My Amazon Reviews: Paul Simon "So Beautiful or So What"

Ain't No Song like and Old Song, Charlie
3 Out Of 5 Stars  

Paul Simon himself has expressed his belief that "So Beautiful or So What" is his best album in 20 years (although with "You're The One" and "Capeman" in that stretch, not exactly much to brag about). Elvis Costello hypes the work in the CD's liner notes. Critics in the major rags are comparing it to "Graceland." Me? Too much hype for what is, basically, an old songwriter taking the time to explore his relationship with God and a Guitar.

Granted, the songs on "So Beautiful" feel more lyrical than anything since "Graceland," but that doesn't make it a classic. Simon is again exploring the tricky interchange between rhythms and melody, which does merit the "Graceland" comparisons. Only on the song "Dazzling Blue" do all the separate parts fully integrate, more often than not, they merely grate. The novelty of working a sermon from 1941 into the opening song "Waiting for Christmas Day" wears out its welcome pretty fast. Frankly, there are way too many "God and his only son," heaven, afterlife and the glory of creation songs here for my tastes. If I really wanted a gospel album, I'd have gone searching for one. A fine line exists between the Spiritual and the Religious, and "So Beautiful" crosses it far too often.

Where Simon excels, as usual, are on the ballads. "Dazzling Blue" and "Questions for The Angels" are worth the cost of the CD, and the second half of "Love and Hard Times" is beautiful. Simon also shows his sense of humor/irony on "Rewrite," where a lost soul tries to redeem himself, and on "The Afterlife," where, no matter how good or noteworthy your life has been, you still have to do the paperwork. The title song, finally, may sum up why the album is garnering the hype it has. Simon has spent much of his career trying to string a tightwire between the glorious and the horrific, and at his best ("American Tune," "Bridge Over Troubled Water," "My Little Town") he has created songs worthy of the great American songbook. The song "So Beautiful or So What" aims for that pantheon, and comes pretty darn close to making the mark. That makes four really good songs surrounded by five others that reflect past glories.

As Paul Simon begins encroaching into an advanced age (he recently hit 69,) there's nothing wrong with writing good songs that recall the greatness of your past. Like the Elton John/Leon Russell album "The Union," there's nothing wrong with making albums that are thoughtful and strongly made. It's just not fair to be calling "So Beautiful or So What" an instant classic. It's certainly not a "So What," but it's also no "Still Crazy After All These Years."