Giving it the first listen now.
So far, it sounds very promising.
Digging the first song with a big shovel.

As I go on through the album, it's still damn impressive, but subtle.
The songs don't clobber you over the head the first time through... the sound of it does, but the songs seem like they may be more of the grower variety.

I certainly don't hate it, but it is not the big, smack-me-upside-the-head "WOW!" of the Belle & Sebastian record. Or Graceland, for a more-related example.

It certainly does not suck, but I gotta let this one sink in a little more.
Maybe I'll change my tune about the "WOW!" factor.

And the record does make me want to listen again.
So that's a good sign.

Funny. That's how I describe Mouthus.

I would have really liked if Brian Eno had produced "You're The One" instead of this Paul Simon record. The heavy-handedness of the production and the slight awkwardness of the lyrics are not a great mixture for me. I like it well enough, it's just not grabbing me like "You're the One" did. That is a special album to me.

i'm thinking of buying this as a present for my wife (big simon&gar fan) just so i can rip a copy.

I love it. It's not the big, smack-me-upside-the-head "God, what is this awful shit!" of any Belle & Sebastian record.

It's like a sequel to Eno/Cale's Wrong Way Up, but even better. And not featuring John Cale.

i like it very much, lyrics aren't great tho

I will probably buy this.

Question...

Lyrics aren't great, or lyrics aren't great for Paul Simon? Either way that'd be a downer for me, but i'm interested in what people think.

I always get sucked into posting in these Pop Todd threads, and then I've got nothing new to add when he reposts the exact same thread 12 months down the road.

So this time I'm gonna be smart about it.

yawn.

not great by his standards, phil

So then still alot better than most lyricists, Katie?

sometimes it wins sometimes it loses...

And I'm tired, nine hundred sit-ups a day.
I'm painting my hair the colour of mud, mud, okay?
I'm tired, tired, anybody care what I say? No!
Painting my hair the colour of mud.

blech.

It's a record that I'm listening to and enjoying, Barry...

I was disappointed. Simon doesn't need to fall into the low-key crowd. This album has no energy, as far as Im concerned. It still good and fine and listenable, but its background music to me. Nothing grabs me the way Graceland did.

Second listen:
I am starting to believe that this will be one of those albums that I do't listen to that much, but when I do... I'll really dig it.

After 3 listens, I think it's pretty unremarkable, unfortunately.

Ok...I'll bite...what makes you say that? Wrong Way Up is top 20 all time for me. And are you trying to suggest no Cale is a good thing?

I can see how the paralell is drawn, beyond just the whole surface level of it being a collaboration. Sonically, there are similarities.

But I think the Eno/Cale album is better.

Everything about me, my history, my interests... have prepared me to love this.

1. Graceland and Rhythm of the Saints are both in my top 30 of all time. There are some songs on these that still leave me shaking, yearning, with a moistened eye (ain't there one damn song that can make be break down can cry...) 20 years later.

2. Eno is a personal hero. Very little he touches that I don't worship.

3. I grow old, I grow old, I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled. Which is to say, it ain't dark yet but it's getting there.

After two listens now... it kinda sucks.

No, no, not saying that not having Cale is a good thing. I'm just saying that it sounds like a sequel to Wrong Way Up but without John Cale. That is all. I think I was half-asleep when I wrote that. No dismissal of Cale was meant to be implied.

I guess I should state that regardless of the name on the spine, song-writing credits, or production credits, this, to me, is an Eno album that just happens to have Paul Simon as the lead singer. I highly doubt Simon would have come up with this album's sound and feel without Eno on board. Nothing against PS, but, truth be told, I would have been a lot less likely to pick this up had there been no Eno-factor.

I'm not a worshipper of Robert Fripp's philosophies in general, but the one thing he has quoted (whether it's his or not, I am not sure) that has stuck with me and helps me keep an open mind is this: "Expectation is a prison." I had no expectations for this album, or actually, I expected that it might very well be a complete disaster. When I finally heard the samples on Simon's site, I was very pleasantly surprised. When I heard the whole thing, I was ecstatic - it was so much more than I'd hoped for. I just think most people look at the two names and immediately imagine some mind-dissolving combination that cannot possibly be lived up to. What I hear is a really fun, interesting album that I foresee coming back to over and over - which is a lot more than I can say for most other releases this year, indie or otherwise.

Can someone please hook up a SendSpace?

After 3 or 4 listens over the last 4 months, I am still bouncing off this one. Want to like it, but can't find a crack in the "blah" armor yet. Nothing to get into. I'll keep trying.