Santana: Shaman

After the release of Supernatural, it’s no surprise that Carlos Santana and Clive Davis would repeat the methodology to create Shaman (2002), the followup to 1999’s chart topper. And, while Shaman is a respectable effort and certainly has its moments, it pales in comparison to its predecessor. (Like Supernatural, Shaman was produced by Santana and Davis, with a number of people sharing production duties on different songs. See list below.)

Carlos does go back to some of his partners in Supernatural to create Shaman, namely Rob Thomas (who co-wrote “Nothing At All,” and “Why Don’t You & I”), Wyclef Jean and Jimmy Duplessis (who co-produced and co-wrote “Since Supernatural”), and K.C. Porter (who co-produced “One of These Days”).

Additionally, new artists are brought into the fold, with mixed results. “The Game of Love”featuring Michelle Branch, while not sounding much like a Santana song, is a fine pop ditty that achieved hit status. “Why Don’t You & I” featuring Chad Kroeger (from Nickelback) also charted in the Top 10. It also set the stage for “Into The Night” featuring Chad Kroeger, which appears on the next album, Ultimate Santana.

(Interesting Note: Although “Why Don’t You & I” was originally sung by Kroeger, due to record company pressure, it was re-recorded with Alex Band, of The Calling, on vocals. This version also appears on the Ultimate Santana album.)

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But some of the songs are so far from each other, stylistically, that it seriously detracts from the album’s cohesiveness. It’s hard for many listeners to reconcile the hard rock drive of “America” featuring P.O.D., with Placido Domingo on “Novus.”

Overall, Shaman misses the glue that holds Supernatural together. While Supernatural feels like a logically diverse collection of artists working with Carlos Santana, Shaman feels like an overly disparate crowd of artists who are using Santana as a backup band.

There’s no doubt that Carlos does some fine playing on Shaman, and Santana fans will still certainly consider it a must for their collection. In fact, Santana aficionados will be delighted to witness the return of Michael Shrieve — drummer on the original Santana albums, whose inspired drum solo was captured for posterity in the film Woodstock.

Shaman Song Info

Next Album: All That I Am