Simon & Garfunkel - The Best of Simon & Garfunkel
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Free Music Notes for The Best of Simon & Garfunkel
Free Music Review: Time Flies
Hit: 5 Stars
It's hard to believe that four decades have passed since Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel were a chart topping partnership, especially when you have an album like this to keep the memories fresh and the eyes dewy.
Lovingly remastered and sounding better than ever, this album has the best songs Paul ever wrote and Art ever sang, with all the enduring favorites such as "Bridge Over Troubled Water" (recently redone by Clay Aiken); "Sound of Silence" (my personal favorite); "Homeward Bound"; "I Am A Rock"; "Mrs. Robinson" and fifteen others.
Their last album of new material was in 1970, but they reunited temporarily in 1975 to record the song "My Little Town", which is also on this album.
For the chronologically challenged, there are a few songs that are not familiar, but be assured that they will grow on you.
A great single album of outstanding songs.
Amanda Richards, January 8, 2005
Free Music Review: Play it Again - With Feeling
Hit: 5 Stars
There are some artists who feel they must put angst into every word, to the point where listening to their music becomes painful. Simon and Garfunkel, on the other hand, put their feelings into places where it has the most effect and the contrast pulls you into the song. Collected on this excellent overview of their career provides a sample of the beauty and emotion the duo put into their music.
This album starts with two of their more emotional songs, "Sounds of Silence" and "Homeward Bound." Both songs communicate feelings of isolation and separation. These songs readily yield a melancholy feeling on cloudy days. When the pair moves into a song about strength there is no doubt about their intent. "I Am a Rock" is a forceful song that clearly communicates to the listener that the singer has a strong will within himself to withstand the world and keep the world out. The poignant moment in this song is when the song slows to the words "...and a rock feels no pain, and an island never cries." It is at this point that you realize that while someone may state and declare that they are sufficient unto themselves that that person still feels pain and sadness, and perhaps they need other more than they are willing to admit.
Moving through "Dangling Conversation" is "Scarborough Fair," a simple, yet sumptuous harmony that expresses is a folk style the feeling of youth in the mid-60s. This song was perfectly matched to its use in the movie "The Graduate."
To prove that Simon and Garfunkel could excel at light pop is the "59th Bridge Street Song," aka "Feelin' Groovy." "Hazy Shade of Winter" is an unusually fast rock and roll song, again showing that they had a stylistic range greater than slow mellow songs. This song is heavily orchestrated with both rock and traditional instruments. "At the Zoo" is yet another trippy song in a pop vein. "Fakin It" is a 60s contemporary song in a style that appears very familiar when looking back.
"Mrs. Robinson" has had volumes written about it. The song was about one of the central characters in "The Graduate," a movie that managed to capture the distress felt by many young adults and teens in the 60s as they attempted to cope with the changes in society that often appeared to be passing their family by. In many ways "The Graduate" epitomizes America in the 60s, and Simon and Garfunkel are similarly associated through their music. It is interesting that while artists such as the Beatles, Bob Dylan, the Byrds, the Moody Blues and a plethora of others were changing music and bringing new styles to music that one of the most memorable artists was a pair that generally sang mellow pop and folk made famous by a movie. However, it was the excellence of the poetry and their simple effective musical style in a time of increased complexity that may have contributed to their legendary status. Plus, they sang without sounding like they were gargling on sand and still communicated a lot of feeling.
After "Old Friends" is "The Boxer," which to me is one of the most emotional songs by this team. Everything I have ever considered about na?ve people in the world, myself included, is within this song. Being alone, having people take advantage of you, seeking companionship, the difficulty of living of away from home and more is contained within this song. "Bridge Over Troubled Water" is yet another emotional song. This time the soaring music elevates the vocals and the feeling of the songs to symphonic heights.
"Cecilia" is another of those rare fast-paced Simon and Garfunkel songs that showed the experimental side of Paul Simon that would be more fully realized in a coming years in his solo efforts. "The Only Living Boy in New York," contrasts with the previous song in pace, yet once again you may perceive the future solo efforts of Paul Simon in the style and execution.
"Song for the Asking" is a mellow folk song that precedes "El Condor Pasa," aka "If I Could." This song is yet another of my favorite Simon and Garfunkel songs. Actually, I have a lot of favorites from this group, but this song is one of the best of the best. The lyrics are almost humorous, part satire, part lament, and all frustration with the world. "For Emily" is a simple, effective live song with outstanding vocals that is a reminiscence of a simpler time when we were younger.
"America" is one of those songs that belong in an era. The 1960s were a time of seeking and searching, and this song is a song to seek and search by. The song is part silliness, part paranoia, part adventure, and all 60s. Reach back into the past with this treasure from the past.
"My Little Town" was the last hit for Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel during a time when they reunited after pursuing solo careers. This brief collaboration yielded a hit, showing that the magic was still there as a team.
Simon and Garfunkel were anachronistic even in their own day. Music was acquiring a strongly electronic flavor, and folk music and mellow music was losing favor from large market AM stations. However, as our culture and the world became increasingly complicated we were reluctant to part with the seemingly simpler past. Simon and Garfunkel reminded us of our values and that simpler time. Their apparently simple, but meaningful music were indicative of the time, and we found their music reflective of how we felt. Looking back, given the excellence of the song writing and the music, Simon and Garfunkel's success was assured. As much as times have changed, they remain the same. The complexity of our technology and society and its relationship with the world seems to be increasing, and Simon and Garfunkel's nearly 40 year old music seems relevant yet again.
Free Music Review: The best single CD of their music
Hit: 5 Stars
Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel were better together than apart, because they had such different talents. Paul was a brilliant songwriter - certainly one of the best of his generation - and a good singer without being anything special. Art was not a songwriter, but he had a superb voice that brought out the best in Paul's songs.
So, here we have twenty of their finest recordings, digitally re-mastered to sound better than ever, with most of the songs written by Paul and Art doing most of the singing. Of course, all the obvious tracks are included - Bridge over troubled water, Mrs Robinson, Homeward bound, Sound of silence, The boxer, Cecilia, Feeling groovy, I am a rock, America and El condor pasa (If I could) - but this collection contains a further ten tracks which are all of a very high quality including Hazy shade of winter (a song revived brilliantly by the Bangles in the eighties) not forgetting the superb Scarborough fair/Canticle. Some of my favorite album tracks are missing but that is to be expected on a compilation limited to a single CD.
After the split, Paul and Art each had some success as solo singers, but despite some great individual moments, they never achieved the level of consistency separately that they achieved together.
There are several compilations to choose from but if you just want a single CD, this is the best - it has all the tracks you need and the sound quality is far superior to earlier compilations.
Free Music Review: A "Best Of" That Lives Up To Its Title!
Hit: 5 Stars
"The Best Of Simon & Garfunkel" is a superb 20-track CD that contains all of their biggest and best songs("Sounds Of Silence","Mrs. Robinson","Scarborough Fair/Canticle","Homeward Bound","A Hazy Shade Of Winter","The Boxer","Cecilia","America","The Only Living Boy In New York",and of course "Bridge Over Troubled Water")during their brilliant 1966-1970 period,plus the brief 1975 reunion "My Little Town".This affordable,highly entertaining collection is a great way for casual fans to get acquiated with one of the greatest duos of the 20th century. Free Music Review: Excellent Collection
Hit: 5 Stars
Here it is, the first affordable collection of Simon and Garfunkel's Greatest Hits. All the esential hits are here. If you could never buy the box set and multi disc hit sets from them, this is perfect because only the really popular tracks are on here. This is one of my favorite CDs out right now along with Bond's "Classified" and Mr.Deviant's "Techno Obsession" which is a mix of power rock and hard dance music to make some killer instrumentals.