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Elly Roberts reviews
Warner Bros
- Cat.no: 9362499822
- Released: June 2006
- Rating: 2/10
Just like his hair-line, Paul Simon has been receding on the music front for quite some time.His last solo effort was Youre The One, four years ago, which was hardly a critical success.
After his coffer-swelling reunion withArt Garfunkel in 2005, Simon unleashes his latest offering on Warner Bros.Surprise is very apt, as youll discover.
On board as influence and tweekeris ex-Roxy Music keyboard player Brian Eno. Unlike Rick Rubins success withJohnny Cash and latterly Neil Diamond, Enos involvement appears to be amajor drawback. It feels like hes hijacked the entire project, trying tomake Simon trendy all over again, and not made a Paul Simon at all.
Thereare key sonic moments on a great PS album, but theyre not here. Also, mostof the songs are weak and simply disastrous – tracks 1, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9 -almost as if Simons finally running out of creative juices. Of the tensongs, few are barely memorable, which was Simons trademark. Most of thesehardly have any instant recall potential.
Highlights are really rare Beautiful almost matches his You Can Call Me Al period, only to run out ofsteam. I Dont Believe is a neat segue, but again flounders mid-way. ThatsMe shimmies along like something from his early period, only to be spoilt byEnos pointless sonic intrusion.
Thankfully, a lovely lullaby limps out ofwhat can only be described as a tortuous listening experience. In addition,his voice sounds at its weakest ever, losing its clarity and beauty. Hesounds uncertain as well, maybe being uncomfortable with the entire venture.
The album is a big surprise in many ways, not a pleasant one, and will dolittle to bring back the hardcore fanbase in the long run.
Weblinks:Paul Simon.com /Warner Bros Records.com
The full list of tracks included are :
1. How Can You Live In The North East?
2. Everything About It Is A Love Song
3. Outrageous
4. Sure Dont Feel Like Love
5. Wartime Prayers
6. Beautiful
7. I Dont Believe
8. Another Galaxy
9. Once Upon A Time There Was An Ocean
10. Thats Me
11. Father And Daughter
Elly Roberts passed away in 2011, but he was a man who was so passionate about all types of music and loved meeting his musical heroes, such as Mick Hucknall at a book signing at the Trafford Centre, Manchester in 2007.
A former teacher and also a music journalist, DJ and radio presenter on local community station Calon FM, plus appearances on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru and BBC Radio 2, Elly started doing reviews for DVDfever.co.uk in 2004 and he did the majority of the CD and concerts reviews on the website.
I know also that he loved getting away for the summer to Spain and I hope that wherever he is now he is enjoying the hot sunshine and, as one of his friends has said on his Facebook page, that he is interviewing his musical heroes.