Paul Simon - The Essential Paul Simon Album Review

Album Review for The Essential Paul Simon released through Warner Records.

Even without the inclusion of Simon and Garfunkel's joint song-writing career, Paul Simon has a remarkable collection of solo records. This essential collection includes some of his less well-known tracks and earlier solo material aswell as the tracks we've all got to know and love, which would be expected on a Essential collection they've still had to miss off some of the more famous tracks but only to make way for lesser known but equally great songs.

The first disc includes Mother and Child Reunion, Me and Julio, 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover, and Still Crazy, it's a brilliant and detailed mix of sweet highlights. Simon has always been an intelligent, poetic and literate song-writer with an almost catholic taste in musical genres, the album Graceland is his best example of this. The track of the same name kicks off disc 2, it then turns into less familiar listening for occasional Paul Simon fans, the CD stitches his more creative songs like Father and Daughter to his last fantastic disc Surprise.

This is the perfect way to get a good grasp on Simon's solo career. All together the album flows very well, it's laid out in such a fashion that it flows easily rather than using a chronological order. Fans have come to expect no less for a person such as Paul Simon.

4/5

Mike Rea