Festival – SANTANA***

Carnaval/Let The Children Play/Jugando/Give Me Love/Verao Vermelho/Let The Music Set You Free/ Revelations/Reach Up/The River/Try A Little Harder/Maria Caracoles

Festival is similar to many Santana albums of this period featuring a mixture of funk, Latin, jazz, fusion and disco. His popularity had significantly reduced compared with a few years earlier. (US:27 UK:27)

”An album that remains a curiosity, but far from a go to. Very good moments on here, as well as the very bad R & B meanderings that can fall flat with the Santana band when they venture into this category. Festival is easy on the ears while remaining rhythmic smooth funk, Latin, and plenty of Carlos Santana guitar.”

“Festival may be Santana's most commercial-sounding album up to the date, but the pop world is ambiguous and the album became Santana's least successful in the charts. I like all tracks at least a little, though sometimes it feels like the essential content of this album is a few phrases that are repeated over and over again.”

“Santana has just emerged from the 70s fusion movement, having played with some of the best jazzmen around. However, this is not in evidence on this unfortunate hodgepodge of rock, disco and mediocre Latin music.”

“This album suffers from the same problem as most of Santana's later albums -- there's just not much there. The melodies are still catchy, Carlos's guitar is scorching, and the danceable Latin rhythms are still there, but the music is bland and the musicians are faceless. There are high points, particularly on the opening trilogy of songs.”

”It's an early example of Santana's penchant for cashing in on the current trends. The only thing of value here is the Brazilian-flavoured Let The Children Play medley. Those who like Santana's more adventurous, jazzier side, are advised to stay away from this.”

“Overall, Festival contains its share of jazziness but it's more about the chanting than anything else, with a combination of ballads, energetic ideas and pretty good sparsely used guitar playing.”