Experience This Paradigm the Way the Artist Intended

 

Santana’s self-titled debut album announces the arrival of a new Guitar God. Made during the legendary bandleader’s most fruitful and creative period, the classic 1969 set functions as an accessible entry point into the tangy worlds of Latin music by way of an intoxicating blend of Afro-Cuban percussion, jazzy tempos, exotic leads, bluesy riffs, and psychedelic accents.

obile Fidelity’s  version of this epic work presents the music in the richest, most dynamic and realistic sound it’s ever enjoyed.

 

Spacious, airy, and you-are-there sonics that trump all prior versions. In addition to correcting the imaging, Mobile Fidelity’s collectable version captures the full tonal range of Santana's guitar and nuances of his distinctive touch. It all brings you closer to the music and enhances your emotional connection to this stellar album.

 

Indeed, separation between Carlos Santana’s fluid fills, spicy solos, and broiling grooves and pianist Gregg Rolie’s soulful Hammond organ runs allows the music to come alive with a newfound freshness and radiance. Songs simmer, with each passage bursting forth with vibrant color. Just like the equally essential follow-up Abraxas, Santana also lays claim to one of the biggest (and unfortunate) production gaffes in music history. Until Mobile Fidelity fixed the error with its 180g LP and 24K Gold releases, Santana had never been heard correctly. 

 

For nearly four decades, copies were produced with the left and right channels reversed, meaning that everything was placed in a backwards manner. This even extended to compilations on which individual songs from Santana were included. Rest assured that, in addition to boasting reference audiophile sonics, this 180g  set gets all the specifications exactly right. And with a record of this magnitude, you want everything to be perfect. 

 

Bound by natural chemistry and earthy spirituality, the record’s innovative synthesis of myriad styles goes beyond anything that came before—as well as nearly everything that’s followed. Playing with the finest band that the iconic guitarist ever had, Santana doesn’t water down any exotic roots or simply incorporate mainstream Western styles into a Latin framework. This is a true hybrid, responsible for opening up borders, transcending cultural divides, and, most importantly, exhilarating the senses.

 

Released weeks before the band blew minds at Woodstock, the groundbreaking record stands alongside Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew and Jeff Beck’s Beck-Ola as a pillar of rock fusion. Featuring the Top Ten radio smash “Evil Ways” and jam favorite “Soul Sacrifice,” it hasn’t aged a day. Hear like never before why Rolling Stone says Santana is  #149 on its list of the Greatest Albums of All Time.

 

• Numbered, Limited Edition • 33rpm Speed Edition
• Mastering by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab
• Specially Plated and Pressed on 180 grams of High Definition Vinyl
• Double LP • Special Static Free - Dust Free Inner Sleeve
• Heavy Duty Protective Packaging • Mastered from the Original Master Tapes
• Gatefold Jacket

Bass – Dave Brown
Congas, Percussion – Mike Carrabello
Drums – Mike Shrieve
Engineer – Bob "Deputy Dog" Breault*, Eric "Gentle Ben" Prestidge
Guitar, Vocals – Carlos Santana
Management – Stan Marcum
Photography By – Jim Marshall
Piano, Organ, Vocals – Gregg Rolie
Producer – Brent Dangerfield, Santana
Timbales, Congas, Percussion – José Chepito Areas

Santana Santana  

1. Waiting 
2. Evil Ways
3. Shades Of Time 
4. Savor  
5. Jingo  
6. Persuasion
7. Treat 
8. You Just Don't Care
9. Soul Sacrifice

 

GAIN 2 Ultra Analog™ is a proprietary cutting system built and designed by legendary design genius Tim De Paravicini, with consultation from one of MFSL’s founding fathers – Stan Ricker, an audio engineer responsible for many of MFSL’s most heralded past releases.

The GAIN 2 Ultra Analog™ system is comprised of a Studer™ tape machine with customized reproduction electronics* and handcrafted cutting amps that drive an Ortofon cutting head on a restored Neumann VMS-70 lathe. (*It is worth noting that independent studies have confirmed that the GAIN 2 Ultra Analog™ system can unveil sonic information all the way up to 122kHz!)

First and foremost, we only utilize first generation original master recordings as source material for our releases. We then play back master tapes at half speed enabling the GAIN 2 Ultra Analog™ system to fully extract the master’s sonic information. Our lacquers are then plated in a specialized process that protects transients in the musical signal. (Due to this process, there may be occasional pops or ticks inherent in initial play back, but as the disc is played more, a high quality stylus will actually polish the grooves and improve the sound). We further ensure optimum sound quality by strictly limiting the number of pressings printed for each release. These limited editions, in addition to being collectors’ items, ensure that the quality of the last pressing matches the quality of the first.

As you can imagine, all these efforts involve a tremendous amount of time, technology, cost and effort. The introduction of GAIN 2 Ultra Analog™ maintains Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab’s position as the world’s leading audiophile record label, where a passion for music with extraordinary sound quality matters most.