It's hard to describe the importance of this album.
Paul Simon is an artist who has touched many hearts throughout the years, wether it was his folk rock work with Art Garfunkel or his deep thought inducing solo career. Graceland will always stand out as his shining lp though. Recorded in South Africa with a bunch of guests,it truly is an amazing album. From the opening tale of the hardship of modern day Africa("The Boy In The Bubble") to the story of being a stranger in a new and strange land("You Can Call Me Al"). Paul Simon truly captures, the joy, the pain and the world around Africa in its purest spirit. Of course I enjoy the album, due to myself being Tanzanian and being born when it was realeased(it was very popular for years!). So, if you are someone with great musical taste and are familiar with this album, please feel free to discuss it and to kiddies who don't know it, do yourself a favour and listen :). There is so much more to music then Queen!
There's not a bad cut on this album.
uh wah uh wah
Production is flawless, and deserved the awards it won upon it's release.
uh wah uh wah
Normally I don't like Linda Rondstadt, especially after that Neville/Rondstadt overkill, but she sounds great "Under African Skies".
uh wah uh wah
Oh yeah, Diamonds is my favorite track.
Mircrowave! wrote: There's not a bad cut on this album.
uh wah uh wah
Production is flawless, and deserved the awards it won upon it's release.
uh wah uh wah
Normally I don't like Linda Rondstadt, especially after that Neville/Rondstadt overkill, but she sounds great "Under African Skies".
uh wah uh wah
Oh yeah, Diamonds is my favorite track.
Haha, glad to hear a good opinion on this classic album. My fave track is "The Boy In The Bubble" It honesly describes how haunting modern day Africa is, so it is very dear to my heart. Everyone song is great though, just like you said! Long live Paul Simon!(And Garfunkel too :D!)
I love Paul Simon, and Graceland is a very summery album, something that always gets me into a great mood. There's just something about rolling the windows down in the car and taking a forty minute drive to let the music fill me. Every song is great, though 'You Can Call Me Al', 'Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes', 'Boy In The Bubble', 'Graceland', 'Under African Skies' are all classics.
Personally, though, I listen to Songs From The Capeman and Surprise more frequently. Graceland is just one of those albums that you don't want to play to death.
Lester Burnham wrote: I love Paul Simon, and Graceland is a very summery album, something that always gets me into a great mood. There's just something about rolling the windows down in the car and taking a forty minute drive to let the music fill me. Every song is great, though 'You Can Call Me Al', 'Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes', 'Boy In The Bubble', 'Graceland', 'Under African Skies' are all classics.
Personally, though, I listen to Songs From The Capeman and Surprise more frequently. Graceland is just one of those albums that you don't want to play to death.
Agreed, I enjoy listening to Bridges Over Troubled Water,Bookends and Paul Simon Self Titled. Due to the fact that I dont want to burn out on Graceland!
While I prefer to burn it out!!!!
Not much for S & G. I think Art always had the biggest bag in music during the 70s. If I'm not spinning Graceland, then it's probably Still Crazy or another solo album.
This is a wonderful album; absolutely no filler. Both easy to listen to and avant-garde at the same time; the merging of African and western music reaches perfection here, and Simon collaborates perfectly with a number of different bands and artists, all leading to beautiful results.
This is also one of the very few albums to contain an accordion which doesn't sound corny.
<b><font color = "crimson"> ThomasQuinn wrote: This is a wonderful album; absolutely no filler. Both easy to listen to and avant-garde at the same time; the merging of African and western music reaches perfection here, and Simon collaborates perfectly with a number of different bands and artists, all leading to beautiful results.
This is also one of the very few albums to contain an accordion which doesn't sound corny.
Agreed. your musical taste and knowledge is immpecable Thomas Quinn.
@Microwave! Ah right, Still Crazy is another good one!
<b><font color = "crimson"> ThomasQuinn wrote: This is a wonderful album; absolutely no filler. Both easy to listen to and avant-garde at the same time; the merging of African and western music reaches perfection here, and Simon collaborates perfectly with a number of different bands and artists, all leading to beautiful results.
This is also one of the very few albums to contain an accordion which doesn't sound corny.
Agreed. your musical taste and knowledge is immpecable Thomas Quinn.
@Microwave! Ah right, Still Crazy is another good one!
Thank you very much.
Have you heard 'Hearts and Bones', by the way? It's not as good as 'Graceland', IMHO, but it's close. "The Late Great Johnny Ace" is superb (featuring an ending composed by Philip Glass).
<b><font color = "crimson"> ThomasQuinn wrote: This is a wonderful album; absolutely no filler. Both easy to listen to and avant-garde at the same time; the merging of African and western music reaches perfection here, and Simon collaborates perfectly with a number of different bands and artists, all leading to beautiful results.
This is also one of the very few albums to contain an accordion which doesn't sound corny.
Agreed. your musical taste and knowledge is immpecable Thomas Quinn.
@Microwave! Ah right, Still Crazy is another good one!
Thank you very much.
Have you heard 'Hearts and Bones', by the way? It's not as good as 'Graceland', IMHO, but it's close. "The Late Great Johnny Ace" is superb (featuring an ending composed by Philip Glass).
No problem, and yes! I am familiar with "Hearts And Bones". I agree! It is quite good. "The Late Great Johnny Ace" is a hidden gem for sure. I believe he played it live during the famous S&G Reunion Concert! Aw shucks, now I got to go buy "Hearts And Bones" on cd :p!
A true classic of an album.
One of my favourite memories associated with it is when I was at Uni. We discovered that 4 of us 5 housemates owned the album, so we all put our respective copies in our stereos and pushed play at the same time. That opening accordion lick coming out of 4 bedrooms on two different floors in near-perfect synchonisation was truly a sound....that was interesting.
Whilst it's not fair to say that there's any filler on the album, I do think it tails off slightly towards its conclusion. The last three tracks are in my opinion the three weakest on the album, and therefore their placing in the running order is the only thing I can criticise about this fantastic release.