''Shape Shifter'' is the twenty-second studio album (thirty-sixth album overall) by

Santana Santana may refer to: Transportation * Volkswagen Santana, an automobile * Santana Cycles, manufacturer of tandem bicycles * Santana Motors, a former Spanish automobile manufacturer Boats * Santana 20, an American sailboat design by W. D. Sch ...

. It was released on May 14, 2012. This album is the first from his new record label Starfaith Records, which is distributed by

Sony Music Entertainment Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment ...

, owners of all of Santana's albums (except those recorded for

Polydor Records Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...

which are owned by

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

). It is also the first album since 1992's ''

Milagro Milagro means "miracle" in Spanish language, Spanish. Milagro may refer to: Places: *Milagro, Ecuador, a city *Milagro Canton, Ecuador, of which the city is the canton seat *Milagro River, Ecuador *Milagro, Navarre, Spain, a town and municipality ...

'' that does not feature guest singers in any of the songs, a style that characterized Santana's albums since ''

Supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...

''. The album contains only one song with vocals ("Eres La Luz"). 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 Impulse! Records (occasionally styled as "¡mpulse! Records" and "¡!") is an American jazz record company and label established by Creed Taylor in 1960. John Coltrane was among Impulse!'s earliest signings. Thanks to consistent sales and positi ...

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 Fleetwood Mac are a British-American rock band, formed in London in 1967. Fleetwood Mac were founded by guitarist Peter Green, drummer Mick Fleetwood and guitarist Jeremy Spencer, before bassist John McVie joined the line-up for their epony ...

's " Black Magic Woman".

Track listing

Personnel

* Andy Vargas and

Tony Lindsay Anthony Mark Lindsay (born 1954) is a vocalist and longest-tenured lead singer of Santana. He first joined the band 1991 and performed with Santana from 1995 to 2015, the group's period of greatest commercial success, during which it released the ...

– vocals (track 11) *

Carlos Santana Carlos Humberto Santana Barragán (; born July 20, 1947) is an American guitarist who rose to fame in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band Santana, which pioneered a fusion of Rock and roll and Latin American jazz. Its sound featured ...

– guitar * Chester Thompson – keyboards * Salvador Santana – keyboards * Benny Rietveld – bass *

Dennis Chambers Dennis Milton Chambers (born May 9, 1959) is an American drummer. He was inducted into the ''Modern Drummer'' Hall of Fame in 2001. Early life Chambers was born on May 9, 1959. He began drumming at the age of four years, and was gigging in Bal ...

– drums * Karl Perazzo – timbales, percussion * Raul Rekow – congas, bongos, percussion * Carlos Hernandez & Jorge Santana - Additional Guitars on track 3 "Nomad"

Charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

* 2012 albums Santana (band) albums Albums produced by Walter Afanasieff Albums produced by Eric Bazilian {{2010s-rock-album-stub