From late ‘71 through the beginning of 1972, Santana and The Buddy Miles Express formed like Voltron to tour the land and inhale all the cocaine ever produced. It was a bold task, something that no one would try again until Ozzy went out on the road with Motley Crue in ‘84.
The resultant album contains no less than seven (7!) drummers and percussionists playing at the same time, a pre-Journey Neal Schon, and Carlos and Buddy playing the fastest versions of their songs ever committed to tape.
“Lava” is that sweet period rarity: an instrumental that wraps things up at around 2 minutes. The length could be the result of some after-the-fact editing, considering that Side B of the album is a 25-minute epic jam, but thank the rock gods that you can listen to it in this releasable form.
It’s simple, not deceptively simple, but wickedly simple. A single, ass-ripping garage-riff over a cataclysm of percussion is the backdrop for Santana, who makes his guitar squeal like a demon in the midst of an exorcism. The band runs it hotter and higher until, fretless, they collapse into the Standard Rock’N’Roll Hold-That-Last-Note-Forever Ending™.
This shit is fucking atomic fire death-rays rocking your puny little head, while the ghost of Jimi Hendrix pisses in your face. Can I get a witness?
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
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It's weird, the second half of that sounds like they switch into the John Mclaughlin tune "Marbles".
ReplyDeleteThey do! They also do Marbles on the same album in total. They're just jammin' around, man. You know, riffffin'.
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