All That I Am

1	Hermes 4:08
2	El Fuego 4:17
3	I'm Feeling You / The Wreckers 4:30
4	My Man / Big Boi 4:37
5	Just Feel Better / Steven Tyler 4:12
6	I Am Somebody / will.i.am 4:02
7	Con Santana / Ismaïla Toure 3:18
8	Twisted / Anthony Hamilton 5:11
9	Trinity / Robert Randolph 3:35
10	Cry Baby Cry / Sean Paul 3:53
11	Brown Skin Girl / Bo Bice 4:44
12	I Don't Wanna Lose Your Love / Los Lonely Boys 4:00
13	Da Tu Amor 6:35

Barnes & Noble

Given the amount of octane that was injected into his career by the multi-platinum collaborations album Supernatural and replenished with the similarly stacked Shaman, it's not surprising that Carlos Santana would choose to try to catch lightning in a bottle again. He does a pretty decent job of doing just that on All That I Am, largely because he doesn't try to re-create Supernatural's sound, just its engaging vibe. The disc's best songs are the ones on which Santana and his guest du jour try to play off each other rather than simply staying out of each others' way -- most notably "I'm Feeling You," a second go-round with Shaman partner Michelle Branch, who wraps herself mistily around one of Santana's more mellifluous melodies. Santana spends a good bit of his time here looking for -- and invariably finding -- a groove to lean into, as he does on "My Man," a sultry slice of neo-soul that showcases Mary J. Blige's prodigious pipes, and "Cry Baby Cry," a '70s-styled churner that pairs Joss Stone and Sean Paul to good effect. The disc isn't bereft of instrumental flash, of course: "Trinity" finds Santana mixing it up with fellow string-slingers Kirk Hammett (of Metallica) and Robert Randolph, whose pedal steel provides an earthy counterpoint to the leader's spacey spelunking. Not every pairing is fortuitous -- American Idol Bo Bice's appearance on "Brown Skin Girl," for instance, sounds like an outtake from the reality show -- but Santana seldom gets bogged down. Like the man himself, Santana's All That I Am is a burst of radiant, positive energy. David Sprague

All Music Guide

Carlos Santana delivers his third straight star-studded pop album in a row with 2005's All That I Am. Like 2002's Shaman, this follows the blueprint that producer/record mogul Clive Davis laid down on 1999's Supernatural, which means that apart from a cut or two, Santana functions as a supporting musician to a parade of guest stars singing pop songs. Here, Santana and Davis try to make lightning strike again, having Michelle Branch, who sang "The Game of Love" on Shaman, sing the sound-alike "I'm Feeling You," which she also had a hand in writing, and the result isn't bad. The biggest names here are Mary J. Blige, Big Boi, Aerosmith's Steven Tyler, and the ubiquitous will.i.am from the Black Eyed Peas -- and the production is clean and safe, while the songs are professional but predictable. Since none of the songs are bad and since the guest spots are neither embarrassing nor flashy, All That I Am never offends, and Santana has some nice playing scattered throughout the album -- his signature, rich, super-saturated tone is certainly the most commanding, memorable thing here. Stephen Thomas Erlewine