Product Description

   Nothing he has released since has matched the sales heights of Bridge Over Troubled Water, but the quality of Paul Simon's solo work is undeniable--indeed it could be argued that the songwriter's work post-Simon & Garfunkel has been even more rewarding aesthetically. Shining Like A National Guitar--the fourth compilation to be drawn from Simon's eight solo albums--offers another welcome opportunity to appreciate this extraordinary career arc: tracing Simon's fascinating musical odyssey from Jamaica's "Mother & Child Reunion" and South Africa's "Boy In The Bubble", to Latin America's "The Obvious Child". Along the way, marvel at the articulate precision of Simon's music--"Graceland", "Hearts & Bones", "Still Crazy After All These Years", right up to the recent undervalued album of Capeman. He may not have been particularly prolific, but it's possible to be dazzled afresh by the sheer brilliance of Paul Simon's music. --Patrick Humphries

 Greatest Hits : Shining Like A National Guitar (Audio CD) The various Paul Simon-compilations that have been released over the years have been an unsatisfying bunch, leaving out some of his best and most succesful songs in favor of his own personal favorites, so none of those collections can be recommended unreservedly.

But "Greatest Hits: Shining Like A National Guitar" remedies that, and it is by far the best such collection ever released, selecting 19 songs from Paul Simon's studio recordings between 1972 and 1997, including all of his ten British chart singles.

Not quite as comprehensive as the double-disc "Paul Simon Anthology", "Shining Like A National Guitar" nevertheless gathers almost all of Simon's very best songs, including "Still Crazy After All These Years", "Graceland", "The Obvious Child", "Mother And Child Reunion", "Slip Slidin' Away", "50 Ways To Leave Your Lover", "Take Me To The Mardi Gras", "Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard", and of course "You Can Call Me Al".

If you're looking for a place to start, this is it. And if you're looking for just one Paul Simon-collection, this might very well be it as well, especially if you already have the key Simon & Garfunkel-songs (which can be found on "The Paul Simon Anthology").
4½ stars - highly recommended.