Supernatural

Supernatural is the seventeenth studio album by the Latin rock band Santana, it was released on June 15, 1999. It went 15 times platinum in the US and won eight Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year as well as three Latin Grammy Awards including Record of the Year.

The album, conceived by Clive Davis and A&R'd by Pete Ganbarg, was a major global hit, eventually selling more than 30 million copies. It is the most successful album by Santana, hitting the number one spot in ten countries, including the United States. It is also the highest-selling album of original material released by any artist who had already been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame prior to its release and second highest-selling overall behind The Beatles compilation album 1.

Supernatural debuted at number nineteen on the Billboard 200 on July 3, 1999 but topped (after 18 weeks) the chart on October 30, 1999 and stayed there for 12 non-consecutive weeks. It included the hit single "Smooth", which featured Matchbox Twenty singer Rob Thomas on vocals, and was number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for 12 weeks. The follow-up single, "Maria Maria" (which featured The Product G&B), was number one on the same chart for 10 weeks. Santana and Rob Thomas won three Grammy Awards for their collaboration on the song "Smooth" while Santana and Everlast won another for the song "Put Your Lights On". Santana also won a Grammy for "Maria Maria". Carlos Santana became the first Hispanic to win the Record of the Year Grammy Award, while the Album of the Year Grammy Award was bestowed upon Davis.

Among the other guest artists are Eric Clapton, Eagle-Eye Cherry, Lauryn Hill, Dave Matthews, Maná and Cee-Lo Green.

Critical Reception

Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic noted that "there doesn't seem to be a track that doesn't have a guest star, which brings up the primary problem with the album it never develops a consistent voice that holds the album together." He added that the album is "directionless" but concluded by saying "the peak moments of Supernatural are some of Santana's best music of the '90s, which does make it a successful comeback." Rolling Stone writer David Wild also noted the amount of featured artists on the album. He goes on to say "Not everything is quite so appealing", mentioning the song, "Do You Like The Way" featuring Lauryn Hill and Cee Lo Green, saying that it "seems a bit more forced."

Commercial Performance

The album is one of the best-selling albums in the world, and has sold over 30 million copies worldwide, with 11.8 million copies sold in the United States alone. It is the best-selling album by a Hispanic artist, peaking at number one in many countries.

According to the Guinness World Records in 2005, it was the band's first album to peak at number one on the Billboard 200 since Santana III in 1971, making it the longest gap between two number one albums, 28 years in total. The album debuted at number 19 on the US Billboard 200 and eventually peaked at number one in October 1999, selling 169,000 copies that week, it would increase even more its sales the following weeks, selling 183,000 and 199,000 on its first three weeks atop. Its highest sale came in year's final week when it sold 527,000 copies. Its sales would still stay in stratosphere after the Holiday season, selling 583,000 copies after winning nine Grammy Awards in a night, it barely dropped in sales, selling again another monstrous 441,000 copies. Its last of 12 non-consecutive weeks at number one would still see huge sales, 307,000 copies that week, it later was replaced by NSYNC No Strings Attached after selling 2.4 million copies in a week. It also debuted and peaked at number one on the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart. However, it was removed from the chart the following week after Billboard determined that the album did not meet the linguistic requirement of having at least 50% of its tracks recorded in Spanish. It was ranked on Billboard's top 200 albums of the decade as the ninth best-selling album of the 2000s.

In Australia, the album debuted at number 48 and would peak at number one on March 6, 2000. In the UK, the album peaked at number one for two weeks starting on April 1, 2000.

The track "El Farol" was criticised by unauthorized use of melody. The song takes it structure of "Papel Principal", a song made by the Portuguese artist Adelaide Ferreira. Although never confirmed, the rumor of a possible judicial action by the Portuguese singer was never surpassed.

Singles

The first single released from the album was "Smooth", which featured Rob Thomas on vocals and peaked at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 for 12 weeks while it went to number 3 in the UK and number 4 in Australia. The next single was "Maria Maria" which featured The Product G&B as the single peaked at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 for 10 weeks, number 6 in the UK and number 49 in Australia. The third single, "Put Your Lights On", only peaked at number 18 on the US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart, a poor number 97 in the UK, and was a minor hit in Australia at number 32. The single "Corazon Espinado", which featured Maná, was a hit in Spanish-speaking countries.

Track listing
Standard edition
No. Title Writer(s) Producer(s) Length
1. "(Da Le) Yaleo"

Carlos Santana Shakara Mutela Christian Polloni

Santana 5:51
2. "Love of My Life" (featuring Dave Matthews and Carter Beauford)

Santana Matthews

Stephen Harris Santana

5:48
3. "Put Your Lights On" (featuring Everlast) Everlast

Dante Ross John Gamble

4:47
4. "Africa Bamba"

Santana Ismaïla Touré and Sixu Tidiane Touré (as Touré Kunda) Karl Perazzo

Santana 4:40
5. "Smooth" (featuring Rob Thomas)

Itaal Shur Rob Thomas

Matt Serletic 4:56
6. "Do You Like the Way" (featuring Lauryn Hill and CeeLo Green) Hill Hill 5:52
7. "Maria Maria" (featuring Sincere (David McRae) and Money Harm (Marvin Moore-Hough) (as The Product G&B)

Santana Perazzo Raul Rekow Wyclef Jean Jerry "Wonder" Duplessis

Duplessis Wyclef Jean

4:21
8. "Migra"

Santana Rachid Taha Tony Lindsay

Karl C Porter Santana

5:24
9. "Corazón Espinado" (featuring Maná) Fher Olvera

Olvera Porter *Alex González

4:32
10. "Wishing It Was" (featuring Eagle-Eye Cherry)

Eagle-Eye Cherry Michael Simpson John King Money Mark (Mark Ramos Nishita) Porter

The Dust Brothers *Charles Goodan *Art Hodge

4:59
11. "El Farol"

Santana Porter

Porter 4:49
12. "Primavera"

Porter J. B. Eckl Cheín García Alonso

Porter 5:17
13. "The Calling" (featuring Eric Clapton)

Santana Chester D. Thompson Freddie Stone Linda Graham

Mastered by Ted Jensen

Notes

The total length of track 13 is actually 12:47. "The Calling" ends at 7:48. Hidden track "Day of Celebration" starts at 8:00 and has a length 4:27. The track listing and timing are the same on the 2010 "Legacy Edition." However, separate musician and production credits are listed for "Day of Celebration" in the liner notes, unlike the standard edition.
(*) Asterisk notes co-producer.

Legacy Edition Disc 2

A "Legacy Edition" of Supernatural was released on February 16, 2010, with a new Santana-supervised remastering. "Bacalao Con Pan"

"Angel Love (Come for Me)"
"Rain Down on Me"
Featuring Dave Matthews and Carter Beauford
"Corazon Espinado (Spanish Dance Remix)"
Featuring Maná
"One Fine Morning" (Lighthouse Cover)
"Exodus/Get Up Stand Up (Bob Marley cover)"
"Ya Yo Me Cure"
"Maria Maria (Pumpin' Dolls Club Mix)"
Featuring The Product G&B
"Smooth (Instrumental)"
"The Calling Jam"
Featuring Eric Clapton
"Olympic Festival"
Personnel

"(Da Le) Yaleo"

Carlos Santana – guitar, vocals
Chester D. Thompson – keyboards
Benny Rietveld – bass
Billy Johnson – drums
Karl Perazzo – percussion, vocals
Raul Rekow – congas
Tony Lindsay – vocals
Jose Abel Figueroa – trombone
Mic Gillette – trombone
Mic Gillette – trumpet
Marvin McFadden – trumpet

"Love of My Life"

This song's main melody is very similar to Brahms' symphony No. 3 in F Major Op 90 Movement #3
Carlos Santana – guitar
Dave Matthews – lead vocal
George Whitty – keyboards
Benny Rietveld – bass
Carter Beauford – drums
Karl Perazzo – congas and percussion

"Put Your Lights On"

Carlos Santana – lead guitar, congas and percussion
Everlast – rhythm guitar and lead vocal
Chester D. Thompson – keyboards
Dante Ross, John Gamble – programming
Benny Rietveld – bass

"Africa Bamba"

Carlos Santana – guitar, background vocals
Chester D. Thompson – keyboards
Benny Rietveld – bass
Horacio Hernandez – drums
Raul Rekow – congas
Carlos Santana – lead vocal
Karl Perazzo – vamp out vocals, background vocals, percussion
Tony Lindsay – background vocals

"Smooth"

Carlos Santana – lead guitar
Rob Thomas – lead vocal
Chester D. Thompson – keyboards
Benny Rietveld – bass
Rodney Holmes – drums
Karl Perazzo – percussion
Raul Rekow – congas
Jeff Cressman – trombone
Jose Abel Figueroa – trombone
Julius Melendez – trumpet
William Ortiz – trumpet

"Do You Like The Way"

Carlos Santana – lead guitar
Lauryn Hill – lead and background vocals
Cee-Lo Green – lead vocals
Francis Dunnery, Al Anderson – rhythm guitar
Loris Holland – keyboards
Kobie Brown, Che Pope – programming
Tom Barney – bass
Lenesha Randolph – background vocals
Danny Wolinski – saxophone and flute
Steve Touré – trombone
Earl Gardner – trumpet and flugelhorn
Joseph Daley – tuba

"Maria Maria"

Carlos Santana – guitar
The Product G&B – lead vocals
Carlos Santana – additional vocals
Joseph Herbert – cello
Daniel Seidenberg – viola
Hari Balakrisnan – viola
Jeremy Cohen – violin

"Migra"

Carlos Santana – guitar and sleigh bells
Chester D. Thompson – keyboards
K.C. Porter – programming and accordion, vocals
Benny Rietveld – bass
Rodney Holmes – drums
Karl Perazzo – percussion
Raul Rekow – congas
Tony Lindsay – vocals
Karl Perazzo – vocals
Ramon Flores – trombone
Mic Gillette – trombone
Jose Abel Figueroa – trumpet
Marvin McFadden – trumpet
Mic Gillette – trumpet

"Corazón Espinado"

Carlos Santana – lead guitar
Fher Olvera – lead vocals
Sergio Vallín – rhythm guitar
Alberto Salas – keyboards
Chester D. Thompson – keyboards
Juan Calleros – bass
Alex González – drums
Karl Perazzo – timbales and percussion
Raul Rekow – congas
Gonzalo Chomat – background vocals
Alex González – background vocals
Jose Quintana – vocal direction

"Wishing It Was"

Carlos Santana – lead and rhythm guitar
Eagle-Eye Cherry – lead vocal
Chad & Earl – background vocals
Chester D. Thompson – keyboards
Benny Rietveld – bass
Rodney Holmes – drums
Karl Perazzo – timbales and percussion
Raul Rekow – congas and percussion
Humberto Hernandez – additional percussion

"El Farol"

Carlos Santana – lead guitar
Raul Pacheco – rhythm guitar and percussion
K.C. Porter – keyboards and programming
Chester D. Thompson – keyboards and programming
Benny Rietveld – bass
Gregg Bissonette – drums
Karl Perazzo – timbales
Raul Rekow – congas

"Primavera"

Carlos Santana – lead guitar, background vocals
J. B. Eckl – rhythm guitar
K.C. Porter – lead vocals, keyboards, programming, background vocals
Chester D. Thompson – keyboards
Mike Porcaro – bass
Jimmy Keegan – drums
Karl Perazzo – timbales and percussion, background vocals
Luis Conte – congas and percussion
Fher – background vocals
Tony Lindsay – background vocals
Chein Garcia Alonso – spanish translation

"The Calling"

Eric Clapton – lead and rhythm guitar
Carlos Santana – lead and rhythm guitar
Chester D. Thompson – keyboards
Carlos Santana – percussion
Mike Mani – programming
Tony Lindsay – vocals
Jeanie Tracy – vocals
Andre for Screaming Lizard – pro tools editing