Santana - Lotus

180-gram LP

1/2" / 15 ips 4-track analog master to 2-track DSD 256 to analog console to lathe

Sourced from the original master tape

Pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing

Strictly limited to 5,000 numbered copies!

Includes four photo inserts and two fold-out posters

Deluxe trifold packaging faithful to the original pressing

One of the most exhilarating live albums ever released!

Mobile Fidelity's 180-gram 33 RPM 3LP reissue of Santana's Lotus features reference sound and deluxe trifold packaging faithful to that of the original Japanese import edition! 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, this 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.

Mobile Fidelity's 180-gram 3LP Lotus reissue features rich tones, smooth dynamics, excellent separation, deep soundstages, and involving presence, paying 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.

You also get a generous taste of the ambience of the venue, and a definite sense of the interplay and improvisation that transpired as much by feel as by architectural necessity. The weight of the bass, extension of the highs, punch of the mids, texture and reverberation of the percussion: Mobile Fidelity's organic version of Lotus stakes an immediate claim to demonstration-disc status of how a live recording should sound. And look. Paying homage to the original, this reissue includes four double-sided flat photo inserts and two 24" x 36" double-sided fold-out posters. (Note: It does not have an obi strip or red Japanese insert.)

Exclusively released in Japan before it slowly made it across the seas to the United States as a pricey import, Lotus became a hot topic among in-the-know connoisseurs. Hip record stores struggled to keep the record in the bins. Italy, New Zealand, and Europe got their own versions of the in-demand set before the end of 1975. American listeners weren't so lucky. To satisfy their fix, they had to turn to the imports.

The same year Stateside fans began paying a premium to hear the two hours of magic on Lotus, CBS released Santana's Greatest Hits — an introductory compilation that went on to sell more than 7 million copies. Another 17 years passed before Lotus hit American shelves as a domestic set in the form of 2CD and two-cassette editions. It didn't become available on domestic vinyl until 2013 on a version that has long been out-of-print.

In addition to the magnificent instrumental prowess and daring of the arrangements, the historical importance of Lotus has only grown as time — and Santana — evolved. Five members of the Caravanserai Tour octet — percussionists/drummers Michael Shrieve and Jose "Chepito" Areas, vocalist Leon Thomas, keyboardist Richard Kermode, bassist Doug Rauch - departed by the end of 1974. As such, along with the late 1973 studio effort Welcome, Lotus stands as the high-water mark of Santana's early and mid-70s fusion period before the lineup changed and the group transitioned into more experimental territory.

Featuring seven previously unreleased tracks as well as remarkable renditions of material from Santana's first four albums and the Carlos Santana-John McLaughlin collaboration Love Devotion Surrender, Lotus simultaneously suggests and inspires, dreams and delivers. Though the extended drum solo ("Kyoto") may not conform to everyone's idea of essential listening, every moment here sees Carlos Santana and company finding new gears — and playing as if their lives depend on it.

You can feel the passion it on takes of "Every Step of the Way," "Mantra," Se a Cabo," "Toussaint L'Overture," and the scorching "Incident at Neshabur." Renditions of Santna's more "mainstream" fare — "Black Magic Woman," "Oyo Como Va," "Gypsy Queen" — touch on similarly elevated planes. Taking the meaning of title of the ambitious album to heart, Santana revolves around themes of rebirth and launches into a mystical universe in which peacefulness, sensitivity, beauty, and boundless creativity orbit a fiery sun. Black magic, indeed.

 

1. Meditation

2. Going Home

3. A-1 Funk

4. Every Step of the Way

5. Black Magic Woman

6. Gypsy Queen

7. Oye Como Va

8. Yours Is the Light

9. Batuka

10. Xibaba (She-Ba-Ba)

11. Stone Flower (Introduction)

12. Waiting

13. Castillos de Arena, Pt. 1 (Sand Castle)

14. Free Angela

15. Samba de Sausalito

16. Mantra

17. Kyoto

18. Castillos de Arena, Pt. 2 (Sand Castle)

19. Se a Cabó

20. Samba Pa Ti

21. Savor

22. Toussaint l’Overture

23. Incident at Neshabur

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