Amigos is the first Santana album that doesn't attempt to break new ground. The several styles Carlos Santana has delved into over the past decade have been consolidated into a varied, multidimensional album. The early days of happy Latin rhythms, congas and catchy vocal hooks and choruses are represented not only by the not-quite-hidden picture of the band's first album on the cover, but also by the very first strains of "Dance Sister Dance (Baila Mi Hermana)," which opens the album. If you're more taken by the harder, brasher rock of Abraxas and Santana, "Take Me with You" and "Let Me" will suit you better. And the dreamlike, moody intensity of Caravanserai is evoked by "Europa (Earth's Cry Heaven's Smile)."

Throughout, Carlos Santana's guitar wizardry remains as impressive as ever. He constantly darts in, out and through the dense rhythm section, displaying a mastery of lean rock, hot jazz and an occasional dash of quiet beauty. Most guitarists are hard pressed to come up with a single style; Carlos Santana has at least three of which he is master.

I hesitate to call this a safe album, but in a way, that's what it is. Amigos is Santana at its most consistent — perhaps in an effort to win back listeners disaffected by the long delay between albums. For fans, it is indispensable. For new listeners, a treat.

“Satisfied”

Only the genius of Tom Waits could combine the subject of mortality, a reoccurring theme in his work, with wordplay that name checks both Mick and Keith, whom he calls "Mr. Jagger" and "Mr. Richards," and the title of their magnum opus, "Satisfaction." And to show just how cool Waits really is, he even got Mr. Richards to play along, one of nine guest appearances the guitarist has made on three Waits albums. "This growling roadhouse stomp is a late-breaking response to the Stones' greatest hit," Rolling Stone said of the track.