Paul Simon

Rhythm Of The Saints

Not the tour de force of GRACELAND, but still a triumph

Review Score:

(10/10)
With 1986's GRACELAND, Paul Simon succeeded not only in introducing the relatively unknown music of South Africa to the American public, but also in jump-starting his then-stagnant music career. Invigorated by the success of his South African experiment, Paul decided to turn to another outside nation for some inspiration for the follow-up. Thanks to Paul's legendarily slow work ethic, it would be 4 years before he would unveil the Brazilian-inspired RHYTHM OF THE SAINTS. One might be thinking, "Oh, another new country, another new GRACELAND". But while SAINTS may be a retread on the surface, the things that make it different are very subtle, just like Paul himself. GRACELAND was mostly about world affairs, while SAINTS is more about personal relationships, especially with Paul now a bachelor again after his divorce from Carrie Fisher. Songs like "Further To Fly" and "She Moves On" all detail the emotions one feels as they leave behind a failed relationship, and they're songs just about any listener can identify with. Others like the percussive opener "The Obvious Child", "Can't Run But" and "Born At The Right Time" have the now-in-his-late-40s Paul reflecting on middle age, but with more than enough humor to make them above the usual "Where am I going in my life?" kind of songs. Those are the most obvious highlights, but the remaining songs are no slouches either. "Proof" is another upbeat ditty sure to make even the most left-footed listeners get up and move; "The Coast" is a very literate tune about a musician not unlike Paul himself travelling the world; the closing trilogy of "The Cool, Cool River", "Spirit Voices" and the title track are the most overt experiments into Brazilian rhythms. They are indeed all over the album, but it's on those last three songs where they provide the main focal point of the song both in lyrics and music. GRACELAND was a huge triumph all around for Paul Simon, commercially, personally, and artistically. For any other musician, one would want to keep this good trend as much as possible, but this is Paul Simon we're talking about here. Well-noted for taking several years to get an album finished, it would take Paul an unconscionably long decade before he came back with a tried-and-true follow-up to RHYTHM OF THE SAINTS. The cast album for his ill-fated Broadway musical THE CAPEMAN would be the only thing we heard from him during the 1990s, which was by far the quietest period creatively in Paul's career. But seeing as how that wasn't an official album, YOU'RE THE ONE wouldn't appear until the new millenium. Also, a lot like HEARTS & BONES failed back in 1983 for arriving 8 years after its predecessor, people have considered YOU'RE THE ONE a huge disappointment, which may be understood because 10 years away would be ample time to come up with some really great music. However, it looks like Paul Simon isn't quite ready for retirement yet, even as he enters his 60s. So who knows, maybe another daring experiment like RHYTHM OF THE SAINTS or GRACELAND may be in the future. Until then, we'll have both of those fantastic records to enjoy, some of the most successful combinations of American pop and world music ever made.

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