miles, the first Weather Report album, some of Herbie Hancock's work with Mwandishi and the Headhunters, and McLaughlin's Mahavishnu albums. It's got electronics but it not overdone. There's definitely a mood to the CD overall, with hushed tones and a mellow feel. The cover itself is in keeping with this mood, a caravan of camels moving slowly across a desert somewhere far away. It's not dull or boring even though it is slow-moving, and it works as one long piece of music if you play the whole disc from beginning to end. It's good for contemplative moods.

So get the original or the remaster, whatever flotas your boat, but don't pass this one up. It's more than just mood music- it's spiritual and powerful.

After three successful albums and a few hit singles, Carlos Santana decided to go in a new direction. He'd been fascinated with jazz fusion and also began following a spiritual path thanks to Indian guru Sri Chinmoy. The differnece in musical interests within the band was taking its toll as well.

Put this all together and you have an album totally different from previous ones and two of its members(Rolie and Schon) bailing afterwards. This is apparently an attempt at a concept album since there were no major hits off it and several of the tracks crossfade into one another. Also, almost all the disc is entirely instrumental and the few that do can't really be sung to anyway. Since the album's central theme seems to be spiritual jazz fusion there are no upbeat tracks here except maybe "La Fuente Del Ritmo" (future member Tom Coster plays on this track). The last track "Every Step Of The Way" runs nine minutes.

If you get this album, sit back and relax. You can even close your eyes if you want. Unlike Santana albums before and even many since, this is an album to be listened to, not sung to.
From an artistic sense this is one of his best acheivements.