From the Toledo Blade.com
Simon and Garfunkel release shows duo´s great songs are timeless
OLD FRIENDS LIVE ON STAGE Simon & Garfunkel (Warner)
The temptation was to write off Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel´s reunion tour in 2003 as a money-grab to cash in on Baby Boomers with deep pockets and even deeper wells of nostalgia.
After all, the folk/pop duo that dominated the charts in the mid to late ´60s hadn´t recorded anything new together in decades. Their entire set was built on tunes that have been around 35 to 40 years, with a few Simon solo numbers thrown in for variety.
So maybe the songs are dusty and a little too familiar, but they really are great tunes, and in the time they were together Simon tapped into a creative zone that was remarkable. ´Bridge Over Troubled Water,´ ´Homeward Bound,´ ´Mrs. Robinson,´ ´The Boxer,´ and ´The Sound of Silence´ are unmatched in the canon of American songwriters.
Live, these warhorses are fleshed out and given a more muscular, funky feel than in their original form. The pristine harmonies are still there, but with a full band of expert musicians ´Bridge´ gets a gospel treatment, with Simon taking liberties with his lines, and tracks like ´Cecilia´ and ´I Am a Rock´ kick into a higher rhythmic gear that gives them new life.
A new track ´Citizen of the Planet´ is predictably preachy, and a signal that they probably ought to stick with the old stuff. Simon and Garfunkel´s body of work still stands strong as a testament to great song craft, something that can´t be denied.
- ROD LOCKWOOD
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