Santana's Greatest Hits
If you only want the essentials, this is the package to get.Greatest Hitsis an early collection, dating back to 1974, and it does a good job of skimming the cream from the band's classic 1969-71 period, which yielded the first three albums,Santana,Abraxas, andSantana III. It also avoids the great, sprawling mass of ephemera and second-line material that pads Santana's later catalog: The peaks after '71 are far more thinly spread--and are seldom as lofty. On the other hand, if you're an enthusiast, you might want to take a step up to the granderBest of SantanaorViva Santanacollections, each of which covers more ground.--Gavin McNett