The purpose of Multi-Dimensional Warrior, the newest Santana collection, is to review his recordings that are of a spiritual nature.  It is no secret that Carlos Santana enjoys a deeply spiritual experience that is enlightening to him in many ways and much of that reflects in his music, some more obvious than others.  This religious adherence was evident very early within his career, starting with his Columbia releases.  Since then, he has dedicated a multitude of songs over many albums to this musical expression of his faith and belief.  I find it interesting that Carlos Santana would himself, take such a personal interest in releasing a 2CD set that encompasses his entire recording career, selecting those songs (but not all) that he felt were important to his presentation of spirituality on this set.

Santana has produced a grand body of work that span his formative Columbia years, many with his most recognizable hits, his transitional short stay with Polydor, and his current tenure with Arista.  This collection is different from many other collections given its main intent.  You will not find a string of hits here.  The closest to a hit that you will get is “Samba Pa Ti,” which was a B-side to “Oye Como Va,” and “El Farol,” a B-side to “Smooth.”  You will not find an attempt to deliver a phased set of spiritual tunes that come from each album.  Instead, Carlos Santana finds those songs that cohesively thread the two discs of this album together to produce a musical and lyrical document of his spiritual journey through life to this point. 

As an artist, his music already transcends the rigid structure of hits, making the whole of his catalogue a considerably rewarding listening experience in almost any situation.  Even his highly familiar hits had to be pared down to mere radio edits as they were recorded as larger, more intricate Latin-flavoured compositions. What makes Multi Dimensional Warrior a good call is the fact that Santana is a guitar genius, using the instrument to express himself more intently than many of his peers.  As a result, his playing becomes the central point of many of his songs.  His choices of songs for this compilation and their sequencing make this album sound like a singular work.  The music represented here separates by vocal tracks and instrumental tracks.  Disc One holds the vocal tracks while the second disc is all instrumental.  Together, you have a satisfying collection of Santana tracks in a different light.  Call it – if you must – a Carlos Santana created play list, assembled for your enjoyment.

As is the case in every compilation, there are arguable inclusions and exclusions.  Everyone will have his or her subjective choices just as I have my own.  I’m wondering where Caravanserai (1972) is, or even Love Devotion Surrender (1972), both of which were new direction, jazz-influenced albums, and which have spiritual components in them.  But we have to remember that this is not a label-directed release.  Carlos Santana chose these songs and therefore, these songs are representative of his musical journey with a spiritual underline.  All in all, Multi Dimensional Warrior is 30 years of compelling Santana, distilled to a 2CD set with a theme.

I respect that.  I’m sure you will too.