The reason I give this album 1 star is not the compilation of music, which clearly deserves an easy 5 stars. But did anyone care to mention that almost every song is cut off or shortened? This album is 33 minutes long! Black Magic Woman ends at the beginning of the solo, Evil Ways is drastically shortened, as well as everything else. I wish I had known this before I wasted 18 dollars on this album. If this album had been complete, I would have praised it for everything it's worth, but in this case, it's worth absolutely nothing. Go buy the albums instead. Buying this album is like downloading 3/4 of every song and burning it onto an album. So if soundclips are what you're looking for, you might as well check out the clips here -trust me- the album is not much better.

This release has been garnering five star ratings, but let's take a closer look at this package...

It only covers the period of prime Santana (3 albums). On that basis it should be an easy task to select the very best of that period. While it does have many terrific Santana classics (Evil Ways, Jingo, Black Magic Woman, Oye Como Va, Se A Cabo, Persuasion) it manages to overlook Soul Sacrifice, and No One To Depend On. Meaning you're still going to end up buying two more albums to get the missing tracks.

So you now own three CDs to cover the prime period of Santana.

Wait a minute...why not buy the three albums, get remastered sound quality, full-length versions of all of the songs (Black Magic Woman with Gypsy Queen), and have bonus tracks to boot. You then can also own such tracks as Incident at Neshabur and Toussaint L'Overture (also missing). These three remastered CDs come in a slipcase box for a very reasonable price.

The single edits (Jingo, Evil Ways, Black Magic Woman), the mid-80's sound quality, and omitted tracks, make this an item that you should pass on.

If there's one thing I hate, it's when songs are cut short to be able to get played on the radio. Usually, the best part of the song gets cut. This album is no exception. An instrumental part of Black Magic Woman has been cut, and Gypsy Queen has been taken out completely. Jingo is about half as long, Evil Ways is cut short, and No One To Depend On isn't even here! Radio versions of songs suck, and should not be allowed on albums.

It is highly recommended that you get The Best of Santana vol. 1 and 2 instead of this. You'll get the real songs, not some shortened radio edit versions. And you'll also get the actuall best of Santana, not just the commercial successes.

Santana Greatest Hits is an album that covers the basics of Santana's early career. Personally, shortened versions can be good if you get bored of guitar solos, but sometimes people want the original songs. "Jingo" "Evil Ways" and "Black Magic Woman" are all radio/shortened versions. If you are looking for the originals, you probably don't want this CD, if you are not looking for originals, you probably would like this one.

Love the music but CD case was cracked and corners chipped off upon arrival. :( Didn't want to ask for refund as the purchase price was so low.