Album of the day (#2775): Paul Simon by Paul Simon

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bobbyb5



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  • #11
  • Posted: 07/22/2018 16:22
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sethmadsen wrote:
bobbyb5 wrote:
sethmadsen wrote:
Yes, Mother and Child Reunion, Me and Julio, Duncan, and Armistice Day are fine songs. I also agree this is one of my least favorite albums of his.

This is how I'd rank them:
Graceland Paul Simon 1986 1 100
Parsley, Sage, Rosemary And Thyme Simon And Garfunkel 1966 1 100
Bookends Simon And Garfunkel 1968 1 95
Bridge Over Troubled Water Simon And Garfunkel 1970 3 93.1
You're The One Paul Simon 2000 7 92.7
Stranger To Stranger Paul Simon 2016 2 90
Negotiations And Love Songs 1971-1986 Paul Simon 1988 5 88.1
There Goes Rhymin' Simon Paul Simon 1973 3 87
Surprise Paul Simon 2006 6 86.3
Hearts And Bones Paul Simon 1983 5 85
So Beautiful Or So What Paul Simon 2011 8 85
Still Crazy After All These Years Paul Simon 1975 5 84.5
Sounds Of Silence Simon And Garfunkel 1966 6 80
Paul Simon Paul Simon 1972 16 77.2
The Concert In Central Park Simon And Garfunkel 1982 11 77.1
One-Trick Pony Paul Simon 1980 13 76
The Graduate Simon And Garfunkel 1968 24 75
The Rhythm Of The Saints Paul Simon 1990 16 70
Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. Simon And Garfunkel 1964 13 65


Well, I think all the Simon and Garfunkel's are better than anything he did afterwards. I like Rhymin' Simon a lot, but after that album I don't really like much else that he did. By the time he got to still crazy after all these years, his songs just didn't seem as good anymore. Except for My Little Town. Which is really great. That's the last one he did that I really really love.


RE: simon and garfunkel better than anything else
As you can see from my ratings I'm not sure I can agree, but if i didn't have these numbers I might agree with you.

I think My Little Town he gave to Garfunkel and it was on this album, which as 70s corny as it is, I dig it:

Breakaway by Art Garfunkel


My Little Town was on both their albums that year. This Garfunkel album has a couple really good ones on it like 99 Miles From LA and Disney Girls and even his remake of I Only Have Eyes for You is kind of good.
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RoundTheBend
I miss the comfort in being sad



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  • #12
  • Posted: 07/22/2018 16:25
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Doh! You are right, I forgot it's on both.

Also, it is probably nostalgia for me (my mom loved that breakaway album), but I really like that album. The tracks you mention and a few more are great. When I fall in love is another great one. But I agree the ones you mentioned are some of the more top notch ones.

EDIT: somehow like half my sentences made it to the page... haha.

Also Breakaway got an 85 from me for context to the rest of Simon's discography.
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RoundTheBend
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  • #13
  • Posted: 07/22/2018 16:31
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I'd also just like to say that while this album is ok, Paul Simon is an incredibly underrated guitarist and songwriter. I think he's on the same wavelength as Lennon/McCartney, Bob Dylan, etc., yet somehow doesn't get that credit.
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bobbyb5



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  • #14
  • Posted: 07/22/2018 17:58
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sethmadsen wrote:
I'd also just like to say that while this album is ok, Paul Simon is an incredibly underrated guitarist and songwriter. I think he's on the same wavelength as Lennon/McCartney, Bob Dylan, etc., yet somehow doesn't get that credit.


Absolutely. In the past he got that kind of recognition, but I think that among younger people who weren't around 30 years ago he isn't familiar enough to them. Although his Simon and Garfunkel stuff still seems to get a lot of attention.
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CA Dreamin



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  • #15
  • Posted: 07/22/2018 18:26
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@seth

So what you're saying is every track on Graceland and PSR&T is perfect. Don't think I'd agree with you on that.

I used to use a mathematical approach where I'd rate every track, add up those ratings, then divide by the number of tracks. However like you said, that favors shorter albums. A 9-track album where I like every song would always have a better average rating than a 14-track album where I like 12 (filler is killer). I came up with a formula to correct that by adjusting for the # of tracks to balance it out. However, I don't use it anymore because there are non-mathematical intangibles when it comes to albums...how often I revisit them, the mood they put me in when I listen to them, how well they age, how cohesive they are, etc. Nowadays when I edit my Top 100, it's a lot more about those things than the math formula.
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RoundTheBend
I miss the comfort in being sad



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  • #16
  • Posted: 07/22/2018 18:33
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StreetSpirit wrote:
@seth

So what you're saying is every track on Graceland and PSR&T is perfect. Don't think I'd agree with you on that.

I used to use a mathematical approach where I'd rate every track, add up those ratings, then divide by the number of tracks. However like you said, that favors shorter albums. A 9-track album where I like every song would always have a better average rating than a 14-track album where I like 12 (filler is killer). I came up with a formula to correct that by adjusting for the # of tracks to balance it out. However, I don't use it anymore because there are non-mathematical intangibles when it comes to albums...how often I revisit them, the mood they put me in when I listen to them, how well they age, how cohesive they are, etc. Nowadays when I edit my Top 100, it's a lot more about those things than the math formula.


To me those albums are perfect. But you are quite right, they aren't "objectively" perfect. Every song on those albums really touch my soul... there's not one where it doesn't click for me.

And yes, you are absolutely right. There's times when I doubt the ratings based on all the factors you mention. I think I trust them about 85% of the time and that's way better than I could say about my gut feeling... my gut feeling would ignore some really amazing music. Probably only 50% on the gut.

I'm curious about your equation to account for longer tracks if you don't mind sharing.
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