Saturday, March 15, 2008

524. Paul Simon - Hearts and Bones (1983)
















Track Listing


1. Allergies
2. Hearts and Bones
3. When Numbers Get Serious
4. Think Too Much
5. Song About the Moon
6. Think Too Much
7. Train in the Distance
8. Rene and Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After the War
9. Cars Are Cars
10. Late Great Johnny Ace

Review

Sometimes the logic of this list escapes me, this is one of those cases. There are so many Paul Simon albums that might deserve to be included on this list but that weren't and then there is this one, which is, in my opinion definitely inferior to Still Crazy After All These Years, There Goes Rhymin' Simon or Rhythm Of The Saints, but is here. Oh well.

This is still a good album, just not a great one, some tracks here are definite highlights, such as the title track or Rene and Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After The War or even the Late Great Johnny Ace with its ending written by Phillip Glass. But then you have Cars Are Cars... and that is pretty much the lowlight of his career.

So this album sold very little making it kind of a hidden gem, but it isn't that much of a gem considering the amazing career of Paul Simon. Thankfully we will have Graceland eventually which is a much better example of what Paul Simon can do at the top of his game.

Track Highlights


1. Hearts and Bones
2. Rene and Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After The War
3. Late Great Johnny Ace
4. Train In The Distance

Final Grade

8/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

The title track is about Simon and his then-wife Carrie Fisher as they travel through New Mexico ("one and one-half wandering Jews"), and also about love in general. The album also contains one of the few songs about numbers (and love) — "When Numbers Get Serious", which evokes the beginnings of the Information Age. Also unusual is "Think Too Much", actually two different songs with the same title and chorus line, dealing generally with thinking (and love).

Hearts and Bones:

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