Artist: Paul Simon
Produced by: Phil Ramone
Label: Universal
Price: Rs. 395
Legendary singer and songwriter Paul Simon who ranked among â€?100 People Who Shaped the World’ by Time Magazine has released his 12th studio album â€?So Beautiful So What’. The album is the best work of Paul Simons done in the past twenty years and is produced by Phil Ramone. One can say it’s a come back of a legend.
So Beautiful So What runs on a spiritual and philosophical note and has clever and creative description of the world with Paul’s sophisticated song writing. The sound of album is truly exotic and is inspired by different music across the world. The various sound song creates an interesting frame work in the listeners mind.
Comprising of 10 tracks the album starts with a classic holiday song Getting Ready for Christmas, which has a nice bouncy and merry folk tune with a simple rhythm. The song samples Paul’s trademark writing which reflects the ups and downs in the life, the philosophical message is clearly depicted through the lyrics.
Following the classic holiday song, is â€?The Afterlife’ where Paul has smartly described the afterlife of a man and conveys a serious message. The song is written in a story form where Paul imagines his first day in heaven, waiting in line to enter heaven and talks about the people who try to repent their mistakes. The Afterlife song has a funky beats with African pop-flavored music and includes the most intricate guitar work by him.
Dazzling Blue the third track of the album again sees Paul’s complicated guitar work and also grasps around the Indian and African-influenced percussion along with the country folk melodies. The song again gives out another important message of life and destiny. Dazzling Blue is Paul’s first venture and experimentation in Indian music.
The fourth track â€?Rewrite’ is also one of my favorites. The song gives the story about a Vietnam vet who works at a car wash and is reminiscing on a screenplay which actually depicts one of his haunted memories. The smooth notes on acoustic guitar aptly compliments the classic Paul’s writing. The song is beautiful written as the listener can easily relate to the poor Vietnam and doesn’t have to try figuring out the meaning of the lyrics, the simplicity of Rewrite makes it as the standout song of the album.
After all the life messages, the fifth song, â€?Love and Hard Times’ is the centerpiece of the album showcasing a smooth and graceful harmony. The song is a quite intensive love ballad describing God’s love.
The album showcases a beautiful blend of music with its sixth track â€?Love Is Eternal Sacred Light’ which is a rhythmic, joyous and up-tempo number. Paul’s experimentation with the music and song structure is clearly seen throughout the track.
The seventh song of the album, â€?Amulet’ is a treat to the guitar lovers as the track consist of minute and half striking guitar tunes.
Following the same note of graceful harmony are the next subsequent emotion packed tracks Questions for the Angels… and Love and Blessings… which deals with spirituality and has great mixture of guitar riff. Paul is more relaxed with the song as compare to Getting Ready for Christmas.
The concluding track of the album is the title track ‘So Beautiful So what’ which has pounding energy that resonates in its emotions and is a bit too devoted to the whole theme of the album.
Summing up, So Beautiful So What is definitely one of the best works of Paul Simon, even though the songs has classic touch of his style none of the song give the feeling of D?©j? vu. Through the album he has experimented with various genres and style of music.
