Bridge Over Troubled Water (studio album) by Simon & Garfunkel

Front to back some of the best vocals ever recorded. Smooth and gorgeous with perfect songwriting to boot.

The 5 big hits on this record are simply outstanding and I think that leads to this record being over rated. The 4 songs that were released as singles from this project are by far the best on the record closely followed by the sensational The Only Living Boy In New York but the rest is pretty mediocre in my opinion. Songs like Why Don't You Write Me and Bye Bye Love feel insignificant and like they could be cut from the record alongside a few more tracks. These songs just don't capture the magic the duo have on the better songs and fall a bit flat for me. Despite this, their harmonies are consistently fantastic and Paul Simon's writing is simply phenomenal making this a must listen album for anyone. Overall, there is loads to love about the music on here but there is also a lot of flaws and due to its lack of consistency I don't think it is as good as everyone claims it to be.

"Bridge Over Troubled Water" from 1970 was Simon and Garfunkel's last studio album as a duo, and their biggest commercial success. Four rather different songs were released on singles; "The Boxer", "Bridge over Troubled Water", "Cecilia", "El Condor Pasa (If I Could) ". The first two were actually released before the album itself.
"The Boxer" is a great Paul Simon song, performed in the classic style of the duo, the kazoo that pops up here and there I find rather misplaced. The title track is a very nice gospel-style anthem, perhaps one of Simon's most timeless songs. "Cecilia" is a more unpretentious song about jealousy; the song was played a lot around that year, so it was easy to get a bit tired of it; street music style. "El Condor Pasa" was also a big hit; here Simon has borrowed from a Peruvian folk tune and this is perhaps the first time Simon reveals his interest in world-music.

The album alternates nicely between up-beat/unpretentious songs and more thoughtful and melodic songs. Among the latter is "The Only Living Boy in New York", which I think is one of the duo's finest. Beautiful melody with great vocals and an "Aah chorus" that leads the mind towards John Lennon's "A Day in the Life".

https://www.angelfire.com/nv/Badfinger/BANDsimongarfunkel.html

Solid album

Simply The Best.

I like the general comments about Paul Simon below by Bloaf38 on 11/30/2020. And I agree with jwalsh97 on this particular album. The title track is mesmerising - so delicate and wonderful

A beautiful and near flawless album of stunning writing and harmonies. The pair had many moments showing unbelievable quality however this album stands as their crowning achievement before going their separate ways.

Near perfect folk rock album, one of the best in this genre. Some of the most beautiful tracks I heard are on here. Title Track, The Boxer and El Condor Pasa are my favorites.

Con razón, este es uno de los discos más vendidos de la historia.

It's basically a trailblazer and a blueprint for commercially successful folk pop.

Essential.

A Side: Cecilia
B Side: Bridge Over Troubled Water