Oneness (Carlos Santana album)
Oneness: Silver Dreams - Golden Reality is a 1979 album by Carlos Santana. It was his second of three solo albums (the others being Illuminations and The Swing of Delight) to be released under his temporary Sanskrit name Devadip Carlos Santana, given to him by Sri Chinmoy. The album, which consists mostly of instrumental songs and ballads, features members of the band Santana, as well as Carlos Santana's first wife Deborah and father-in-law Saunders King.[1] According to Santana, Oneness was influenced by Weather Report's album Mysterious Traveller.[2] The track "Transformation Day" is an adaptation of part of Alan Hovhaness's symphonic work Mysterious Mountain.[1]
| Oneness: Silver Dreams - Golden Reality | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album / Live album by | ||||
| Released | March 1979 | |||
| Recorded | December 1977–1978 (A1–A6 recorded live at Osaka Kōsei Nenkin Kaikan in Osaka, Japan; A7–B6 recorded at The Automatt in San Francisco, California) | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 45:55 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Producer | Devadip Carlos Santana | |||
| Devadip Carlos Santana chronology | ||||
| ||||
Reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [3] |
| Christgau's Record Guide | B−[4] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [5] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [6] |
In a review for AllMusic, William Ruhlmann noted that "the difference between a group effort and a solo work seems to be primarily in the musical approach, which is more esoteric, and more varied than on a regular band album."[3]
Critic Robert Christgau described the album as "frustrating," calling it "spiritual program music that mixes genuinely celestial rock with the usual goop."[4]
Rob Caldwell of All About Jazz stated that "though this was essentially [Santana's] first solo record, it marked the work as a definite remove from any 'Santana sound'." He wrote: "Oneness is much more accessible than Illuminations and more likely to appeal to fans of the band. Gone are the lengthy and often meandering tracks..., and Santana explores many avenues of expression."[7]
A writer for Billboard noted Santana's "extraordinary guitar work," and called the album "a musical excursion into various moods and feelings."[8]
Musicologist Melinda Latour described the title track as "a particularly clear example of Santana's attempt to transcend to another plane through tone," in which he "builds a sense of spatial transcendence," leading to "an explosion of upper partials that carry the end of a note upward into a new dimension."[9]
Track listing
All tracks written by Carlos Santana, except where noted.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Chosen Hour" | 0:36 | |
| 2. | "Arise Awake" | 2:05 | |
| 3. | "Light Versus Darkness" | 0:48 | |
| 4. | "Jim Jeannie" | Chico Hamilton | 3:30 |
| 5. | "Transformation Day" | Alan Hovhaness, Santana | 3:45 |
| 6. | "Victory" | 1:10 | |
| 7. | "Silver Dreams Golden Smiles" | Tom Coster, Santana, Greg Walker | 4:09 |
| 8. | "Cry of the Wilderness" | 3:11 | |
| 9. | "Guru's Song" | Sri Chinmoy | 3:06 |
| Total length: | 22:15 | ||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Oneness" | 6:21 | |
| 2. | "Life Is Just a Passing Parade" | 5:15 | |
| 3. | "Golden Dawn" | 2:17 | |
| 4. | "Free as the Morning Sun" | 3:16 | |
| 5. | "I Am Free" | Sri Chinmoy, Santana | 1:27 |
| 6. | "Song for Devadip" | Narada Michael Walden | 5:03 |
| Total length: | 23:37 | ||
Personnel
- Greg Walker – vocals (1, 11, 13)
- Deborah Santana – vocals (14)
- Carlos Santana – electric guitar, vocals
- Chris Solberg – guitar (5,11), Hammond organ (5, 11)
- Saunders King – guitar, vocals (7)
- Tom Coster – keyboards, vocals
- Narada Michael Walden – piano, Hammond organ (9, 15)
- Bob Levy – strings, synthesizer (6)
- Chris Rhyne – keyboards (11)
- David Margen – bass guitar
- Graham Lear – drums
- Pete Escovedo – timbales (6)
- Armando Peraza – percussion, vocals
- Clare Fischer – string arrangements and conductor; piano (7, 12)
External links
References
- Weinstein, Norman (2009). Carlos Santana: A Biography. Greenwood Press. p. 61.
- Santana, Carlos (2014). The Universal Tone: Bringing My Story to Light. Little, Brown.
- Ruhlmann, William (2011). "Oneness: Silver Dreams Golden Reality - Carlos Santana | AllMusic". AllMusic.com. Retrieved 28 August 2011.
- Christgau, Robert. "Consumer Guide Album: Devadip Carlos Santana: Silver Dreams Golden Reality". Retrieved October 2, 2023.
- Larkin, Colin, ed. (2002). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Oxford University Press. p. 1088.
- DeCurtis, Anthony; George-Warren, Holly; Henke, James, eds. (1992). The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Random House. p. 264.
- Caldwell, Rob (August 15, 2015). "Carlos Santana: Light Of The Supreme: Carlos Santana's Devadip Trilogy". All About Jazz. Retrieved October 2, 2023.
- "Billboard's Top Album Picks". Billboard. March 10, 1979. p. 86 – via Google Books.
- Latour, Melinda (2018). "Santana and the Metaphysics of Tone: Feedback Loops, Volume Knobs, and the Quest for Transcendence". In Fink, Robert; Latour, Melinda; Wallmark, Zachary (eds.). The Relentless Pursuit of Tone: Timbre in Popular Music. Oxford University Press. p. 219 – via Google Books.
