Paul Simon - Surprise Album Review

Paul Simon
Surprise
Album Review

Paul Simon, one half of what was such a legendary partnership, when it comes to selling records and writing hits there are not many people better than Paul Simon.
Being the man that Paul Simon is he is not just content with sitting on his millions and looking back at what he has achieved, instead he's released his new album 'Surprise'. So what can Paul Simon churn out now for his faithful following from both when he was part of a duo and now in his solo career?

So is it a surprise that Paul Simon releases his new album funnily enough titled Surprise? Yes and no, let's face it that there is no argument that this bloke is a genius when it comes to song writing. Paul Simon demonstrates his cleverness in writing a track which he does so with 'How Can You Live In The North East'. This is a typical Simon classic and if the album was full of songs like this then you would be onto a winner on purchasing this album. The reality however is that there are some good songs like the title track, but the album is not always backed up with the typical consistency that we all know and love from Paul Simon.

I will give him his dues though as he has had the bottle to experiment and with 'Everything About It Is A Love Song'. I am sure there is the noise of garage drums trying to explode into the track on the chorus. The only song that does stand out and somewhat like a sore thumb is, 'Father And Daughter'. It has had quite a lot of airplay and in a really good song.

In short this album seems to be about ten years too late, BUT the Paul Simon faithful will love this and will probably be hoping that he will be following this album up with a tour.

Mark Moore

Review 2

Paul Simon
Surprise
Album Review
Warner Bros

The news that Brian Eno was to produce a Paul Simon album led to all kinds of speculation about what we might hear. The surprise is that this is mostly just classic Paul Simon with a revealingly modern feel. Unlike some singer-songwriters who have tried just too hard in recent years - Rickie Lee Jones for one - this is an album that respectfully leaves alone what makes Simon great: the lyricism, the melody, the gliding voice. What it does add are edgier guitars, but only where called for. The power of songs like How Can You Live In The Northeast and Sons and Daughters is clear. It is hard to say that Paul Simon has sounded like he cared this much about the music since Graceland. If you liked that album, but were unsure about the 'world music' thing going on there, Surprise is a surefire hit.

Rating 8/10

Mike Rea