Listed below are the best albums of 2000 as calculated from their overall rankings in over 59,000 greatest album charts. (Chart last updated: 2 hours ago).
"I got this album when it came out in 2000. I was already a Paul Simon fan through my dad, and I fell in love with this album pretty hard. That basically meant listening to it alone in my room for a good stretch. I've come back to it many times and always thought it was great. I felt like it didn'...""I got this album when it came out in 2000. I was already a Paul Simon fan through my dad, and I fell in love with this album pretty hard. That basically meant listening to it alone in my room for a good stretch. I've come back to it many times and always thought it was great.
I felt like it didn't get too much love from either fans or critics for some reason. Now on this site I see how true that is. A whopping ONE PERSON besides me has this on their Top overall list ( way down at 53)! So I feel compelled to write a review as seemingly the album's biggest fan :(
I do feel like there's something wrong with me for being the only person to put this high up on their list. But for this review I'm going to defend my #16 ranking, and make the case that every other chart maker here and critic is just missing it ;-)
It's clear on this album that Paul is getting away from the world themes that were so distinctive of his last two records -- kind of, but not totally. These themes are still there, though more often as an added dimension instead of the central feature of a song. So Paul is able to get back to his roots on this release, while still incrporating much of the sound that made his last albums special.
So it should be clear that this is mostly a mellow album. The manic riffs and high intensity jams so integral to the "Graceland" / "Rhythm of Saints" era are mostly stripped here. Instead there is a quiet beauty that permeates this album, with lyrics that serve to carry out this sentiment, and often little else.
edit: I'll briefly review each song in the song section. It's mostly an album that can be appreciated from start to finish without any real lulls.
Whoo. I put wayyyy more time into that than I had intended. I hope you find it useful or interesting, 5 people! :) "[+]Reply
""Smile" comes off more americana than country, but all the same, the album's replete with pop sensibilities which often puts a smile on this face. They're asking you to "smile when you're down and out" and keep your "chin up". then they're proclaiming their love glowingly from the tallest buildin..."""Smile" comes off more americana than country, but all the same, the album's replete with pop sensibilities which often puts a smile on this face. They're asking you to "smile when you're down and out" and keep your "chin up". then they're proclaiming their love glowingly from the tallest building in "i'm gonna make you love me" (singing "i'm gonna drown your tears / we're gonna stay together for a million years". The female backing harmonies are nice-to-lovely across most songs. But there is an undercurrent of despair, from the title track to "what led me to this town" ("Such a lazy afternoon / Eight shades of gray and I can taste the rain / Oh, how high the lovely have flown / What led me to this town ") and its simple-yet-catchy chorus to "broken harpoon" ("When it seemed no matter what you gave / (When) I took my secret to my grave"). But it's tough to stay down amidst singalongs like "somewhere in ohio" ("look out joe i think the sky is fallin' / seems like all the clouds have turned to stone"), "mr. wilson"'s guardian angel and "queen of the world" (chorus "take me to the place i never go / with scented kisses made of gold / I'll place a crown upon your curls / All hail the queen of the world"), and the songs that do sound lovelorn sound so in at least a semi-optimistic way, like "a break in the clouds" ("every time that i see your face / it's like cool, cool water running down my back") or "better days" (the way he sings "too late for hope / but a dream remembered" sounds romantic) and closing with a rocking "baby baby baby"."[+]Reply
"A very interesting take on many of Zep's tracks. A much fuller sound than any other live performance of their songs. Any fan should give it a listen. Very good."Reply