Tag: Paul Simon

audio review : You’re The One ( album ) … Paul Simon

audio review : You're The One ( album ) ... Paul Simon

Paul Simon is a brilliant storyteller. He could sing the story of your life in a few bars. It’s a talent he has a true knack for. Melody is another, but that talent doesn’t really reveal itself on this album, which, following what is probably his best; Songs From The Capeman; is probably his worst.

Not that You’re The One; what an awful title; is abominable. Only the Pigs Sheep Wolves allegory and the tuneless Quiet fall below average. It’s just that most of the songs are average. Darling Lorraine is poignant and sweet. Old is quirky and fun. The rest struggle in the way of vocal melody.

my rating : 3 of 5

2000

video review : You’re The One [ In Concert ] ( concert ) … Paul Simon

You're The One [ In Concert ] ( concert ) ... Paul Simon

Old Paul Simon stands front and center, under a baseball cap, in a shirt with a cross on it, looking modest. Perhaps it’s because he knows that it’s not really him but his music that is the star of the show. He’s composed some great songs over the years and some of them find their way here, despite the off-putting set title, which falsely suggests that it’s primarily a concert of songs from his new album.

He does perform six songs from You’re The One, including the heartbreak anthem title track, but most of the songs he sings are the ones the world already knows and loves. And the backing music often sounds even better than the original album versions, thanks to his band, which at one point has master drummer Steve Gadd totally nailing the complex marching beat of Fifty Ways To Leave Your Lover.

That song fuses into a Fender Rhodes jazz session at the end, but funky instrumental breakdowns aren’t uncommon during this show, which is actually a mesh of two recent (2000) shows performed at The Olympia Hall in Paris. It would’ve been better to stick to one show, yes, but Paul Simon and his crew are wearing the same clothes, so you won’t notice unless you’re comparing shots of the audience.

my rating : 4 of 5

2001

audio review : The Rhythm Of The Saints ( album ) … Paul Simon

audio review : The Rhythm Of The Saints ( album ) ... Paul Simon

The rhythm is a dazzling array of percussion, mostly African and Brazilian samba, from artists around the world. It’s a soothing and ambient high that rarely lets you down. When the songs aren’t up to par because the melody of the lead vocals can’t keep up, as on the Cool River, Paul Simon himself is to blame.

This is his best, most poetic album so far. It’s timeless in the sense that live tribe music never dies. Even if you’re not an Elvis Presley fan yet Graceland is one of your favorite places to visit, it takes some time to unravel the musical complexity and fully appreciate the beauty of The Coast, Spirit Voices and the like.

my rating : 4 of 5

1990

audio review : So Beautiful Or So What ( album ) … Paul Simon

audio review : So Beautiful Or So What ( album ) ... Paul Simon

I don’t think Paul Simon’s ever made a beautiful album. He’s made plenty of beautiful songs though. That made albums that were at least good. That was until a little over a decade ago when; after The Capeman, one of his most melodic sets; the quality of his music suddenly declined. He’s been stuck in an artistic rut ever since. This new album, only his third in all that time, is no return to form.

The first song, a Christmas anthem, suggests it might be. It’s better than every song on his last album and most of the ones on The One before it. But So Beautiful is a wonderless mess from there. Most of the album, all but the first and last song, is simply a drag. The poetry and storytelling is signature Paul Simon, but the vocal melodies, an element the artist used to master, are boring and bland.

These songs should’ve been scrapped for better ones, or “simple” ones as Paul Simon himself described during a Barnes And Noble interview in 2008. He debuted live demo versions of Love And Hard Times and Questions For The Angels that day, music he described as “complex”, before strumming an experimental groove he described as the result of going back to something simple.

That groove was bouncy and catchy. It didn’t need drums or even vocals to sound marvelous. I hoped he’d make a song out of it, but it’s nowhere to be found. In its place are songs it takes repeated listens to grasp the melodies of. The whiny guitar riffs on Love And Blessings are funky, but it’s not enough. I want a beautiful Paul Simon album, or at least another good one, before he’s dead and gone.

my rating : 2 of 5

2011