Power of Peace is a 2017 studio album made by American rhythm and blues group The Isley Brothers and American Latino rock band Santana.
Power of Peace | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | July 28, 2017 | |||
Recorded | 2016[1] | |||
Studio |
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Length | 66:01 | |||
Language | English | |||
Label | Legacy Recordings | |||
Producer |
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The Isley Brothers chronology | ||||
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Santana chronology | ||||
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The theme is spiritual divine medicine to counter the fever-pitch fear that's permeating this planet right now... Every era has its song ... to help alleviate the condition of brutality and war.
—Carlos Santana on the themes of Power of Peace[1]
Reception
editEditors at AllMusic rated this album 3 out of 5 stars, with critic Thom Jurek writing that the music is "loose, but everybody brought their chops to the party" and is the sound of great musicians enjoying one another's company.[2] Writing for The Arts Desk, Thomas H. Green gave this album 2 out of 5 stars, writing that there are "passable moments" on the album, but the music "slump[s] into a bland string of slowies".[3] The Independent, Andy Gill rated this album 3 out of 5 stars, calling it "not entirely successful", but noting strong performances on particular tracks.[4] At Louder Sound, Julian Marszalek gave this collaboration 3 out of 5 stars, characterizing it as "not quite a harvest for the world but no spoilt crops either".[5]
Paste's Douge Heselgrave gave this album a 5.8 out of 10, writing "With so much common ground and shared history, having high expectations of such a collaboration is fairly reasonable. And plenty of their fans will probably enjoy Power of Peace quite a lot. It's an impressively produced piece of work. The songs are well-arranged, creatively charted and, for the most part, beautifully performed.", but calling it "a lot less captivating than it should be" and "predictable".[6] Tristan Kneschke of PopMatters scored Power of Peace a 6 out of 10, stating that there are "rough edges" to the music, but that "the album connects us with the expression of love across 20th century songwriting, a sentiment that often seems to have vanished".[7] Daryl Easlea of Record Collector scored this album 4 out of 5 stars, writing that it "is exactly what it is; people old enough to have long packed up this business, getting down to it, having enormous enjoyment doing it".[8] Rolling Stone's Will Hermes rated Power of Peace 3 out of 5 stars, praising Ronald Isley's vocals and Carlos Santana's guitar work.[9] In Spill Magazine, Aaron Badgley gave this work 3.5 out of 5 stars, writing that it is "exactly as you would expect, slickly produced, full of amazing playing and some of the sweetest vocals this side of Heaven".[10]
Track listing
edit- "Are You Ready?" (Julian Chambers) – 3:26
- "Total Destruction to Your Mind" (Jerry Williams, Jr.) – 4:23
- "Higher Ground" (Stevie Wonder) – 5:13
- "God Bless the Child" (Billie Holiday and Arthur Herzog, Jr.) – 7:09
- "I Remember" (Cindy Blackman Santana) – 5:34
- "Body Talk" (Kathy Wakefield and Frank Edward Wilson) – 5:22
- "Gypsy Woman" (Curtis Mayfield) – 7:03
- "I Just Want to Make Love to You" (Willie Dixon) – 4:04
- "Love, Peace, Happiness" (George E. Chambers, Joseph Chambers, Lester Chambers, and Willie Chambers) – 3:12
- "What the World Needs Now Is Love, Sweet Love" (Burt Bacharach and Hal David) – 5:29
- "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" (Marvin Gaye) – 4:02
- "Let the Rain Fall on Me" (Aaron Bell and Houston Person) – 6:27
- "Let There Be Peace on Earth" (Jill Jackson Miller and Sy Miller) – 4:37
Personnel
editThe Isley Brothers
- Ernie Isley – rhythm guitar, lead guitar, backing vocals on "God Bless the Child"
- Ronald Isley – lead vocals
Santana
- David K. Mathews – keyboards, Hammond B3 organ
- Karl Perazzo – percussion
- Benny Rietveld – bass guitar
- Carlos Santana – lead guitar, rhythm guitar, guitar, percussion, backing vocals, arrangement, mixing, production, executive production
- Cindy Blackman Santana – drums, lead vocals on "I Remember", backing vocals on "God Bless the Child", arrangement on "Higher Ground", production on "Higher Ground"
- Andy Vargas – rapping on "Higher Ground"
Additional personnel
- Tony Anthony – rhythm guitar
- Maryanne Bilham-Knight – photography
- Charles Boomer – choir vocals
- Jimmy Bruch – photography
- Cornell Carter – choir vocals
- Josh Connolly – engineering, mixing on "I Remember", "Total Destruction to Your Mind", and "Let the Rain Fall On Me"
- Heather Griffin-Vine – artwork, design
- Sandy Griffith – choir vocals
- Kandy Isley – backing vocals
- Tracy Isley – backing vocals, photography
- Kimberly Johnson – backing vocals
- Eddie Levert – backing vocals
- Hal Miller – liner notes
- Greg Phillinganes – keyboards, backing vocals on "Gypsy Woman"
- Maranatha Pryor – choir vocals
- Jim Reitzel – bass guitar, rhythm guitar, keyboards, engineering, mixing, mastering
- Danesha Simon – choir vocals
Charts
editChart (2017) | Peak position |
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Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[11] | 60 |
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[12] | 104 |
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[13] | 108 |
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[14] | 128 |
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[15] | 28 |
Scottish Albums (OCC)[16] | 66 |
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[17] | 60 |
US Billboard 200[18] | 64 |
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[19] | 32 |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b Mitchell, Gail (July 27, 2017). "How The Isley Brothers & Santana Teamed Up to Combat 'Brutality and War'". Rock. Billboard. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved October 14, 2023.
- ^ Jurek, Thom (n.d.). "The Isley Brothers & Santana – Power of Peace". AllMusic. RhythmOne. Retrieved October 15, 2023.
- ^ Green, Thomas H. (July 26, 2021). "CD: The Isley Brothers & Santana – Power of Peace". The Arts Desk. Retrieved October 15, 2023.
- ^ Gill, Andy (August 2, 2017). "Album reviews: Randy Newman – Dark Matter, Blake Grape – Pop Voodoo, The Isley Brothers & Santana – Power of Peace". Culture > Music > Reviews. The Independent. ISSN 1741-9743. OCLC 185201487. Retrieved October 14, 2023.
- ^ Marszalek, Julian (July 16, 2021). "The Isley Brothers & Santana – Power Of Peace album review". Reviews > Classic Rock. Louder Sound. Retrieved October 15, 2023.
- ^ Heselgrave, Doug (July 28, 2017). "Santana & the Isley Brothers: Power of Peace". Music > Reviews > Santana. Paste. ISSN 1540-3106. Retrieved October 14, 2023.
- ^ Kneschke, Tristan (July 27, 2021). "The Isley Brothers and Santana: Power of Peace". PopMatters. Retrieved October 15, 2023.
- ^ Easlea, Daryl (August 16, 2017). "Power Of Peace". Album, Reviews. Record Collector. No. 470. ISSN 0261-250X. Retrieved October 14, 2023.
- ^ Hermes, Will (August 16, 2017). "Review: The Isley Brothers and Santana Join for Olympian Soul-Rock Summit". Music > Album Reviews. Rolling Stone. ISSN 0035-791X. Retrieved October 15, 2023.
- ^ Badgley, Aaron (August 5, 2017). "The Isley Brothers & Santana – Power of Peace". Album Reviews. Spill Magazine. Retrieved October 15, 2023.
- ^ "Austriancharts.at – The Isley Brothers - Santana – Power of Peace" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 16, 2023.
- ^ "Ultratop.be – The Isley Brothers - Santana – Power of Peace" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 16, 2023.
- ^ "Ultratop.be – The Isley Brothers - Santana – Power of Peace" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 16, 2023.
- ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – The Isley Brothers - Santana – Power of Peace" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 16, 2023.
- ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – The Isley Brothers - Santana – Power of Peace" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved October 16, 2023.
- ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 16, 2023.
- ^ "Swisscharts.com – The Isley Brothers - Santana – Power of Peace". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 16, 2023.
- ^ "The Isley Brothers Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved October 16, 2023.
- ^ "The Isley Brothers Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 16, 2023.
External links
edit- Page from The Isley Brothers' website
- Page from Santana's website
- Power of Peace at Discogs (list of releases)
- Power of Peace at MusicBrainz (list of releases)
- Press release from Legacy Recordings
- Discussion with alt.latino on NPR