YMMV / Shaman

• Awesome Music: The whole thing. Sure, it gets flack from purist Santana fans due to its at times commercial sound and array of guest artists, but on its own merits, it's hard to deny what a diverse, well-written album it really is. It's the second most successful Santana record for a reason.
• Mainstream Obscurity: While by far Santana's most successful album of the new millennium, good luck finding anyone whose taken the time to listen to the whole album, or let alone anything beyond "The Game of Love".
• Questionable Casting: P.O.D.'s presence on the album garnered this response from a lot of critics.
• Tear Jerker: "Novus", with its heart-wrenching melodies (especially the piano riff) and powerful operatic vocals, has brought a tear to many a Santana fan's eye.
  • "Hoy Es Adios" can come off as this, when you find out that the song is about men crossing the Mexican border to work away from their families. It's a lot sadder a subject than it sounds.
• Vindicated by History: The album received lukewarm reception when it was first released, with many critics thinking the album sounded like a bunch of leftovers from Supernatural and picked at the abundance of unlikely collaborations. These days, the record is seen in a much more positive light and is even considered by some to be better than both its predecessor and successor. Case in point: almost every negative Amazon review of the album was posted around the time of the album's release.

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