Product Description

Though it was their second album, SOUNDS OF SILENCE was therecord that introduced Simon & Garfunkel to the world at large. When the original, acoustic version of the title tune (included on the debut album) was given a rock sheen here, courtesy of a hastily added electric backing track, folk-rock was invented, and Paul and Art were catapulted to superstardom. The songs here follow in that electrified direction for the most part, with the widescreen irony of "Blessed" buoyedby plangent guitar and drums, and the paranoid "Somewhere They Can't Find Me" pushed to neurotic extremes by an insistent rhythm section.
SOUNDS OF SILENCE marked the introduction proper of Simon as sensitive song poet: intellectual, well-read, politely iconoclastic, self-consciously poetic--theperfect '60s folk-pop idol. Fortunately, Simon's melodic and lyrical prowess and the duo's beautiful post-Everly Brothers harmonies were enough to counteract any intrinsic tendencies toward pretension. From the romantic melodrama of "Kathy's Song" to the anthem of alienation "I Am a Rock", SOUNDS OF SILENCE was the ultimate sonic portrait of the artist as ayoung man. Somewhere, a young Morrissey was taking notes.

Track Listing

1. Sound Of Silence
2. Leaves That Are Green
3. Blessed
4. Kathy's Song
5. Somewhere They Can't Find Me
6. Anji
7. Richard Cory
8. Most Peculiar Man
9. April Come She Will
10. We've Got A Groovy Thing Goin'
11. I Am A Rock
12. Blues Run The Game
13. Barbriallen
14. Rose Of Aberdeen
15. Roving Gambler

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3558 in Music
• Released on: 2001-08-20
• Number of discs: 1

Customer Reviews

lasts the test of time
Simon and Garfunkel's albums are still good, not least due to the brilliance of simon's songs. Sometimes though the poppy production and arrangements dilute the power of the song, 'Leaves that are green' being a classic example.

'April come she will', featured in 'The Graduate' is truly brilliant, but 'We've got a groovy thing' is just plain silly.

If you want to hear the best of these songs done in an altogether more convincing and emotive way, check out 'The Paul Simon songbook' for some fantistic solo versions, recorded before this album was made.

WINTERTIME CLASSIC.
Forget what the critics write, this is Simon & Garfunkel's finest hour, far superior to the over-rated 'Bridge over troubled water' (a 4-track wonder) - trust your ears.

The critics always make a big deal of the fact that:
a) the individual tracks were not conceived as part of an album,
b) the whole was hastily assembled (to cash in on the single success of the title track) at various American studios,
c) the duo themselves were not involved in the production process, and
d) the instrumental accompaniment is sometimes messy & unsympathetic.

To a) and b), I would respond, 'So what - it doesn't show'. To c), I would say, 'good job, too' (it could have proved disastrous). As for d), I disagree.

As with New Musik's 'From A to B', the fact that the songs were not written with an album in mind does not mean they do not sit together easily. On the contrary, I can think of no other album which has such consistency of imagery, for example, running throughout it. Consider the following extracts:
'I turned my collar to the cold & damp', 'the leaves that are green turn to brown', 'reflecting the glow of the winter moonlight', 'the autumn winds blow chilly & cold', 'gazing...on a freshly fallen, silent shroud of snow.' These images paint a picture of coldness, darkness, bleakness that perfectly matches the overwhelming mood of loneliness & isolation, but - & here's where Paul Simon's genius comes into play - with beautiful, original melodies that really stay with you.

This 'wintry' feel is almost certainly influenced by Simon's two trips to England in 1964/65 - 4 of the tracks were composed in this country (5, if you count 'Homeward Bound', 6, if you include 'Kathy's Song', which alludes to England).

To the reviewer who was puzzled by the omission of 'Homeward Bound' - this is probably because this track never appeared on the original US version of the album (it was on 'Parsley, Sage Rosemary & Thyme).

The bonus tracks are O.K., but, in some ways, diminish the impact of what, for me. is a WINTERTIME CLASSIC.

Brilliant but no 'Homeward Bound'!
One of the first LP's I bought as a schoolboy in the sixties and virtually unplayable after all this time. Great to have it on CD except for one major downer......it doesn't include Homeward Bound !!!!!! This CD has identical artwork to my original vinyl copy so it should have Homeward Bound. A glaring omission by some penny pinching record exec has flawed this masterpiece.

Carey, Pontypridd, May 05