The Official Needles and Grooves 1001 Album Generator Project (aka Preachin’ about the Preachers if today’s selection sucks)

[Yer Ol' Uncle D]

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If Misfits era Glenn Danzig were a dog.

 

[Nee Lewman]

4/20/23

Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water



Allmusic Review:

Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon & Garfunkel... | AllMusic

Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon & Garfunkel released in 1970. Find album reviews, track lists, credits, awards and more at AllMusic.

www.allmusic.com

RIYL playlist:

 

[Nee Lewman]

Simon & Garfunkel are part of my musical DNA. My Grandfather and Mother talk about seeing them in Cameron Stadium when my Grandfather was a Duke Divinity student. Half of my full studio album discography on vinyl once belonged to my mother, including this album. While Cecilia, The Boxer, and Baby Driver were favorite songs, I did not hold this album in very high esteem until I listened to the 2020 season of The Opus on the album. I spent quite a bit of time with the album when I listened to that season in 2021. I came to love it during that period and it is probably my favorite album by them now. Part of it was probably a reaction to overhearing the title song (especially covers, Jesus, like Hallelujah, I could go the rest of my life without hearing a new version and they should set the songwriting royalties at such an exorbitant rate as to discourage people from singing it). But as I came to really understand the album and its place in time, I even over came that hurdle to love that song once again as I had as a youth. The album is like a minibiography of the band taking you from their humble beginnings with Bye Bye Love to foretelling Simon's solo stardom with The Only Living Boy in New York. It is nigh perfect by one of the greatest of singer songwriting teams. It's a beautiful swan song and probably should have been left as their last testament as opposed to numerous attempts to rekindle the flame rather through artistic desire, nostalgia, or money. 5 stars.

 

[Nee Lewman]

If you are interested in the Opus, which I like quite a lot:

 

[Nee Lewman]

Can we talk for just a moment about how great Art Garfunkel's voice is? I mean it's well documented, I guess, but it seems like Simon's songwriting is the star of the show here (and rightfully so) but Garfunkel has just a crushingly beautiful timbre. And when they harmonize, chills to this fucking day, especially when the music swells as Paul comes in on the title track. PERFECT. Beethoven and Mozart would weep.

 

[Nee Lewman]

There is also a discussion to be had about how tension can create beautiful art as the partnership dissolved while making this album.

 

[Joe Mac]

So Bridge Over Troubled Water. Hmmmm.

So I love a lot of Simon & Garfunkel. I love a lot of Paul Simon’s solo stuff more.

Thing one has always been a sore thumb for me. I don’t get its ubiquity. They did better and Paul Simon went on to do much better.

Listened to it today in the car just to make sure and reaffirm and yeah definitely still think it.

Don’t like the first 3 songs. Especially Cecilia which is like a borehole being driven in my head.

But then The Boxer is magnificent. And the The Only Living Boy In New York is legitimately one of the best things I’ve ever heard.

Scoring this one is going to be hard.

 

[jt4527]

Garfunkel with his Simon shaped moustache!

 

[Hemotep]

4/20/23

Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water



Allmusic Review:

Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon & Garfunkel... | AllMusic

Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon & Garfunkel released in 1970. Find album reviews, track lists, credits, awards and more at AllMusic.

www.allmusic.com

RIYL playlist:

Like @Lee Newman, Simon and Garfunkel are at the core of my music education growing up. Next to the Beatles, this was my dad's favorite band and he spun these records all the time. Unlike @Joe Mac, I don't enjoy Simon's solo stuff quite as much, not that I don't like it, I do, and I get why he found more commercial success on his own in that historic and cultural moment when they split. He has an incredible song writing ability and makes great music, but Garfunkel added a layer to what Simon did that makes the music envelop and transport me. Garfunkel solo is not great, but it was the magic they created together that elevates their music above so many of their contemporaries for me. That draw has kept them in continuous rotation my whole life. The first three CDs I bought included their Live at Central Park, which I've easily listened to well over a hundred times.

This is an easy 5/5 for me, but it's probably 4th if I was to rank their studio albums.

 

[Nee Lewman]

@Joe Mac dislikes ear worms.

 

[Nee Lewman]

I however have been known to walk around for days screaming “Cecilia I’m down on my knees, I’m begging you please to come home.come on home DA DA DA DA DAA DA DA DA DA DAAA-AAA” clapping my hands like a maniac.

 

[CrazyDiamond84]

This is a top 10 or 15 all-timer for me, so an easy 5/5.

 

[CrazyDiamond84]

Great soundtrack for morning coffee now that I'm not on dumb 3rd shift anymore.

 

[Poly-Rythmo]

I however have been known to walk around for days screaming “Cecilia I’m down on my knees, I’m begging you please to come home.come on home DA DA DA DA DAA DA DA DA DA DAAA-AAA” clapping my hands like a maniac.

I'm not sure what I thought of this song before I met my better half (who shares her name with it) but it's a hard listen for me today...

 

[Nee Lewman]

I'm not sure what I thought of this song before I met my better half (who shares her name with it) but it's a hard listen for me today...

Yeah…. That might present a problem. I was in my late twenties when my young daughter was singing along to it one day when I realized what the hell the song was all about. I was like what is wrong with my parents?

 

[Whiteout75]

This is obviously a classic, and while I've never had that great thoughts about the title track (it is pretty pompuos and trite), and Cecilia and The Boxer are a bit overplayed, this is a fantastic album all in all. Score: 4 stars.

 

[Joe Mac]

@Joe Mac dislikes ear worms.

Hey! Don’t you go throwing broad generalisations in my directions Mr!

I don’t think it helps that the first time I heard it was a god awful cover by Suggs from Madness.

 

[jt4527]

4/20/23

Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water



Allmusic Review:

Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon & Garfunkel... | AllMusic

Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon & Garfunkel released in 1970. Find album reviews, track lists, credits, awards and more at AllMusic.

www.allmusic.com

RIYL playlist:

Another artist(s) going forward in time to steal a song to go back and record it first!

Who does it best (Suggs!!)

I feel like I should be in some kind of medieval court dancing round a pole waving a hankie or some shit.

Lie la lie, lie la lie la lie la lie
Lie la lie, lie la lie la lie la lie, la la lie la lie

Did this song inspire the film, 'Baby Driver'?

It is a toe-tapper though!

Thematically, this record feels all over the place.

Yeah, it's alright, but massively overrated, I feel.

3 / 5 stars.

 

[TenderLovingKiller®]

Garfunkel with his Simon shaped moustache!

LOL!

I can’t unsee this but also, I think the funkmeister coulda pulled off a shaggy David Crosby-esque ‘stashe back in the day.

 

[imtheocean]

Behind CSNY, lots of Simon & Garfunkel got played in young ImTheOceans house and the 70's socal hippie church we attended. That being said, I find most of their albums have great singles and some overpretentious filler. While the same can be said here, even the weaker tracks have great moments.

The horn section on Keep The Customer Satisfied, Garfunkels vocals on the title track, The Boxer all make this 5/5.