Ask any young
pop
fan who
Santana
was by the late '90s, and you were sure to have been met with some mighty quizzical looks. But over the course of two blockbuster releases, 1999's
Supernatural
and 2002's
Shaman
,
was once more a commercial force to be reckoned with. Admittedly, though, it was a calculated move, as
Arista
head
Clive Davis
suggested that
team up with a multitude of modern-day
artists to collaborate with. It was a double-edged sword, however -- while a legion of new fans were won over, the move did not exactly please most longtime admirers. And it's these two aforementioned albums (as well as the 2002 set
Ceremony: Remixes & Rarities
) that the
edition of the
Artist Collection
series focuses on. One small thing, though -- it includes primarily the non-guest material. And by doing so, it leaves off some of
's biggest hits, most notably his collaboration with
Matchbox Twenty
's
Rob Thomas
"Smooth"
-- so this is far from a definitive compilation of latter-day
. Still, you get a healthy helping of
highlights from this period, including
"Africa Bamba,"
"Victory Is Won,"
"Curacion (Sunlight on Water),"
and a cover of
Fela Kuti
"Truth Don Die."
But without the guest collaborations,
will not appeal to the casual fan, and isn't that the main target audience of compilations? ~ Greg Prato