Every now and then you get a concept album
on which everything pulls together and creates a magical musical experience. I
was a bit reluctant to cover what many regard to be Paul Simon's opus but I was
cajoled into giving it an in depth listen by one of my friends. From the
accordion which opens the album, the tribal drums, chanting backing vocals and
fretless bass, this album is steeped in traditional African music fused
together with Simon's insistent voice and folk sensibilities. Expansive would
be a good word for describing this album as each track seems to be built on a
far grander and wide scale than a large number of more introspective albums
from the singer/songwriter genre. It has something reminiscent of Pat Metheny's
music (especially 'New Chataqua' and 'American Garage').
Quite rightly, it is consistently touted as
one of the greatest albums of the 1980s and with very good reason. The marriage
of different musical genres id one made in heaven, with stand out tracks like
the mega-hit 'Call me Al', the catchy 'Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes' and
the mystical 'Graceland', this is an indispensable album for the collection.
Like most of Simon's records there are whole host of accomplished and outstanding
session musicians including the prolific Brecker Brothers, Adrian Belew, Steve
Gadd, The Everly Brothers and even a guest vocal from Linda Ronstadt. The famed
writing talents of Paul Simon and crispness of the production on this album on
adds to the other fantastic parts on this album. This album must have been a
huge gamble for Paul Simon despite the growing interest in traditional African
and Creole music (The Zydeco, whilst an interesting instrument was not
something often heard on pop records) and on this occasion its paid of for the
artist.
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