Most helpful customer reviews
|
|
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
NOT Their Best, But Good, Nov 11 2003
I will never be able to fathom why this album is considered to be their greatest. It isn't. It doesn't even come close to the breath-taking PARSLEY, SAGE, ROSEMARY AND THYME, their previous album. I consider that one to be the greatest album ever released by anyone ever. But BOOKENDS is not without it's charm.
The disappointments on here are "Overs", "Voices Of Old People", "Punky's Dilemma", "Old Friends" and "At The Zoo". These songs just don't have the trademark splendor that S&G's music usually had. But the good tracks more than make up for it: "Bookends Theme" contains the most haunting notes that I've ever heard on an acoustic guitar, and the version with vocals definitely wins my vote for best song on the album. "Mrs. Robinson" is known by everyone, but it's not all that great. I never saw what the big deal was, it just sounds like an average pop song to me. Anyway, "Save The Life Of My Child" is a total trip. Those eerie sound effects and that weird synthesizer make it a real psychedelic experience. Oh, and if you listen closely, after the second or third verse, you can hear Garfunkel reciting a line from "The Sound Of Silence" (I think). "America" is also overrated but a very pleasant song. I personally hate the line "Toss me a cigarette, there's one in my overcoat...We smoked the last one an hour ago". Just sounds corny. "Fakin' It" is excellent, and the upbeat "A Hazy Shade Of Winter" is one of my favorite S&G tunes. And the bonus track "You Don't Know Where Your Interest Lies" is marvelous. Great lead vocal by Artie, who may be the greatest singer that ever lived.
So I consider this album to be very overrated, although it still has some great moments. But if you're looking for the most beautiful, comforting music in the world, then get PARSLEY, SAGE, ROSEMARY AND THYME. It will leave you speechless.
|
|
|
5.0 out of 5 stars
A classic sixties folk-rock album, Jun 19 2004
The first half of this mainly mellow album (originally one side of a vinyl album) is based around life experiences from childhood to old age. Beginning and ending with the bookends theme, the outstanding song in this half is the reflective America. Save the life of my child, Overs and Old friends are all great songs though I'm not too keen on Voices of old people. The second half of the album has no obvious theme but is stronger overall, containing Mrs Robinson (the biggest hit here), Hazy shade of winter (revived in the eighties to good effect by the Bangles), Faking it (a minor American hit), Punky's dilemma (an excellent philosophical song) and At the zoo (a great song with which to close the original album). Some say that Mrs Robinson (which originally appeared in the soundtrack of The Graduate) doesn't really blend in with the rest of the album. Maybe not, but I'm glad it's here. Two bonus tracks are nothing to get excited about, but the re-mastering gives a far superior sound quality. There are also some informative liner notes. If you only want the famous songs, you can find them on any number of hits compilations - some double CD's, some single CD's. However, if you wish to explore further, this album should be a high priority.
|
|
|
1.0 out of 5 stars
WAKE UP., May 30 2004
By A Customer
Paul Simon said in an interview in the early seventies that each of the five Simon and Garfunkel albums was better than the one that preceeded it, and I think this assessment accurate, so much so, in fact, that I can't conceive of a reasonable person disputing it. The original "Bookends" had some very good songs, "America", for example, some so-so songs, "Faking It", and some sludge, "Save the Life of My Child", for example. It was superior to "Parsely, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme" (less pretentious, pseudo-poetic, and precious), and inferior to the truly inspired "Bridge Over Troubled Waters". But that was the original version. This thing here includes two superfluous tracks. If you don't want your listening experience ruined, you have either to run over to your CD player just before it gets to them or else laboriously program them out every time you listen. "You Don't Where Your Interest Lies" is worth hearing for Simon and Garfunkel historians once and only once. It's a throw-away, but it's interesting that it sounds like the period. I can't imagine, on the other hand, who would want to hear the unfinished demo-tape version of "Old Friends" even once. What's it doing here? Presumably, it's here to trick you into thinking you're getting more for your money, but is anyone really that stupid? You're getting LESS for your money; you're getting a greatly compromised version of "Bookends".
|
|
|
Most recent customer reviews
|
~ Simon & Garfunkel
~ Simon & Garfunkel
~ Simon & Garfunkel
~ Simon & Garfunkel
~ Paul Simon
