SANTANA - LOTUS Vinyl LP

The bizarre legacy of Lotus transcends its status as both the definitive onstage document of Santana's career and one of the most spectacular live albums ever released. Originally issued in 1974, the triple LP contains exhilarating performances recorded at two shows in early July 1973 at the 2400-seat Osaka Kosei Nenkin Kaikan concert hall.

It bears witness to the eight-piece collective playing with a chemistry, inventiveness, cohesiveness, and soulfulness no other Santana lineup would ever surpass. Lotus also remained the only completely live Santana album for almost two decades - and took nearly as long to see domestic release.

Sourced from the original master tapes, pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing, strictly limited to 5,000 numbered copies, and housed in deluxe trifold packaging faithful to that of the original pressing, Lotus benefits from reference audiophile treatment on Mobile Fidelity's 180g 3LP set.

Featuring rich tones, smooth dynamics, excellent separation, deep soundstages, and involving presence, this reissue pays tribute to both the virtuosic lineup and the indispensable fusion of Latin- and Afro-Cuban-influenced jazz, rock, psychedelia, R&B, and blues.

The complexity of the spiritual passages, demands of the crescendos, delicacy of the calm transitions, electricity of the solos: everything is rendered with superb balance free of harshness, compression, and fatiguing peaks that would otherwise distract from the presentations at hand.

Tracks:

1. Going Home
2. A-1 Funk
3. Every Step of the Way
4. Black Magic Woman
5. Gypsy Queen
6. Oye Como Va
7. Your Is The Light
8. Batuka
9. Xibaba
10. Stone Flower
11. Waiting
12. Castillos de Arena, Pt. 1
13. Free Angela
14. Samba de Sausalito
15. Mantra
16. Kyoto
17. Castillos de Arena, Pt 2
18. Incident At Neshabur
19. Se a Cabo
20. Samba Pa Ti
21. Mr. Udo
22. Toussaint L'Overture

Label: Mobile Fidelity