Simon & Garfunkel - Bookends
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Free Music Notes for Bookends
Free Music Review: One of the Greatest Album's of all Time!!
Hit: 5 Stars
Bookends was released in 1968, a very fertile year in pop music, which also saw the release of The Beatles White Album and Hendrix' "Electric Ladyland". This is definatly S&G's pinnacle though with stellar song-writing, singing and production. This is one of those album's that still sound's incredible on head-phones!!If there is one S&G album you must own,it's this one!!Free Music Review: In a nutshell, this may be S&G's ultimate masterpiece
Hit: 5 Stars
PARSLEY, SAGE, ROSEMARY & THYME (1966) was actually an excellent record all around even with its short length. In the 1960s when you released a new album often within months of the last one, Simon & Garfunkel didn't follow that norm. Because Paul Simon was never a prolific songwriter, new material was often slow in coming, so an album was often made up mostly of past singles & a few brand new songs. That was how it worked out with BOOKENDS (1968), but even in that respect, it still turned out to be no less than a watershed for the duo. During the downtime, Simon & Garfunkel helped score Mike Nichols' classic & huge box office hit THE GRADUATE (1967). The soundtrack to that movie would be a big hit in its own right, but while that album was mostly made up of past material, BOOKENDS was the real new album from S&G, and it was worth the wait. The album opens with a short instrumental passage also called "Bookends" before moving into the stunning "Save The Life Of My Child". Another anti-Vietnam song from a time when young men from all walks of life were dying in the service, this song struck a huge chord back then, and was also known for featuring an early use of synthesizer, which at the time was still very much a new instrument. The excellent music continues with the very timeless "America". The youth back then were inheriting their own sense of ideals, so this song helped explain that new freedom they were all looking for. With today's youth very much idealists, "America" can still ring true now. S&G's beautiful vocals can move you to tears even now as well. In a sense, the first side of BOOKENDS could be about the cycle of life, with "Overs" being a gentle, adult love song, and "Old Friends" a tribute to the everlasting institution called friendship that lasts even until death. Only the spoken-word "Voices Of Old People" is cringe-worthy, but it's an easily forgiveable one. After a reprise of "Bookends", this time with lyrics, side two is where we have hit single city. "Mrs. Robinson" was another #1 hit for S&G, topping the charts for 3 weeks in 1968 & becoming an indelible image in THE GRADUATE. While this song has been covered numerous times by artists as diverse as Frank Sinatra (surprisingly bad) & the Lemonheads (surprisingly good), it's Simon & Garfunkel's version that remains the undisputed classic. Only "Punky's Dilemma" is the other new song on side 2, that's because it was originally written for THE GRADUATE, but rejected by Mike Nichols in favor of "Mrs. Robinson". It may be apparent why he rejected it, for it is another one of those precious bits of pop that often came from Paul Simon's pen in the 1960s. Of the past hits contained on side 2 of BOOKENDS, "Fakin' It" (which reached #23) & "A Hazy Shade Of Winter" (a #13 hit) still sound well today. In fact, "Winter" would be covered notably by the Bangles in 1988, reaching #2 with their version. "At The Zoo" (#16) is the one that registers high on the "sounded good at the time, but is now rather dull" scale, but that doesn't mean it's a bad listen, not in the least. As piecemeal as it may have been, BOOKENDS was nothing less than a stellar work from Simon & Garfunkel. Like its predecessor, it clocked in at under half an hour, but every second was worthwhile. It would be 2 more years before S&G followed up BOOKENDS, and little did we know that the end would soon be in sight.Free Music Review: S&G's best album.
Hit: 5 Stars
A classic. Right up there with Sgt. Pepper, in my mind. It's an album that takes you on a journey and was obviously influenced by Sgt. Pepper. I mean how could you write music in 1968 and not be influenced by that album?First rock album to use a moog synthesizer too. Listen to the bass line on Save the Life of my Child. If you like great songwriting, performance, and production then jump on this one. I haven't done any A/B tests on the quality of the remastering, but the bass on America is deep and rich. Enjoy this one.