Review of Santana: Supernatural Live

Introduction

Carlos Santana has been around for nearly 40 years. Yet quite a few of you have probably never heard of him until recently (if at all). One of the world`s greatest guitarists has not always been one of the world`s most popular.

But with the release of his last album, Supernatural, which has gone about 75 times platinum at last count, Santana became cool again. With collaborations with Dave Matthews, Lauryn Hill, Everlast and Rob Thomas (who all appear on this DVD), as well as other well known artists such as Eric Clapton, Santana gained a whole new audience, not to mention plenty of airplay on various radio channels and also on TV on channels such as VH-1, The Box, and even MTV.

This DVD contains a concert recording featuring a number of tracks from Supernatural, plus some older tracks.

Video

Your standard 4:3 made for TV fare here, though confusingly some shots during the concert seem to be in 16:9 (not anamorphic though, so you just get a smaller image on your TV).

Nothing wrong with the picture though, it depicts the very bright and colourful stage set very well. You also get some good close-ups from the guitar-cam (mounted on neck of Santana`s guitar).

Audio

Here`s what you paid your money for. A pair of excellent audio tracks as you cycle through DD5.1 or dts 5.1

Once again the dts track wins out for audio quality, as it just offers something else over the DD5.1 track. There`s nothing wrong with the Dolby Digital track, this disc is just another example of why dts is so highly regarded.

A minor gripe is that one or two vocal tracks seem a bit low in the mix, but this is not too distracting and doesn`t detract from the overall experience.

Features

Lots of extras here. Four music videos, an interview, biography and gallery of Carlos Santana, a featurette on the Supernatural album itself, song lyrics and some "rehearsal footage", which is actually just another take on one of the songs from the main show.

Plenty of stuff to get your teeth into, and nice to see music DVD producers making an effort. It certainly adds to the feeling of value for money.

Conclusion

If you like Santana, you`ll love this disc, plain and simple. If you have only recently heard of Santana due to recent exposure to tracks from Supernatural, you`ll like this disc. If you`re not a fan, then this probably won`t appeal to you.

That`s a shame, because there`s some cracking guitar work here and great songs. Highlights include "Angel" (a duet with Sarah McLachlan), Love of My Life (with Dave Matthews) and Put Your Lights on (with Everlast).

A great example of how to put a music DVD together.