|
| Headline | Poll: Paul´s Worst Albums |
|
Page:
[1] |
| Author | Comment |
mog
Apr-06-2009, 21:22 GMT
Canada
 | I don´t know if you guys participated in this poll last week.
The results amazed me. Out of the first four album listed, YTO, SFTC and Surprise.
Yikes !
|
| | |
Ian
Apr-07-2009, 01:32 GMT
USA - United Staates America
 | Sorry,but that´s insane. Well,I suppose something has got to less enjoyable to listeners than others,but those particular albums... Of course I´m completely biased,and have enjoyed everything Paul has done,but I´m not the only one. I remember reading in time magazine in 91 an interview with some record company A&R guy,who,talking about Nirvana´s ´Nevermind´ album,said ´This album is so good,every song I mean. I mean,I´m talking Paul Simon quality-No filler´ That says it all for me. |
| | |
Ans
Apr-07-2009, 05:26 GMT
Netherlands
 | Like I said before, the title of that poll is all wrong, there is no such thing as Paul´s worst solo album. If you look at another poll where 148 people voted there is Surprise the best album of his latest work. But SFTC doesn´t score high in any poll, in ´Which are your favorite solo albums´ SFTC is at the bottom but Surprise is fairly high nr. 4. Also interesting to know that 61% is a Paul solo fan and 39% S&G fan.
|
| | |
Bodo
Apr-14-2009, 10:57 GMT
Austria
 | The problem with those polls is that when you create one you have to decide carefully if people can only vote for ONE thing, or can give more different answers.
The results are very different then. SFTC could be somewhere in the "I do not like it so much" list of many people and gets a lot of votes, while they can not agree on one "I hate it" album.
|
| | |
Bodo
Apr-14-2009, 11:03 GMT
Austria
| What amazes me a little bit about this poll is that ´Paul Simon´ is his best work... I mean, it has some really good songs, but also some bad ones. As an album I do not really like it that much.
The rest is okay, all people Love Graceland and ROTS, H&B, Still crazy, Rhymin Simon.. - These are his better albums IMO too.
If I have to make a list which album I listen very often (I did not count it now...but it could look like this):
ROTS
Graceland
OTP
H&B
Capeman
There goes...
Surprise
Still crazy
Paul Simon
YTO
|
| | |
mog
Apr-14-2009, 16:13 GMT
Canada
| ROTS...what a fantastic record ! I listened it last weekend with the alternate setlist you talked about the other day. Nice !
It is fun...most of the time, I say to myself about YTO and Surprise : oh, that´s good. Then, I go back to Graceland or ROTS and I simply say: wow !!
H&B...Never understood fascination that some have for it. Some really good songs with strong lyrics, but on the whole, a dated sound, some crappy songs. |
| | |
Ian
Apr-14-2009, 17:07 GMT
USA - United Staates America
| I have an idea that a persons favourite Paul Simon album is commonly the first Paul Simon album that consciously attracted them. For example,someone who became a fan in 1986 after hearing Graceland,would always have a special affinity for that album. It´s like James Bond in a way. Almost perversely,I prefer Roger Moore´s characterization of Bond,than the usually preferred Sean Connery one. I think this is because the first Bond film,that I saw,AND that I consciously enjoyed was ´Live and Let Die´. Hearts And Bones is like that for me. In fact,with a few exceptions,I think Graceland is the more dated sounding album,but as far as his contemporaries go,Paul´s albums date wonderfully in comparison. Have a listen to any Elton John mid 80´s album for some disturbing 80´s production and drum sounds. Not that I actually think of EJ as a contemporary of Paul´s anyway-WAY too commercial and too prolific to start with. Against this,Graceland sounds positively timeless,which of course it is:-). Just a thought... |
| | |
mog
Apr-14-2009, 19:39 GMT
Canada
| Good point !
I became a fan with Graceland.
But I have never heard it as dated. For me, it has not taken any wrinkles. |
| | |
Ian
Apr-14-2009, 20:03 GMT
USA - United Staates America
| You are absolutely correct about ROTS too Mog. Exceptional album! And yet,when it was released in 1990,I thought it was a little too cerebral,or just not as instantly appealing as Graceland. I was immediately taken by The Coast and She Moves On,but the rest took a little longer to grab me. But it has really stood the test of time for sure. I dig it immensely! I´ve often wondered about the line in Can´t Run,But(Great Title by the way) that goes ´a couple was rubbing against us,rubbing and doing that new dance...´ Do you think Paul was referring to ´The Lambada´ which was a new and popular dance for about 2 minutes at the time? I´ve always thought it might be. Any thoughts? |
| | |
Bodo
Apr-14-2009, 21:48 GMT
Austria
| hehe! I also always thought about Lambada. It would fit perfect into the time - and what makes Pauls songs so timeless is, that he does not mention the word "Lambada". So it is timeless again ;) |
| | |
Ian
Apr-14-2009, 23:33 GMT
USA - United Staates America
| Exactly! |
| | |
Nikki
Apr-15-2009, 02:33 GMT
Australia
 | That´s a nice theory Ian. Well my first PS album was the Anthology (lol) but I think I have a greater affinity with the new albums cos they´re the only ones I´ve heard when they appeared on the market. I´m surprised too that Paul Simon would be voted as the top album, to me that´s probably his weakest overall, even though it has some classics, it has some REALLY bad songs too. Graceland - probably the best one to show your friends if you want to get them into Paul´s music. Just a thought - has anyone found it really hard to get their friends to like Paul Simon? I certainly have and I think it´s partly due to the fact that a lot of Paul´s songs are made for listening alone, in a quiet intimate sort of setting, so if I play say Hearts And Bones to a group of people, that doesn´t really work. |
| | |
Ian
Apr-15-2009, 03:21 GMT
USA - United Staates America
| Hi Nikki,I certainly have had trouble converting friends into Paul Simon fans. I did have one major success though,turning a devout Van Halen fan into a Paul Simon follower. But I´ve had more failures than successes. I have had an easier time of it with the ´Surprise´ album too. My 15 year Old nephew heard me playing it a few months back,and asked me what it was. He now has ´Another Galaxy´ and ´That´s Me´ mp3´s loaded onto his phone. I´m sorry Nikki,but I Love the ´Paul Simon´ album. When I was 16 though,it was my least favourite. Songs like ´Everything Put Together Falls Apart´ and ´Congratulations´ were too quiet and moody for me. In fact,I didn´t start to appreciate that album till my late 20´s approximately. Now it is my favourite. Maybe it´s being a guitarist that developed my appreciation for it,as it contains some of Paul´s best guitar playing. Give it a few more years though Nikki-it will start to appeal to you beyond the well known songs. I guarantee it:-) |
| | |
Jozsef
Apr-15-2009, 07:11 GMT
Romania
 | "Just a thought - has anyone found it really hard to get their friends to like Paul Simon? I certainly have and I think it´s partly due to the fact that a lot of Paul´s songs are made for listening alone..."
Ollala, this is a really painful topic for me :D When I was younger I just started to play one of hi albums - let´s say on a weekend - and (almost instantly, though more intensely from song to song) became ONE with the music and felt I AM like a resonating chamber transmitting the music towards my girlfriend and she could not resist to it, of course...
But then how many failures... :( :))) I have basically no one to share the spontaneous rejoice and fun of the PS music with. Well, there are people who appreciate his music, but actually no one feels it like a real experience, like something that gives you unique moments in your life, like something which can be almost equivalent with a sort of rebirth...
So yes, to be a PS connaisseur I think is a "genre" which belongs to the sphere of solitude in a way. |
| | |
Nikki
Apr-15-2009, 07:58 GMT
Australia
| That´s funny Ian about your nephew Surprise. We were having a discussion on the French forum a little while ago (which you probably read) and I found that I liked Surprise much more than the older members of the forum. I wonder whether it is a sound that resonates more with people my age. One of my friends quite liked Everything about it is a Love song - but doesn´t really like any other PS stuff I show her. Or maybe she was just being polite, lol :)
I´ll give Paul Simon another try. Also, is it hard to learn guitar? Can you teach yourself? I think I need a new hobby. |
| | |
|
Page:
[1]
|