HiRez Poll Santana - CARAVANSERAI [SACD]

[winopener]

Old timers knows very well i'm quite partial on this album. That was the album, despite the so-called Sucky Quad of the era (a Grundig quad set) that opened up the quad world for me back in the seventies. Even with all the flaws of the SQ it was a great quad, and a incredible album to boot (was already into Santana, just not into quad) So, for artistic content i finally use my "Spinal Tap" card and place a 11, in order to compensate for the mastering, a 9, which pushes a bit the high part of the audio, resulting in a bit of fatigue.
For sure i'm going to flac it and EQ it a bit in order to keep a bit the highs down, and it is a world better that EQing a Q8 transfer, which i did back in the good old days and that until now it has served me well, honestly - listening now to the quad sacd - really well. BTW, D-V sacd do not have that hi freq push, even on the Santana titles, so i wonder if this is part of the japan mastering instead of the original recording.

Took a while to arrive, used EMS, 20 days but at least it came without the import taxes, which when i got I and Abraxas costed more that another SACD!

It is a dream come true: full quality Caravanserai quad, y Feliz Navidad a todos.

 

[winopener]

It's terrific. I was only barely familiar with the 2channel version, but I'll certainly be listening to this one a lot. "All the Love in the Universe" and "Every Step of the Way" are tours de force.

For me the true tour de force is La fuente del ritmo, but the best track is the closing Every Step of the Way

 

[winopener]

Just because I prefer III, I, Welcome and Swing of Delight, doesn't detract from how truly great this record is. Put it in my 100 favorite albums. Music is radically different from III and w/Buddy Miles Live, which preceded it. More instrumentally oriented, and a huge step toward fusion.

You really named the reason why i rated C. higher than and other Santana. Here in Italy Santana 3 didn't took off too much for timing reason. Let me explain.
Santana I arrived here in 1970 and Abraxas, despite being released in late 70, it didn't really took off until Summer 1971, pushed by the Oye como va single in summer and later, Samba pa ti in late autumn. Black Magic Woman didn't had the time to do a single relase because Everybody's Everything came out and stole the show BUT - and that's a big BUT - the musical scene was going toward Prog and the so-called lately Fusion, so Santana 3 didn't had a big impact despite heavy singles promotion. When Caravanserai arrived on the same time as the USA release the local musical scene had already moved on and C. fitted in like a glove: had no single released but was everywhere. The Buddy Miles LP was released just before C. but C. killed it: it was a rehash of a "old sound" that had been already turned down.

 

[fredblue]

Old timers knows very well i'm quite partial on this album. That was the album, despite the so-called Sucky Quad of the era (a Grundig quad set) that opened up the quad world for me back in the seventies. Even with all the flaws of the SQ it was a great quad, and a incredible album to boot (was already into Santana, just not into quad) So, for artistic content i finally use my "Spinal Tap" card and place a 11, in order to compensate for the mastering, a 9, which pushes a bit the high part of the audio, resulting in a bit of fatigue.
For sure i'm going to flac it and EQ it a bit in order to keep a bit the highs down, and it is a world better that EQing a Q8 transfer, which i did back in the good old days and that until now it has served me well, honestly - listening now to the quad sacd - really well. BTW, D-V sacd do not have that hi freq push, even on the Santana titles, so i wonder if this is part of the japan mastering instead of the original recording.

Took a while to arrive, used EMS, 20 days but at least it came without the import taxes, which when i got I and Abraxas costed more that another SACD!

It is a dream come true: full quality Caravanserai quad, y Feliz Navidad a todos.

i'm kinda glad you noticed the high-end boost as well, i thought i was the only one who heard it!

its a shame they didn't just do a Flat transfer or a more sympathetic EQ like Dutton. tbh i feel this way everytime i hear a heavy-handed remaster, its not peculiar to Sony Japan and i'm not having a dig at them at all, this is a lovely package and a great release overall.

a "9".

(Surround-wise, packaging-wise, musically, its a "10" all the way, i just struggle a bit with the brightness of percussion etc.)

 

[James Jay]

A 10 for music as Caravanserai is my personal Santana favorite. A 9 for sound quality as I take off a point for the SACD being slightly bass shy. The surround mix is superb IMO. I didn’t have any problem with the high end boost many are commenting about. A really great surround release but I voted a 9 as the bass could have been slightly boosted perhaps.
But I much prefer the bass on Caravanserai than terrible bass boost on for example:
John Lennon gimme some truth or George Harrison all things must pass surround mixes.
No. 9 dream is unlistenable on Gimme Some Truth because of the bloated bass IMO.

 

[ss9001]

A 10 for music as Caravanserai is my personal Santana favorite. A 9 for sound quality as I take off a point for the SACD being slightly bass shy. The surround mix is superb IMO. I didn’t have any problem with the high end boost many are commenting about. A really great surround release but I voted a 9 as the bass could have been slightly boosted perhaps.
But I much prefer the bass on Caravanserai than terrible bass boost on for example:
John Lennon gimme some truth or George Harrison all things must pass surround mixes.
No. 9 dream is unlistenable on Gimme Some Truth because of the bloated bass IMO.

It's been years since I last listened to my SQ LP of Caravanserai. The LP is mint since I bought it new when it was released. Probably last listened to it ~5 yrs ago, give or take, but I seem to remember the SQ LP was a tad lower in bass than Santana S/T and III, perhaps Abraxis as well. Perhaps it was originally mixed that way and not specifically this Sony Japan SACD. Don't know just putting it out there as a possibility.

The SQ LP was one of the best releases for quadraphonic so that's the same.

And Caravanserai is also my favorite Santana album

 

[quicksrt]

I should listen to this more times before voting. But I know the material from listening to the stereo mix every few years. The quad mix here is as super discreet as one could hope for. The sound quality is more impressive than I expected. Somehow I expected a just slight starchy high-end sound like Birds of Fire has, but not as severe. Nope, sound is liquid and smooth where it needs to be. The material is for me much more exciting in a four channel array than in stereo. I knew I would like this, and I knew it had no hits or hot radio play tracks, and I expected it to be a total winner "9" against the other Santana 7" series titles. I'm going to have to bump up my 9.5 to a 10 here because of the tasteful 4.0 mix, great sound quality, and material that has not worn out its welcome with radio over-play, or over exposure anywhere.

We are all here hoping and praying for more of the old quad to get issued, and on high resolution discs, mastered with care. We have these expectations that they will sound amazing, and we will never go back to stereo again, that is how high we regard the best of them. This is one of those discs, we need not ever bother with two channels when 4.0 sounds this great.

 

[perzon57]

I bought this because I have the others, played it once and it didn't do anything for me. Will try it again some time.

 

[quicksrt]

I bought this because I have the others, played it once and it didn't do anything for me. Will try it again some time.

I always have a toke of weed or a beer or both when I really want to dig into something that is proving difficult. Carlos Santana would approve I'm like so sure.

 

[perzon57]

I always have a toke of weed or a beer or both when I really want to dig into something that is proving difficult. Carlos Santana would approve I'm like so sure.

I don't do weed, beer and booze is my thing, will try that one night.

 

[ar surround]

I don't do weed, beer and booze is my thing, will try that one night.

Try listening to a track here and there rather than the whole album. I find it difficult to listen to a whole Santana album start to finish. With most albums that I cannot listen to start to finish, I find that 'listening to a track here and there' maintains my interest.

 

[Colin London]

The magic of 3 Guitarists

Carlos Santana - Lead Guitar
Douglas Rodrigues - Rhythm Guitar
Neal Schon - 2nd Guitar


On "Waves Within" track 2
Bass Player Doug Rauch
is on Rhythm Guitar as well,
Douglas Rodrigues the 3rd Guitarist.

April 1972 Utter Bliss.

 

[castironshore]

I have an 8 track quad which sounds pretty good. Is the SACD enough of an improvement that it would be worth rebuying?

 

[Colin London]

I have an 8 track quad which sounds pretty good. Is the SACD enough of an improvement that it would be worth rebuying?

The Multi Channel SACD Sony Japan is Fantastic. Depends how much hiss on your old 8 track,

 

[Clement]

A cricket chorus–in Quad–begins the beguine . . . and then a saxophone moan–FL–makes its way, clockwise, round the room. Enter bass, drums, percussion, keyboards, guitar, making full use of all four speakers–it’s the “Eternal Caravan of Reincarnation” letting this listener know he’s in for a treat of a departure from the trio of Santana treats that have preceded this release. How suite it is as the opening track melds into “Waves Within,” that distinctive Santana sound finally surrounding me, a trio of guitars, Carlos on lead, feeding my head, those inner waves crashing on my soul bed rocking my spiritual roll me another, brother, for hear comes track three, asking me to “Look Up (To See What’s Coming Down),” and the band certainly does get down, percolating all around (just wish the funky bass were more found than lost but that’s a small cost as i’m tempest tossed by the interplay) . . . yet another segue and i’m “Just in Time to See the Sun”: more quadraphonic fun with the album’s first vocal track, and if that’s not your scene, no problem, for it’s also the album’s shortest cut at 2:18, at which point, another suite transition to “Song of the Wind,” Santana and Schon soaring, their solos imploring me to seek and find what lies beneath my mind’s i through a melding of spirituality, jazz, rock, and Latin muse sick no more, this album is a HUGE score for me, the song fading and an abrupt cut to the epic original side 1 closer: “All the Love of the Universe” making full use of all four speakers with more guitar magic and a phenomenal Rollie organ solo, the song’s lyrics bringing the side’s cycle that began with “Eternal Caravan of Reincarnation” to closure.

And for all the beauty and majesty of side one, side two is the true trip for me: (k)no(w) wonder with the first cut, “Future Primitive,” clocking in at 4:20–hallucinogenic quadraphonic percussive wonder tearing my mind asunder . . . to be reconfigured by the Brazilian plunder of “Stone Flower” with great bass work, electric piano, another killer Santana solo, and that funky cuica! I once had a spiritual advisor who suggested that if Jesus were to return, He would come as Rhythm in the new millennium. “La Fuente del Ritmo” makes me know that guru’s flow was spot on–scorching timbales, banging bongos, and a crazy electric piano solo energy have me screaming: Go! Go! Go! Holy Trinity–it all comes to a stop as the ultimate epic begins: “Every Step of the Way” never fails to blow me away. Shrieve, who has been a magical mystical wonder throughout, molds the perfect pearl to end this masterpiece–nine minutes of searing soaring instrumental bliss souls kiss synchronistic mind meld with orchestration taking my imagination to places where the face of God is everywhere and everyone who ever was and ever will be the words from “Metaphysical Meditations” inside the gatefold made manifest:

The body melts into the universe.
The universe melts into the soundless voice.
The sound melts into the all-shining light.
And the light enters the bosom of infinite joy.

Santana's best: 10

 

[kap'n krunch]

A cricket chorus–in Quad–begins the beguine . . . and then a saxophone moan–FL–makes its way, clockwise, round the room. Enter bass, drums, percussion, keyboards, guitar, making full use of all four speakers–it’s the “Eternal Caravan of Reincarnation” letting this listener know he’s in for a treat of a departure from the trio of Santana treats that have preceded this release. How suite it is as the opening track melds into “Waves Within,” that distinctive Santana sound finally surrounding me, a trio of guitars, Carlos on lead, feeding my head, those inner waves crashing on my soul bed rocking my spiritual roll me another, brother, for hear comes track three, asking me to “Look Up (To See What’s Coming Down),” and the band certainly does get down, percolating all around (just wish the funky bass were more found than lost but that’s a small cost as i’m tempest tossed by the interplay) . . . yet another segue and i’m “Just in Time to See the Sun”: more quadraphonic fun with the album’s first vocal track, and if that’s not your scene, no problem, for it’s also the album’s shortest cut at 2:18, at which point, another suite transition to “Song of the Wind,” Santana and Schon soaring, their solos imploring me to seek and find what lies beneath my mind’s i through a melding of spirituality, jazz, rock, and Latin muse sick no more, this album is a HUGE 10 score for me, the song fading and an abrupt cut to the epic original side 1 closer: “All the Love of the Universe” making full use of all four speakers with more guitar magic and a phenomenal Rollie organ solo, and the song’s lyrics bringing the side’s cycle that began with “Eternal Caravan of Reincarnation” to closure.

And for all the beauty and majesty of side one, side two is the true trip for me: (k)no(w) wonder with the first cut, “Future Primitive,” clocking in at 4:20–hallucinogenic quadraphonic percussive wonder tearing my mind asunder . . . to be reconfigured by the Brazilian plunder of “Stone Flower” with great bass work, electric piano, another killer Santana solo, and that funky cuica! I once had a spiritual advisor who suggested that if Jesus were to return, He would come as Rhythm in the new millennium. “La Fuente del Ritmo” makes me know that guru’s flow was spot on–scorching timbales, banging bongos, and a crazy electric piano solo energy have me screaming: Go! Go! Go! Holy Trinity–it all comes to a stop as the ultimate epic begins: “Every Step of the Way” never fails to blow me away. Shrieve, who has been a magical mystical wonder throughout, melds the perfect pearl to end this masterpiece–nine minutes of searing soaring instrumental bliss souls kiss synchronistic mind meld with orchestration taking my imagination to places where the face of God is everywhere and everyone who ever was and ever will be the words from “Metaphysical Meditations” inside the gatefold come alive:
The body melts into the universe.
The universe melts into the soundless voice.
The sound melts into the all-shining light.
And the light enters the bosom of infinite joy.

I'll have what you are having!

 

[beerking]

A cricket chorus–in Quad–begins the beguine . . . and then a saxophone moan–FL–makes its way, clockwise, round the room. Enter bass, drums, percussion, keyboards, guitar, making full use of all four speakers–it’s the “Eternal Caravan of Reincarnation” letting this listener know he’s in for a treat of a departure from the trio of Santana treats that have preceded this release. How suite it is as the opening track melds into “Waves Within,” that distinctive Santana sound finally surrounding me, a trio of guitars, Carlos on lead, feeding my head, those inner waves crashing on my soul bed rocking my spiritual roll me another, brother, for hear comes track three, asking me to “Look Up (To See What’s Coming Down),” and the band certainly does get down, percolating all around (just wish the funky bass were more found than lost but that’s a small cost as i’m tempest tossed by the interplay) . . . yet another segue and i’m “Just in Time to See the Sun”: more quadraphonic fun with the album’s first vocal track, and if that’s not your scene, no problem, for it’s also the album’s shortest cut at 2:18, at which point, another suite transition to “Song of the Wind,” Santana and Schon soaring, their solos imploring me to seek and find what lies beneath my mind’s i through a melding of spirituality, jazz, rock, and Latin muse sick no more, this album is a HUGE score for me, the song fading and an abrupt cut to the epic original side 1 closer: “All the Love of the Universe” making full use of all four speakers with more guitar magic and a phenomenal Rollie organ solo, and the song’s lyrics bringing the side’s cycle that began with “Eternal Caravan of Reincarnation” to closure.

And for all the beauty and majesty of side one, side two is the true trip for me: (k)no(w) wonder with the first cut, “Future Primitive,” clocking in at 4:20–hallucinogenic quadraphonic percussive wonder tearing my mind asunder . . . to be reconfigured by the Brazilian plunder of “Stone Flower” with great bass work, electric piano, another killer Santana solo, and that funky cuica! I once had a spiritual advisor who suggested that if Jesus were to return, He would come as Rhythm in the new millennium. “La Fuente del Ritmo” makes me know that guru’s flow was spot on–scorching timbales, banging bongos, and a crazy electric piano solo energy have me screaming: Go! Go! Go! Holy Trinity–it all comes to a stop as the ultimate epic begins: “Every Step of the Way” never fails to blow me away. Shrieve, who has been a magical mystical wonder throughout, molds the perfect pearl to end this masterpiece–nine minutes of searing soaring instrumental bliss souls kiss synchronistic mind meld with orchestration taking my imagination to places where the face of God is everywhere and everyone who ever was and ever will be the words from “Metaphysical Meditations” inside the gatefold made manifest:

The body melts into the universe.
The universe melts into the soundless voice.
The sound melts into the all-shining light.
And the light enters the bosom of infinite joy.

Santana's best: 10

Clems a Poet
But don't knowit !!

What a beautiful use of the English Language with his heartfelt words, in describing this wonderful quad sacd.

Saw them live in 75

Brilliant, just like this release. 10

PS: They were supported by non other than Earth Wind and Fire.

 

[Mj33]

An easy 10 for me. I love these old quad mixes and I love the packaging. I can't believe people are dissing the packaging! That's crazy! It's beautiful. The best Santana album in my opinion and the quad mix opens things up substantially. I had a CD of this for 30 years and now I'm giving it to my local library. NO need to have it anymore. This was the last album that the great Neal Schon participated on as he and Gregg Rolie would go on to form Journey. There are other many great players here besides those from the Santana band (who are also incredible, particularly Chepito Areas and Armando Peraza, whose percussion work with the steady foundation provided by Mike Shrieve, cuts through perfectly clearly in the quad mix). There's Mingo Lewis helping out on percussion and the one-and-only Lenny White on castanets (yes, castanets) on "All the Love of the Universe". This was a more jazz-oriented album for Santana, who would later collaborate more and more through the mid-70s with fusion titans, including John McLaughlin and Airto Moreira, as well as Brazilian artists such as Flora Purim and the absolute genius who is Milton Nascimento. It's really great to hear this quad mix after all those years of listening to a subpar stereo mix. The sound field is opened up so much that there are parts that I've never heard before, the hallmark of any great mix. Keep 'em coming!

 

[Dynamic Editor]

Anyone else hear crackle in the back right channel during "All the Love in the Universe"?

 

[Scott M4]

Listening again and buzzing from Every Step Of The Way. I’ve been buying all the Santana series despite the awkward 7” packaging (though the shiny cover on this one is nice) and Caravanserai is my favourite so far. I love the atmospheres and the instrumentals! A 10 from the Canadian judge!