Santana - The Best Of Santana (1998)

The definitive single-CD Santana collection, with 16 newly remastered and resplendent tracks taken from their entire career! Includes Evil Ways; Soul Sacrifice; Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen; Oye Como Va; Samba Pa Ti; She's Not There; Jingo; No One to Depend On; Open Invitation; Hold On; Bella; Winning; All I Ever Wanted; Dance Sister Dance; Europa , and Everybody's Everything.

There are a couple of Santana best-of compilations out there, and even a few mastersound gold-plated CDs, but this collection is as good a place as any for a newcomer to explore. It contains the band's three essential charters--"Black Magic Woman," "Evil Ways," and "Oye Como Va"--along with some lesser hits. Santana broke barriers, making ethnic-influenced music palatable to the mainstream, but this set doesn't sound like a history lesson. Few bands have ever made better music for driving on a hot summer day, and this CD is ideal for blasting out the windows of your car on a crowded thoroughfare.