A regular feature of sweaty bloggopotamus, Friday Reviews is a look at from one to a google plex things I've read, watched, heard, felt, tasted and/or smelled. While I hope these reviews to be of recent or interesting things, they will always be of things I love or hate or which have surpassed or sorely missed my expectations. In other words, its my two cents (which after adjusting for intellectual inflation and multiplying by the 'insight factor' and dividing by the quality of the review, is actually one cent - and that's on my better days).
So Beautiful or So What by Paul Simon
I've been a long time fan of Mr. Simon's music since my earliest memories of "Bridge Over Troubled Waters" and "Sounds of Silence". I dont' know if those were the first two that I ever heard, I think maybe "Cecilia" and "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme" were the first two that I heard, but I didn't really like them. Okay, I don't know if those are the actual titles for any of the songs, but you know which ones I mean and I think those should be the titles.
I wasn't too busy in my hard rock/heavy metal phase to listen to Graceland, and while I've never gotten to see Simon live in concert, I did see Ladysmith Black Mambazo at Bumbershoot several years ago. They were phenomenal.
With the latest effort, I expected something I would like, probably even love. Well, that hasn't happened yet. I really like about half the album, and the other half I can't make up my mind on except for one or two that I don't like (Getting Ready for Christmas is the main one I don't like). On the whole, I recommend the album, but it's not Graceland. This is sad to me, because the high points of the album (The Afterlife, Rewrite, So Beautiful or So What) are as good as anything on Graceland.
I'll keep listening, but I think I can only give the whole album another try or two before I make a playlist of it that only includes the good stuff.
I give this album 3.5 out of 5 thumbs ups.
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