MEDIUM Vinyl Record WEIGHT 3 x 180gr (black Vinyl) 33rpm CONDITION sealed COVER Triple Gatefold CONDITION COVER M mint COVER DAMAGES No, we take care about that SERIALNUMBER Yes LIMITED Yes, to 5000 MISCELLANEOUS Stereo, Luxury triple cover, four Photo Inserts and Two Fold-Out Posters MUSICIAN HOMEPAGEsantana.com
Carlos Santana - guitar, latin percussion, echoplex
Leon Thomas - maracas, vocals
Tom Coster - hammond organ, electric piano, yamaha organ
Richard Kermode - hammond organ, electric piano
Doug Rauch - bass
Armando Peraza - congas, bongos, latin percussion
José "Chepito" Areas - timbales, congas, latin percussion
Michael Shrieve - drums, latin percussion
meditation - 1:40
going home - 3:53
a-1 funk - 3:12
every step of the way - 11:41
black magic woman - 3:52
gypsy queen - 3:52
oye como va - 5:46
yours is the light - 5:31
batuka - 0:54
xibaba (she-ba-ba) - 4:23
stone flower (introduction) - 1:23
waiting - 4:07
castillos de arena part 1 (sand castle) - 2:56
free angela - 4:45
samba de sausalito - 3:44
mantra - 7:17
kyoto - 10:00
castillos de arena part 2 (sand castle) - 1:11
se a cabo - 5:22
samba pa ti - 9:31
savor - 3:06
toussaint l'overture - 7:44
incident at neshabur - 17:15
savor - 4:14
conga solo - 2:19
The bizarre legacy of Lotus transcends its status as both the definitive onstage document of Santana’s career and one of the most spectacular live albums ever released
Originally issued in 1974, the triple LP contains exhilarating performances recorded at two shows in early July 1973 at the 2400-seat Osaka Kosei Nenkin Kaikan concert hall
It bears witness to the eight-piece collective playing with a chemistry, inventiveness, cohesiveness, and soulfulness no other Santana lineup would ever surpass
Lotus also remained the only completely live Santana album for almost two decades — and took nearly as long to see domestic release
Sourced from the original master tapes, pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing, strictly limited to 5,000 numbered copies, and housed in deluxe trifold packaging faithful to that of the original pressing, Lotus benefits from reference audiophile treatment on Mobile Fidelity’s 180g 3LP set
Featuring rich tones, smooth dynamics, excellent separation, deep soundstages, and involving presence, this reissue pays tribute to both the virtuosic lineup and the indispensable fusion of Latin- and Afro-Cuban-influenced jazz, rock, psychedelia, R&B, and blues
The complexity of the spiritual passages, demands of the crescendos, delicacy of the calm transitions, electricity of the solos: everything is rendered with superb balance free of harshness, compression, and fatiguing peaks that would otherwise distract from the presentations at hand
You also get a generous taste of the ambience of the venue, and a definite sense of the interplay and improvisation that transpired as much by feel as by architectural necessity
The weight of the bass, extension of the highs, punch of the mids, texture and reverberation of the percussion: Mobile Fidelity’s organic version of Lotus stakes an immediate claim to demonstration-disc status of how a live recording should sound
And look
Paying homage to the original, this reissue includes four double-sided flat photo inserts and two 24 x 36-inch double-sided fold-out posters
(Note: It does not have an obi strip or red Japanese insert)
Exclusively released in Japan before it slowly made it across the seas to the United States as a pricey import, Lotus became a hot topic among in-the-know connoisseurs
Hip record stores struggled to keep the record in the bins
Italy, New Zealand, and Europe got their own versions of the in-demand set before the end of 1975
American listeners weren’t so lucky
To satisfy their fix, they had to turn to the imports
The same year Stateside fans began paying a premium to hear the two hours of magic on Lotus, CBS released Santana’s Greatest Hits — an introductory compilation that went on to sell more than seven million copies
Another 17 years passed before Lotus hit American shelves as a domestic set in the form of two-CD and two-cassette editions
It didn’t become available on domestic vinyl until 2013 on a version that has long been out of print
RECORDING July 3 and 4 1973 LIVE at Kōsei Nenkin Hall, Osaka, Japan ENGINEERING Tomoo Suzuki LABEL Columbia RE MASTERING Krieg Wunderlich MASTER SOURCE 1/2" / 15 IPS Analog Copy to DSD 256 to Analog Console to Lathe RE RELEASED 2025 AVERAGE RATING 4.88 Stars out of 5 PRESSING by Fidelity Record Pressing MADE IN USA STYLE Jazz Rock / Psychedelic Rock / Classic Rock AVAILABLE as long as inventory stock
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