Shrieve's drum solo on "Soul Sacrifice," however, remains the real show stopper. It's hard to believe Shrieve was merely sixteen years old here — the kid is freaking amazing. But Carlos aside, that one solo probably did as much as anything else they did at Woodstock to put Santana on the map for good. To this day, it's a defining moment of the Woodstock Experience, and of its time.
The addition of Santana's debut album here compliments the actual live performance more than possibly any other set in the series simply because, as I already mentioned, the two pieces are really like different sides of the same coin.
There's really not much point in rehashing a record that millions already own, except to say that along with Abraxas and their third album, this is really one of the truly essential Santana albums. No offense to the latter day mega-selling Supernatural album. But this is really what this band was all about. For one thing, they actually were still a band, rather than merely a vehicle for Carlos.
As with the other packages in the Woodstock Experience series, the concert is really the hook here. That said, they do the usual nice job with the original album, recreating the original cover and the red Columbia logo on the disc itself.
But if you're going mainly for the studio recording, Legacy has a far superior remastered version already out there, replete with the usual bonus tracks and the like (none of which are here).
Nonetheless, the live Woodstock performance captured here — occasional (and in fairness, expected given the age of the recording) sound glitches aside — make this release a must for any self respecting Santana fan.
The Woodstock Experience series arrives in stores on June 30.
Next up in our series will be Sly And The Family Stone.
Article comments
1 - El Bicho
"Shrieve's drum solo on "Soul Sacrifice," however, remains the real show stopper."
Quoted for Truth.