Tag: Paul Simon

audio review : Seven Psalms ( album ) … Paul Simon

audio review : Seven Psalms ( album ) ... Paul Simon

“Tears and flowers dry over time,” Paul ponders, “Memory leaves us; melody and rhyme.” He’s still Rhymin Simon, but his knack for melody left him a long time ago. It was 2000 to be precise when, after making his best albums in the 1990s, his inevitable decline began. I remember listening to You’re The One and being Surprised at how unremarkable his music had become.

These Seven Psalms, given his old age and the amount of time between projects, may be the final batch. The morbid concept certainly seems to suggest so. They’re Hebrew Bible songs about God and death; a thematic continuation of his previous (Stranger) album, which ended with the Insomniac’s Lullaby. It’ll be a sad day when Paul Simon dies, but he seems to be prepared.

It’s nonetheless his worst album if it can be considered as such. It’s described as a “seven-movement composition”; The Lord is resurrected in intervals as if the chorus to a very long song; “intended to be listened to as one continuous piece”. If the purpose were to put you to sleep, it would be a success. Paul Simon, singing over an acoustic guitar, has never sounded more lifeless.

my rating : 1 of 5

2023

audio review : Outrageous ( song ) … Paul Simon

The best parts of this quasi-rhapsody come near the end when the chorus question is finally answered. “Who’s gonna love you when your looks are gone,” it goes, “God will like he waters the flowers on your window sill.”

Paul Simon also compares using that same rain water to wash your face a “blessing”, which I guess makes this a fitting choice for the Christian rock genre. It sounds more like a gritty Bob Dylan song during the verses though.

my rating : 3 of 5

2006

audio review : Surprise ( album ) ... Paul Simon

audio review : Surprise ( album ) … Paul Simon

audio review : Surprise ( album ) ... Paul Simon

The real surprise is that after waiting six years for a new Paul Simon album, it arrives with only two good songs on it. The rest is decidedly decent like about half of the songs from his previous One. Perhaps it’s not such a surprise after all.

It seems that Paul Simon, one of my all-time favorite song artists, is simply losing his knack, which he’s had since at least the age of thirteen when he composed The Girl For Me; a romantic doo-wop ballad that easily topples anything here.

The focus now seems to be poetic words to rhythm. He’s as lyrically brilliant as ever, choosing his words carefully like that of a poet who expects to be quoted long after he’s dead, but catchy vocal melodies seem to be a thing of the past.

The “sonic landscape” of Brian Eno, which can go from easy rock to trippy jungle to cool space noise at a moment’s notice, is modern and fresh, but without interesting songs to wrap itself around, it just feels like boring background music.

The two good songs are Another Galaxy, about a girl who ditches her fiancé on their wedding day, and There Was An Ocean, which is best during its second verse where harmonious vocals and quirky bass jerks help bring it up from mediocrity.

my rating : 3 of 5

2006