Following a 20th anniversary reunion tour in 1989 to promote
Viva Santana!,
Carlos Santana reorganized the band as a sextet and recorded
Spirits Dancing in the Flesh,
Santana's 15th and final studio album for Columbia Records. It was an unusually eclectic collection, featuring songs by
Curtis Mayfield ("Gypsy Woman"),
the Isley Brothers ("Who's That Lady"), and
Babatunde Olatunji ("Jin-Go-Lo-Ba"). For all those influences, it was more of a straightforward, guitar-heavy rock album than usual. Coming more than three years after
Santana's last new album,
Freedom, it sold to the band's core audience only, reaching number 85. ~ William Ruhlmann