Oneness (Carlos Santana album)

{{Infobox album

| name = Oneness: Silver Dreams - Golden Reality

| type = Album

| longtype = / Live album

| cover = OnenessAlbum.jpg

| alt =

| released = March 1979

| recorded = December 1977–1978 (A1–A6 recorded live at Osaka Kōsei Nenkin Kaikan in Osaka, Japan; A7–B6 recorded at The Automatt in San Francisco, California)

| venue =

| studio =

| genre = {{hlist|Jazz fusion|psychedelic rock|Latin jazz|Latin rock|R&B}}

| length = 45:55

| label = Columbia

| producer = Devadip Carlos Santana

| prev_title = Inner Secrets

| prev_year = 1978

| next_title = Marathon

| next_year = 1979

}}

Oneness: Silver Dreams - Golden Reality is a 1979 album by Carlos Santana. It was his second of three albums (the others being Illuminations and The Swing of Delight) to be released under his temporary Sanskrit name Devadip Carlos Santana, given to him by Sri Chinmoy. The album, which consists mostly of instrumental songs and ballads, features members of the band Santana, as well as Carlos Santana's first wife Deborah and father-in-law Saunders King.{{cite book |last=Weinstein |first=Norman |title=Carlos Santana: A Biography |publisher=Greenwood Press |year=2009 |pages=61 }} According to Santana, Oneness was influenced by Weather Report's album Mysterious Traveller.{{cite book |last=Santana |first=Carlos |title=The Universal Tone: Bringing My Story to Light |publisher=Little, Brown |year=2014 }} The track "Transformation Day" is an adaptation of part of Alan Hovhaness's symphonic work Mysterious Mountain.

Reception

{{Album ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1Score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite web |url= http://www.allmusic.com/album/r48674 |title=Oneness: Silver Dreams Golden Reality - Carlos Santana | AllMusic |first=William |last=Ruhlmann |work=AllMusic.com |year=2011 |access-date=28 August 2011}}

| rev2 = Christgau's Record Guide

| rev2Score = B−{{cite web |last=Christgau |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Christgau |title=Consumer Guide Album: Devadip Carlos Santana: Silver Dreams Golden Reality |url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_album.php?id=7725 |access-date=October 2, 2023 }}

| rev3 = The Encyclopedia of Popular Music

| rev3Score = {{rating|2|5}}{{cite book |editor-last=Larkin |editor-first=Colin |title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2002 |page=1088 }}

| rev4 = Music Week

| rev4score = {{Rating|4|4}}{{cite magazine|date=March 24, 1979|title=Album Reviews: Devadip's Dream Album. Devadip — "Silver Dreams Golden Reality"|magazine=Music Week|page=34|publisher=Pensord Press Ltd.|location=Gwent|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/1979/Music-Week-1979-03-24.pdf#page=28|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240520093118/https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/1979/Music-Week-1979-03-24.pdf#page=28|archive-date=May 20, 2024|access-date=March 26, 2025|via=WorldRadioHistory.com}}

| rev5 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide

| rev5Score = {{rating|3|5}}{{cite book |editor-last1=DeCurtis |editor-first1=Anthony |editor-last2=George-Warren |editor-first2=Holly |editor-last3=Henke |editor-first3=James |title=The Rolling Stone Album Guide |publisher=Random House |year=1992 |pages=264 }}

| noprose = yes

}}

A writer for Billboard noted Santana's "extraordinary guitar work," and called the album "a musical excursion into various moods and feelings."{{cite magazine |date=March 10, 1979 |title=Billboard's Top Album Picks |magazine=Billboard |pages=86 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KiUEAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22Carlos+Santana%22+Silver+Dreams+-+Golden+Reality&pg=PT79 |via=Google Books}} Critic Robert Christgau described the album as "frustrating," calling it "spiritual program music that mixes genuinely celestial rock with the usual goop." The Bay State Banner opined that, "at this point, Santana would be well-advised to rid himself of Greg Walker's vocals, which are empty and corny."{{cite news |last1=Lane |first1=George |title=Shades of Blue |work=Bay State Banner |issue=29 |date=26 Apr 1979 |page=17}} The New York Times noted that "too much of the time is spent wallowing in benign platitudes."{{cite news |last1=Rockwell |first1=John |title=The Pop Life: Why Santana has survived the 1970's |work=The New York Times |date=9 Mar 1979 |page=C26}}

In a review for AllMusic, William Ruhlmann noted that "the difference between a group effort and a solo work seems to be primarily in the musical approach, which is more esoteric, and more varied than on a regular band album." Rob Caldwell of All About Jazz stated that "though this was essentially [Santana's] first solo record, it marked the work as a definite remove from any 'Santana sound'." He wrote: "Oneness is much more accessible than Illuminations and more likely to appeal to fans of the band. Gone are the lengthy and often meandering tracks..., and Santana explores many avenues of expression."{{cite web |url=https://www.allaboutjazz.com/light-of-the-supreme-carlos-santanas-devadip-trilogy-by-rob-caldwell |title=Carlos Santana: Light Of The Supreme: Carlos Santana's Devadip Trilogy |first=Rob |last=Caldwell |date=August 15, 2015 |website=All About Jazz |access-date=October 2, 2023}}

Musicologist Melinda Latour described the title track as "a particularly clear example of Santana's attempt to transcend to another plane through tone," in which he "builds a sense of spatial transcendence," leading to "an explosion of upper partials that carry the end of a note upward into a new dimension."{{cite book |last=Latour |first=Melinda |editor-last1=Fink |editor-first1=Robert |editor-last2=Latour |editor-first2=Melinda |editor-last3=Wallmark |editor-first3=Zachary |title=The Relentless Pursuit of Tone: Timbre in Popular Music |chapter=Santana and the Metaphysics of Tone: Feedback Loops, Volume Knobs, and the Quest for Transcendence |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2018 |pages=219 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KVRuDwAAQBAJ |via=Google Books}}

Track listing

All tracks written by Carlos Santana, except where noted.

{{Track listing

| headline = Side One

| total_length = 22:15

| title1 = The Chosen Hour

| length1 = 0:36

| title2 = Arise Awake

| length2 = 2:05

| title3 = Light Versus Darkness

| length3 = 0:48

| title4 = Jim Jeannie

| writer4 = Chico Hamilton

| length4 = 3:30

| title5 = Transformation Day

| writer5 = Alan Hovhaness, Santana

| length5 = 3:45

| title6 = Victory

| length6 = 1:10

| title7 = Silver Dreams Golden Smiles

| writer7 = Tom Coster, Santana, Greg Walker

| length7 = 4:09

| title8 = Cry of the Wilderness

| length8 = 3:11

| title9 = Guru's Song

| writer9 = Sri Chinmoy

| length9 = 3:06

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Side Two

| total_length = 23:37

| title1 = Oneness

| length1 = 6:21

| title2 = Life Is Just a Passing Parade

| length2 = 5:15

| title3 = Golden Dawn

| length3 = 2:17

| title4 = Free as the Morning Sun

| length4 = 3:16

| title5 = I Am Free

| writer5 = Sri Chinmoy, Santana

| length5 = 1:27

| title6 = Song for Devadip

| writer6 = Narada Michael Walden

| length6 = 5:03

}}

Personnel

Greg Walker – vocals (1, 11, 13)
Deborah Santana – vocals (14)
Carlos Santana – electric guitar, vocals
Chris Solberg – guitar (5,11), Hammond organ (5, 11)
Saunders King – guitar, vocals (7)
Tom Coster – keyboards, vocals
Narada Michael Walden – piano, Hammond organ (9, 15)
Bob Levy – strings, synthesizer (6)
Chris Rhyne – keyboards (11)
David Margen – bass guitar
Graham Lear – drums
Pete Escovedo – timbales (6)
Armando Peraza – percussion, vocals
Clare Fischer – string arrangements and conductor; piano (7, 12)

Charts

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" ! Chart (1979) ! Peak position
scope="row"\| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report){{cite book\|last=Kent\|first=David\|author-link=David Kent (historian)\|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992\|edition=illustrated\|publisher=Australian Chart Book\|location=St Ives, N.S.W.\|year=1993\|isbn=0-646-11917-6}} \| align="center"\| 39
scope="row"\| Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts){{cite book\|last=Pennanen\|first=Timo\|title=Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972\|edition=1st\|publisher=Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava\|location=Helsinki\|year=2006\|isbn=978-951-1-21053-5\| language= fi}} \| align="center"\| 25
{{Album chart\|UK2\|55\|date=19790401\|rowheader=true\|accessdate=June 15, 2024}}
{{Album chart\|Billboard200\|87\|artist=Santana\|rowheader=true\|accessdate=October June 15, 2024}}

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

! Chart (1979)

! Peak
position

scope="row"| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report){{cite book|last=Kent|first=David|author-link=David Kent (historian)|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992|edition=illustrated|publisher=Australian Chart Book|location=St Ives, N.S.W.|year=1993|isbn=0-646-11917-6}}

| align="center"| 39

scope="row"| Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts){{cite book|last=Pennanen|first=Timo|title=Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972|edition=1st|publisher=Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava|location=Helsinki|year=2006|isbn=978-951-1-21053-5| language= fi}}

| align="center"| 25

{{Album chart|UK2|55|date=19790401|rowheader=true|accessdate=June 15, 2024}}

{{Album chart|Billboard200|87|artist=Santana|rowheader=true|accessdate=October June 15, 2024}}

References

External links

[https://www.discogs.com/Devadip-Carlos-Santana-Oneness-Silver-Dreams-Golden-Reality/master/56948 Carlos Santana – Oneness: Silver Dreams - Golden Reality (1979) album releases & credits] at Discogs.com

Category:Carlos Santana albums

Category:1978 albums

Category:Columbia Records albums

Category:Albums produced by Carlos Santana