Graceland
by Paul Simon

Graceland by Paul Simon
Year: 1986
Release date: 1986-08-25
Overall rank: 119th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
81/100 (from 1,363 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top 5 albums of 1986 (3rd)
Award Top 20 albums of the 1980s (16th)
Award Top 200 albums of all time (119th)

Listen on Spotify SPOTIFY
Product Details
Availability

eBay
eBay
Paul Simon - Graceland: 25th Anniversary Edition [New CD] Anniversary Ed
Condition: Brand New


eBay
eBay
Paul Simon - Graceland (CD, Sep-1986, Warner Bros.) EARLY DADC PRESS 9254472
Condition: Like New


eBay
eBay
Paul Simon – Graceland CD 1986 Warner Bros. Records Inc. Pop Rock World Music
Condition: Good


  My favourite store:  

Paul Simon bestography

Graceland is ranked as the best album by Paul Simon.

Paul Simon album bestography « Higher ranked
-
This album (119th)
Graceland
Lower ranked (1,080th) »
Paul Simon

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

Upcoming concerts

Jun
07
Sun
Paul Simon
Hollywood Bowl, Hollywood, United States. United States
Tickets from Ticketmaster Get tickets
 
Jun
09
Tue
Paul Simon: A Quiet Celebration
The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park, San Diego, United States. United States
Tickets from Ticketmaster Get tickets
 
Jun
12
Fri
Paul Simon
Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, United States. United States
Tickets from Ticketmaster Get tickets
 

Listen to Graceland on YouTube

Loading content from YouTube...

Graceland track list

  Track ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 83 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

Sort Sort by

Track pick (1000 - 100 votes) Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.

Graceland rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 119th | 1980s rank: 16th | 1986 rank: 3rd

Graceland collection

Graceland ratings

Average Rating: 
81/100 (from 1,363 votes)
  Ratings distribution Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 1,363 ratings for this album.

Sort Sort by
RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
100/100
 
35 hours ago zonecommander  Ratings distribution  11075/100
 
90/100
 
3 days ago ExTeaSea  Ratings distribution  5,13382/100
 
90/100
 
3 days ago DaveH68  Ratings distribution  1,36376/100
 
100/100
 
02/20/2026 19:11 Kronikal433  Ratings distribution  15493/100
 
100/100
 
02/12/2026 20:38 evstratios  Ratings distribution  18097/100

Rating metrics: Help Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album is rated in the top 1% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 81.3/100, a mean average of 80.3/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 81.4/100. The standard deviation for this album is 15.8.

Please log in or register if you want to be able to leave a rating

Graceland comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 82 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Only showing comments with -2 votes or higher. You can alter this threshold from your profile page. Manage Profile)

Rating:  
85/100
From 01/29/2026 22:13 | #312887
Spotty but joyous and colorful. Happy I finally got around to this one.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 10/08/2025 01:32 | #311276
Great solo album. The best that either him or Art put out after they disbanded their duo.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 04/08/2025 08:32 | #308403
Album of the year at the 1987 Grammys
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 04/04/2024 15:27 | #302852
Love this album but for some reason it's not in my top 100 but probably should be haha. If I made charts 20+ years ago it definitely would have been. It's very fun and unique, especially for the time it came out.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 01/21/2024 01:20 | #301347
A great album. The Boy in the Bubble, You Can Call Me Al, Diamonds On the Soles of Her Shoes, and the title track are all fantastic. His best solo record.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
60/100
From 10/23/2023 20:16 | #299605
"You Can Call Me Al," "Graceland," and "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes" are classics... but few then or now think Paul Simon handled concerns about cultural appropriation or apartheid well.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 04/10/2023 08:57 | #295909
This album does a great job at combining South African musical stylings with classic American pop to create some spectacular moments that you will be singing for days after you hear this album. The most infectious of these songs is the huge hit You Can Call Me Al which might be slightly over played today but it still holds up very well. However, the rest of side 2 that follows this song have not held up as well. Homeless and That Was Your Mother comes to mind when thinking of these weaker tracks with both of them feeling insignificant and not having enough quality to captivate me. Despite this, side 1 is a masterpiece from Paul Simon. The music is so full of character and depth which makes it so easy to get lost in this beautiful fusion he has created. The instrumentation is also fantastic for pretty much the whole release with Simon's diverse choices making this an interesting record even in the slower moments that come later on. Overall, if the record could maintain the quality and energy on the first half this would be amongst the best albums ever made but unfortunately this isn't accomplished.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 01/19/2023 23:15 | #293073
Impressing fusion of western music with south african music makes of this album unique experience. I didn't think I would like it as much as I did. It is also quite consistent in terms of quality and songwriting is top-notch.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 08/31/2022 03:46 | #289149
Solid album
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 06/29/2022 18:33 | #286811
Bouncy, Bubbly, Beautiful
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Please log in or register if you want to be able to add a comment

Your feedback for Graceland

Anonymous
Let us know what you think of this album by adding a comment or assigning a rating below!
Log in or register to assign a rating or leave a comment for this album.
Best Albums of 1986
1. The Queen Is Dead by The Smiths
2. Master Of Puppets by Metallica
3. Graceland by Paul Simon
4. So by Peter Gabriel
5. Skylarking by XTC
6. The Colour Of Spring by Talk Talk
7. Reign In Blood by Slayer
8. Lifes Rich Pageant by R.E.M.
9. Licensed To Ill by Beastie Boys
10. Black Celebration by Depeche Mode
11. Evol by Sonic Youth
12. Slippery When Wet by Bon Jovi
13. Peace Sells... But Who's Buying? by Megadeth
14. Parade by Prince And The Revolution
15. Somewhere In Time by Iron Maiden
16. Raising Hell by Run-D.M.C.
17. Invisible Touch by Genesis
18. Atomizer by Big Black
19. True Blue by Madonna
20. Your Funeral... My Trial by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Back to Top