Shape Shifter (album)
Shape Shifter is the twenty-second studio album (thirty-sixth album overall) by Santana. It was released on May 14, 2012. This album is the first from his new record label Starfaith Records,[5] which is distributed by Sony Music Entertainment, owners of all of Santana's albums (except those recorded for Polydor Records which are owned by Universal Music Group).[6] It is also the first album since 1992's Milagro that does not feature guest singers in any of the songs, a style that characterized Santana's albums since Supernatural. The album contains only one song with vocals ("Eres La Luz").[7] The track "Mr. Szabo" is a homage to the Hungarian guitarist Gábor Szabó, one of Carlos Santana's early idols, who released a series of 8 albums for Impulse Records between 1966 and 1967; the track features a similar rhythmical and harmonic structure to "Gypsy Queen", a Szabó recording from 1966 covered by Santana in 1970 as a medley with Fleetwood Mac's "Black Magic Woman".
| Shape Shifter | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() Cover art by Rance Hood | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | May 14, 2012 | |||
| Genre | Rock, Latin rock | |||
| Length | 57:22 | |||
| Label | Starfaith, Sony[1] | |||
| Producer | Carlos Santana, Eric Bazilian, Walter Afanasieff | |||
| Santana chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 45/100[2] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic | |
| Classic Rock | |
| Rolling Stone Brasil | |
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Shape Shifter" | Carlos Santana | 6:16 |
| 2. | "Dom" | Hamidou Touré, Ousmane Touré, Ismaila Touré, Tidiane Sixu Touré | 3:51 |
| 3. | "Nomad" | Carlos Santana | 4:49 |
| 4. | "Metatron" | Carlos Santana | 2:39 |
| 5. | "Angelica Faith" | Carlos Santana, Chester Thompson | 5:03 |
| 6. | "Never the Same Again" | Carlos Santana, Eric Bazilian | 5:01 |
| 7. | "In the Light of a New Day" | Carlos Santana, Narada Michael Walden | 5:06 |
| 8. | "Spark of the Divine" | Carlos Santana | 1:03 |
| 9. | "Macumba in Budapest" | Carlos Santana, Walter Afanasieff | 4:01 |
| 10. | "Mr. Szabo" | Carlos Santana | 6:20 |
| 11. | "Eres La Luz" | Carlos Santana, Walter Afanasieff, Andy Vargas, Karl Perazzo | 4:51 |
| 12. | "Canela" | Carlos Santana, Salvador Santana | 5:22 |
| 13. | "Ah, Sweet Dancer" | Micheal O Suilleabhain | 3:08 |
| Total length: | 57:22 | ||
Personnel
- Andy Vargas and Tony Lindsay – vocals (track 11)
- Carlos Santana – guitar
- Chester Thompson – keyboards
- Salvador Santana – keyboards
- Benny Rietveld – bass
- Dennis Chambers – drums
- Karl Perazzo – timbales, percussion
- Raul Rekow – congas, bongos, percussion
- Carlos Hernandez & Jorge Santana - Additional Guitars on track 3 "Nomad"
Charts
| Chart (2012) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[8] | 29 |
| Canadian Albums Chart[9] | 46 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[10] | 82 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[11] | 27 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[12] | 63 |
| French Albums (SNEP)[13] | 71 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[14] | 19 |
| Hungarian Albums Chart[15] | 2 |
| Italian Albums (FIMI)[16] | 19 |
| Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[17] | 75 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[18] | 8 |
Year-end charts
| Chart (2012) | Position |
|---|---|
| Hungarian Albums Chart[19] | 69 |
References
- Jurek, Thom. "Shape Shifter - Santana | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
- "Reviews for Shape Shifter by Santana". Metacritic. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
- Yates, Henry (July 2012). "Santana - Shape Shifter". Classic Rock. No. 172. p. 99.
- Lima, Carlos Eduardo (6 July 2012). "36º disco marca o retorno de Santana ao formato que caracterizou sua carreira". Rolling Stone Brasil (in Portuguese). Retrieved 13 July 2012.
- "Santana's 36th Album, 'Shape Shifter,' Set For May 15 Release". GuitarPlayer. Retrieved 2012-05-20.
- "Images for Santana - Shape Shifter". Discogs.
- "Interview: Carlos Santana on his new album, Shape Shifter". MusicRadar.com. 2012-04-27. Retrieved 2012-05-20.
- "Austriancharts.at – Santana – Shape Shifter" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
- http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Charts/ALBUMS.html
- "Ultratop.be – Santana – Shape Shifter" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
- "Ultratop.be – Santana – Shape Shifter" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
- "Dutchcharts.nl – Santana – Shape Shifter" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
- "Lescharts.com – Santana – Shape Shifter". Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
- "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
- "MAHASZ – Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége". mahasz.hu. Retrieved 2012-06-21.
- "Italiancharts.com – Santana – Shape Shifter". Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
- "Spanishcharts.com – Santana – Shape Shifter". Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
- "Swisscharts.com – Santana – Shape Shifter". Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
- "Best selling albums of Hungary in 2012". Mahasz. Retrieved February 7, 2012.
- All information from CD release booklet (Copyright © 2012 Starfaith Records, catalog #76692-99966-2).
