Santana was still a respected rock veteran in 1999, but it had been years since he had a hit, even if he continued to fare well on the concert circuits. Clive Davis, the man who had signed
Santana to
Columbia in 1968, offered him the opportunity to set up shop at his label,
Arista. In the tradition of comebacks and label debuts by veteran artists in the '90s,
Supernatural,
Santana's first effort for
Arista, is designed as a star-studded event. At first listen, there doesn't seem to be a track that doesn't have a guest star, which brings up the primary problem with the album -- despite several interesting or excellent moments, it never develops a consistent voice that holds the album together. The fault doesn't lay with the guest stars or even with
Santana, who continues to turn in fine performances. There's just a general directionless feeling to the record, enhanced by several songs that seem like excuses for jams, which, truth be told, isn't all that foreign on latter-day
Santana records. Then again, the grooves often play better than the ploys for radio play, but that's not always the case, since
Lauryn Hill's "Do You Like the Way" and
the Dust Brothers-produced,
Eagle-Eye Cherry-sung "Wishing It Was" are as captivating as the
Eric Clapton duet, "The Calling." But that just confirms that
Supernatural just doesn't have much of a direction, flipping between traditional
Santana numbers and polished contemporary collaborations, with both extremes being equally likely to hit or miss. That doesn't quite constitute a triumph, but the peak moments of
Supernatural are some of
Santana's best music of the '90s, which does make it a successful comeback. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi
