Santana – Abraxas

I haven't had the opportunity to listen to any of the MOFI pressings yet, but I finally got my hands on a minty OG pressing, and man - they'd have to be seriously special to beat this out. Purely in of bang for your buck, I'd advise getting an original, at least to start with.

Whatever happened to Albert Gianquinto, the guy who played the great jazz piano solo on the rideout of
Incident At Neshibur? You can see AG perform it live with the band on the DVD, A Night At The Family Dog.

I lived in LA through the late 70's,80, & 90's got a go fast sports car and my favorite thing to do was put Abraxas in the CD player early on Sunday morning and drive 130 mph on the then 118 freeway toward Simi Valley listening to Black Magic Woman it was truly a religious experience. This music can't help but make you feel alive. Fantastic!

Who gives this Album three stars or lower? Unimaginable. How many fucking words do I have to type!

Amazing album! The powerful guitars, the psychedelic edge, and the latin flare make this record lively and a joy to listen to all the way.

This is my first Santana album, and it has made me definitely want to pick up some more.

Lovely album!!

I own this album on CD, SACD and this 70s pressed record. I whipped out my record for the first time in quite a while. In fact, pretty sure it's been since my prior system. My new system is Ayre KX-5/VX-5 Twenties pre and power amps and a XP-17 phono preamp. The cartridge is an Ortofon Cadenza Blue held by a VPI 3D wand on a VPI Classic TT. This synergy is amazing. The percussion is especially life-like and jarring when a pair of bongos or congas get hit in the extremes of the soundstage. You turn your head because you think someone is over there. I love it! It's also very dynamic, clean and it's like a window into the recording room with the musicians. There's no cloud or veil or whatever your favorite term is for mudiness. The cymbals are beautifully pitched but never bright - even though they are cutting when cranked up loud. Vocals are crisp and clear while low in the front and center soundstage. And of course, Carlo's guitar tone is uber. Clean on the notes he wants it to be and beautifully distorted on his kick-ass parts. All the while being so incredibly open and un-veiled. Just a beautiful work of art on this pressing! It took a few pressings to find a reasonably clean one but it was well worth it! Te quiro Santana!

I listening to this on vinyl LP back when it was first released and was blown away by the sound that came out of those primitive speakers and low quality equipment available at the time! This album was considered very hot stuff and was blasting out of every car stereo that ed by in the early seventies.

I have a very odd release. It's a gatefold where the gatefold is printed in the Netherlands but the vinyl is made in Spain. Labels are genuine with cat nr but no rights society and no pressing plant mentioned. Just made in Spain. Matrix run out is fabric made. 64087 A and 64087 B... If somebody puts in a different vinyl pressing in a sleeve i would know by checking everything. But the labels doesn't show me

I have what I think is an unofficial release of the Abraxas LP. I've checked the many releases in the Discogs database, but none of them matches what I have. The sound is mediocre. What surprises me is the very high quality of the gatefold cover. It's so good that when I bought it I thought I was getting a genuine U.S. pressing. No country of manufacture or intellectual rights society are mentioned either on the cover or the record labels (more reasons to believe it's not official). The labels on the vinyl are red, with "Columbia" written in white typeface in a fan-shapped fashion at the top. They bear two catalog numbers: PC30130 on the left hand side; and BL 30130 on the right hand side. The matrix numbers etched on the run-outs are:
Side A: AL/BL 30130A-1H TL; where the "BL" letters have been strikken-through as if they were incorrect.
Side B: <P-AP> BL-30130 G2E

I can pictures if somebody tells me how to do it (I don't think it is possible to do it here)

I am reluctant to create a new release in Discogs before I understand better the origin of the release I have. I'd appreciate any comments anyone has.