Shape Shifter is the twenty-second studio album (thirty-sixth album overall) by Santana. It was released on May 14, 2012. This album is the first from his new record label Starfaith Records,[5] which is distributed by Sony Music Entertainment, owners of all of Santana's albums (except those recorded for Polydor Records which are owned by Universal Music Group).[6] It is also the first album since 1992's Milagro that does not feature guest singers in any of the songs, a style that characterized Santana's albums since Supernatural. The album contains only one song with vocals ("Eres La Luz").[7] The track "Mr. Szabo" is a homage to the Hungarian guitarist Gábor Szabó, one of Carlos Santana's early idols, who released a series of 8 albums for Impulse Records between 1966 and 1967; the track features a similar rhythmical and harmonic structure to "Gypsy Queen", a Szabó recording from 1966 covered by Santana in 1970 as a medley with Fleetwood Mac's "Black Magic Woman".

Shape Shifter
Cover art by Rance Hood
Studio album by
ReleasedMay 14, 2012
GenreLatin rock
Length57:22
LabelStarfaith, Sony[1]
ProducerCarlos Santana, Eric Bazilian, Walter Afanasieff
Santana chronology
Guitar Heaven: The Greatest Guitar Classics of All Time
(2010)
Shape Shifter
(2012)
Corazón
(2014)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic45/100[2]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Classic Rock[3]
Rolling Stone Brasil[4]

Track listing

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All tracks were written by Carlos Santana, except where noted.

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Shape Shifter" 6:16
2."Dom"Hamidou Touré, Ousmane Touré, Ismaila Touré, Tidiane Sixu Touré3:51
3."Nomad" 4:49
4."Metatron" 2:39
5."Angelica Faith"C. Santana, Chester Thompson5:03
6."Never the Same Again"C. Santana, Eric Bazilian5:01
7."In the Light of a New Day"C. Santana, Narada Michael Walden5:06
8."Spark of the Divine" 1:03
9."Macumba in Budapest"C. Santana, Walter Afanasieff4:01
10."Mr. Szabo" 6:20
11."Eres La Luz"C. Santana, Afanasieff, Andy Vargas, Karl Perazzo4:51
12."Canela"C. Santana, Salvador Santana5:22
13."Ah, Sweet Dancer"Micheal O Suilleabhain3:08
Total length:57:22

Personnel

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  • Andy Vargas and Tony Lindsay – vocals (track 11)
  • Carlos Santana – guitar
  • Chester Thompson – keyboards
  • Salvador Santana – keyboards
  • Benny Rietveld – bass
  • Dennis Chambers – drums
  • Karl Perazzo – timbales, percussion
  • Raul Rekow – congas, bongos, percussion
  • Carlos Hernandez & Jorge Santana – additional guitars on track 3 "Nomad"

Charts

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References

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  1. ^ a b Jurek, Thom. "Shape Shifter - Santana | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved May 17, 2012.
  2. ^ "Reviews for Shape Shifter by Santana". Metacritic. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
  3. ^ Yates, Henry (July 2012). "Santana - Shape Shifter". Classic Rock. No. 172. p. 99.
  4. ^ Lima, Carlos Eduardo (July 6, 2012). "36º disco marca o retorno de Santana ao formato que caracterizou sua carreira". Rolling Stone Brasil (in Portuguese). Retrieved July 13, 2012.
  5. ^ "Santana's 36th Album, 'Shape Shifter,' Set For May 15 Release". GuitarPlayer. Retrieved May 20, 2012.
  6. ^ "Images for Santana - Shape Shifter". Discogs.
  7. ^ "Interview: Carlos Santana on his new album, Shape Shifter". MusicRadar.com. April 27, 2012. Retrieved May 20, 2012.
  8. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Santana – Shape Shifter" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  9. ^ "Ultratop.be – Santana – Shape Shifter" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  10. ^ "Ultratop.be – Santana – Shape Shifter" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  11. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Santana – Shape Shifter" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  12. ^ "Lescharts.com – Santana – Shape Shifter". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  13. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Santana – Shape Shifter" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  14. ^ "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 2012. 40. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  15. ^ "Italiancharts.com – Santana – Shape Shifter". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  16. ^ "シェイプ・シフター". Oricon.co.jp. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  17. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  18. ^ "Spanishcharts.com – Santana – Shape Shifter". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  19. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Santana – Shape Shifter". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  20. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  21. ^ "Santana Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  22. ^ "Santana Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  23. ^ "Santana Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  24. ^ "Santana Chart History (Top Tastemaker Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  25. ^ "Best selling albums of Hungary in 2012". Mahasz. Retrieved February 7, 2012.
  • All information from CD release booklet (Copyright © 2012 Starfaith Records, catalog #76692-99966-2).
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