Most underated albums......

To clarify, Santana's third album, titled "Santana", features the original band plus Neal Schon. "Welcome" features a completely different lineup (except for Jose Areas). The Santana/Rolie guitar/organ combo were great, but Carlos and Tom Coster click even better. "Welcome" also features Doug Rauch on bass. I'm not familiar with anything else he did, but he's a phenom on this album.

Since you're asking, I love "Welcome". The Organ playing is simply ethereal. But, to me, it doesn't comprise a whole the way that "Caravanserai" does. "Barboletto" falls somewhere in the middle. What makes Caravanserai unique is that it is the sound of a rock band of the greatest musical facility discovering jazz for the first time and looking backward to the traditions of jazz while looking foreward to hybrid jazz-rock forms. For my money Greg Rollie is the best keyboard player to have played with Santana and Shreve the best drummer. A quick look at "Soul Sacrifice" from the film "Woodstock" tells the whole story. I also believe that Cuban phenom Conga player Armando Pereza played on all of these albums in addition to Chepito Areas on timbales but memory may fail me. I really think that Edgar Winter's "Entance" that I recommended above falls into much the same magical category, and yet the two sound nothing alike.

Thanks, I'll look Welcome up , if still in print??? Yes Shrive was great on percussion, but not as good as Billy Cobham with John Mc Laughlin's Mahavishnu Orchestra Live in New York's Central Park. The cd is stll avaliable Between Nothingness and Eternity. 3 songs. Man! really "trancen"adental music. For those who missed this most underrated albums" may want to consider this one. This maybe more looked over than Caravanseri.

Mahavishnu Orchestra Live from Central Park 1973?, cd still in print called Between Nothingness And Eternity. huumm, nice playing here, but this was about the only things I like by John Mc Laughlin, ...except his work with Santana on Love Devotion Surrender. Another underrated album. At least no one talked much about it in the 'hood at the time it came out.

I was at that Mahavishnu concert in Central Park. Saw them several times during that time period. Always amazing performances. Sadly, none of their albums capture the savagery of their sound. Still the live album is excellent fusion music.

Tweekerman, never warmed up to E. Winter's "Entrance", but loved "Shock Treatment". It's more pop oriented than some of his other records. His band included Rick Derringer and Dan Hartman. Some great songwriting and playing.