Milagro is the seventeenth studio album by Santana, released in 1992. Milagro, which means “miracle” in Spanish, was dedicated to the lives of Miles Davis and Bill Graham, and was Santana’s first album on the Polydor label after twenty-two years with Columbia Records. The album reached 102 in the Billboard 200. This was my second album of Santana that I purchased, the first being Abraxas and I also had a compilation of his best hits.
We start off from a live recording introduction by Billy Graham and it segues into Milagro. Lyrically it just states about working with others and letting music heal everyone and it’s Latin beat will keep you dancing. Beginning with a talk track by Martin Luther King, the gentle guitar works of Carlos before the religious lyrics of Somewhere In Heaven. The slow track suddenly picks up in pace. Saja/Right On is a cover of a Marvin Gay track, done in Santana’s style. Your Touch is probably one of the better tracks with a dance feel and almost spoken word style singing. The guitar solo is a searing blister of shred work. Life Is For Living is a very uptempo fun song about the good things in life, with fun guitar work as well as keyboard soloing by Chester D. Thompson.
Red Prophet is driven more by the keyboards by Chester and it takes a while for Santana’s guitar to show up. Agua Que Va Caer sounds very Afro centric and has this beat that reminds me of the Congo. Make Somebody Happy is a throwback to RnB numbers, a romantic tune. Free All The People (South Africa) is a shoutout to the end of apartheid which was just around the horizon. The singing is done well in this as is the understated guitar soloing. Gypsy/Grajonca is an instrumental ballad dedicated to German-born American impresario and rock concert promoter, with a faster and more rockier bit in the middle. Bill Graham (whose birth name was Wulf Wolodia Grajonca).
We Don’t Have To Wait is a funky number that is surely a get up and dance in concerts. And finally we A Dios which is a goodbye to the album, a quick 1:31 that ends in a jazz burst. The focus of the album is centered on Carlos Santana’s guitar interpretation and Latin rhythms. Milagro may not be Santana’s best album, but its balance of energies and genre versatility make it a record well worth listening to. It is likely not on the average rocker’s radar; however, once you give it a listen, it’s impossible not to dance and eagerly anticipate what comes next.