Power of Peace

Power of Peace is a 2017 studio album made by American rhythm and blues group The Isley Brothers and American Latino rock band Santana.

Reception
Editors at AllMusic rated this album 3 out of 5 stars, with critic Thom Jurek writing that the music is "loose, but everybody brought their chops to the party" and is the sound of great musicians enjoying one another's company. Writing for The Arts Desk, Thomas H. Green gave this album 2 out of 5 stars, writing that there are "passable moments" on the album, but the music "slump[s] into a bland string of slowies". The The Independent, Andy Gill rated this album 3 out of 5 stars, calling it "not entirely successful", but noting strong performances on particular tracks. At Louder Sound, Julian Marszalek gave this collaboration 3 out of 5 stars, characterizing it as "not quite a harvest for the world but no spoilt crops either".

Pastes Douge Heselgrave gave this album a 5.8 out of 10, writing "With so much common ground and shared history, having high expectations of such a collaboration is fairly reasonable. And plenty of their fans will probably enjoy Power of Peace quite a lot. It’s an impressively produced piece of work. The songs are well-arranged, creatively charted and, for the most part, beautifully performed.", but calling it "a lot less captivating than it should be" and "predictable". Tristan Kneschke of PopMatters scored Power of Peace a 6 out of 10, stating that there are "rough edges" to the music, but that "the album connects us with the expression of love across 20th century songwriting, a sentiment that often seems to have vanished". Daryl Easlea of Record Collector scored this album 4 out of 5 stars, writing that it "is exactly what it is; people old enough to have long packed up this business, getting down to it, having enormous enjoyment doing it". Rolling Stones Will Hermes rated Power of Peace 3 out of 5 stars, praising Ronald Isley's vocals and Carlos Santana's guitar work. In Spill Magazine, Aaron Badgley gave this work 3.5 out of 5 stars, writing that it is "exactly as you would expect, slickly produced, full of amazing playing and some of the sweetest vocals this side of Heaven".

Track listing
"Are You Ready?" (Julian Chambers) – 3:26
"Total Destruction to Your Mind" (Jerry Williams, Jr.) – 4:23
"Higher Ground" (Stevie Wonder) – 5:13
"God Bless the Child" (Billie Holiday and Arthur Herzog, Jr.) – 7:09
"I Remember" (Cindy Blackman Santana) – 5:34
"Body Talk" (Kathy Wakefield and Frank Edward Wilson) – 5:22
"Gypsy Woman" (Curtis Mayfield) – 7:03
"I Just Want to Make Love to You" (Willie Dixon) – 4:04
"Love, Peace, Happiness" (George E. Chambers, Joseph Chambers, Lester Chambers, and Willie Chambers) – 3:12
"What the World Needs Now Is Love, Sweet Love" (Burt Bacharach and Hal David) – 5:29
"Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" (Marvin Gaye) – 4:02
"Let the Rain Fall on Me" (Aaron Bell and Houston Person) – 6:27
"Let There Be Peace on Earth" (Jill Jackson Miller and Sy Miller) – 4:37

Personnel
The Isley Brothers
Ernie Isley – rhythm guitar, lead guitar, backing vocals on "God Bless the Child"
Ronald Isley – lead vocals

Santana
David K. Mathews – keyboards, Hammond B3 organ
Karl Perazzo – percussion
Benny Rietveld – bass guitar
Carlos Santana – lead guitar, rhythm guitar, guitar, percussion, backing vocals, arrangement, mixing, production, executive production
Cindy Blackman Santana – drums, lead vocals on "I Remember", backing vocals on "God Bless the Child", arrangement on "Higher Ground", production on "Higher Ground"
Andy Vargas – rapping on "Higher Ground"

Additional personnel
Tony Anthony – rhythm guitar
Maryanne Bilham-Knight – photography
Charles Boomer – choir vocals
Jimmy Bruch – photography
Cornell Carter – choir vocals
Josh Connolly – engineering, mixing on "I Remember", "Total Destruction to Your Mind", and "Let the Rain Fall On Me"
Heather Griffin-Vine – artwork, design
Sandy Griffith – choir vocals
Kandy Isley – backing vocals
Tracy Isley – backing vocals, photography
Kimberly Johnson – backing vocals
Eddie Levert – backing vocals
Hal Miller – liner notes
Greg Phillinganes – keyboards, backing vocals on "Gypsy Woman"
Maranatha Pryor – choir vocals
Jim Reitzel – bass guitar, rhythm guitar, keyboards, engineering, mixing, mastering
Danesha Simon – choir vocals

Charts

See also
2017 in American music
List of 2017 albums

References

External links
Page from The Isley Brothers' website
Page from Santana's website

Press release from Legacy Recordings
Discussion with alt.latino on NPR

2017 collaborative albums
Covers albums
Legacy Recordings albums
Santana (band) albums
The Isley Brothers albums