I’m a big fan of Paul Simon, but mostly the older stuff – he produced fantastic albums both on this own and with Garfunkel. But at risk of revealing myself as a music ignoramus, which perhaps I am, I think Simon reached the pinnacle of achievement with Graceland, and I’m not especially fond of much that came later. I did give Seven Psalms a listen, and also Rhythm of the Saints, and now I’m back to listening to Graceland. Simon himself described it in a very understated fashion as a very successful collaboration; it was in fact an enormous achievement that benefited everyone, including the African artists and the entire music community. Those whining about “cultural appropriation” don’t have a clue about the greatness that Simon achieved, to the benefit of all.
Graceland is an all-time great album. People keep raving about RotS and I keep giving it a listen, but I can’t get into it.
Rhythm of the Saints has some good songs, but overall it feels samey samey to me.
I’ve listened to Seven Psalms several times. It’s got good bones, but feels unfinished. It’s like listening to demo tracks or some rambling muse. So, appreciated, but not his best work.
I went through Graceland and Rhythm of the Saints again as well. They hold up better. Even the extra tracks on on Graceland are better than Seven Psalms. I could listen to the alternate version of “Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes” on a loop for hours with its bass counter-melody.
thats the understatment of the year…
Miriam Makeba was already Guest Star on Harry Bellafonte’s 1960 Return to Carnegy Hall, … when Paul Simon was still in shorts.
having a world hit in ´67 (even she recorded the song in the late 50ies)
SNIPED !!!
Great …
so now we have the holy trifecta of “I am dying” records.
With
- Leonard Cohens “You want it darker” ranking highest,
- David Bowie’s Darkstar 2nd (and huge kudos for being innovative until the end) …
- and now Paul
oddly enough, all 3 of which share “intimate and audiophile” recording/production …
Meant to come back with a link.
I am a huge Paul Simon fan, including most of his Garfunkel days. In addition to being a skilled musician he is usually has among the best lyrics of anyone.
I don’t get that from this album at all. It’s worse to than Wednesday morning 3 a.m.. I don’t mind singers trying something new musically though I don’t think it works really well. I don’t mind mopey or contemplation. But reading the lyrics on Spotify, where one has to download the album en toto, it almost sounds like he gave this job to chatbots. Way below his usual standard.