Paul Simon - Greatest Hits: Shining Like A National Guitar [Import]

Paul Simon | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 8, 2000)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: WARNER BROS UK
• ASIN: B00004T0VL
• Also Available in: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #68,538 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Graceland

2. You Can Call Me Al

3. Mother and Child Reunion

4. The Cool, Cool River

5. 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover

6. The Obvious Child

7. The Boy in the Bubble

8. Rene and Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After the War

9. Late in the Evening

10. Bernadette

11. Slip Slidin' Away

12. Take Me to the Mardi Gras

13. Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes

14. Still Crazy After All These Years

15. Kodachrome

16. Loves Me Like a Rock

17. Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard

18. Hearts and Bones

19. Trailways Bus

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You'll be flowing on a Cool, Cool, River while playing this, August 17, 2000

By 

Brian O'Marra (Little Rock, AR USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Paul Simon - Greatest Hits: Shining Like A National Guitar (Audio CD)

"...The Mississippi delta was shining like a national guitar..." the opening words to the opening track on this single CD Paul Simon best-of is the first of many things this CD does right! This package is named after the lyric in Graceland.

When one looks at the package, one sees tremendous care that went into it. The CD booklet boasts liner notes, photos, session details, and lyrics to all the songs! The CD clocks in at over 77 minutes and all the songs are remastered. The songs have never sounded better!

One may quibble with what's not on here (Gone At Last, Duncan, Something So Right). But with one CD covering an entire solo career since the S&G breakup, depth is sacrificed for breadth! One cannot quibble though, with what IS on here!

Some songs are edited, though. Loves Me Like A Rock is the edit appearing on Negotiations and Love Songs, and 50 Ways is the single edit appearing on his box set, and the UK import Anthology.

Oh... and some reviewers may speculate with why another greatest hits is coming out now, with Paul's new album on the way...but doing a retrospective covering songs from 1972's Paul Simon upto 1997's Capeman is timely. 25 years is a nice round number.

This is the best single CD covering Paul's career. One hopes a similar package appears domestically.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I was pleasantly surprised!, February 4, 2001

By 

Carol Alaniz (near Detroit, Michigan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Paul Simon - Greatest Hits: Shining Like A National Guitar (Audio CD)

I have almost every album that Paul Simon has made, so I bought this one only because I was in the habit of adding to my collection. I wasn't expecting much--after all, I have all of these songs on other discs, some in triplicate. (Yes, I am a devoted fan). But, I was very pleasantly surprised with this collection. The sound is superb and the choice of songs is excellent. The songs span his career--the ones I especially like are 'Rene And Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After The War' and 'Bernadette'. 'Bernadette' is reminiscent of do-wop and also sounds like something from 'West Side Story'. Both songs are gems and it is sad that classic rock radio passed them by.

The book accompanying the CD is very nice, with glossy paper, photos of Paul not seen before, and liner notes which tell about each song. Song lyrics are also included, which is something that is not often done. Nice collection!

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent quality and mix., July 11, 2000

By 

Ted Hunter (Maine) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Paul Simon - Greatest Hits: Shining Like A National Guitar (Audio CD)

Although the last thing Paul Simon needed was yet another "greatest hits" compilation, this collection stands out. The remastering quality is extremely high which is a distinct pleasure. The sequencing f the tracks appears to have been given a lot of thought, and unlike so many other works, this collection can be listened to as a whole album. The Graceland songs definitely stand out in terms of style, but some of my favorite gems are from his earlier solo works which benefit greatly from the remastering.

I have nearly all of Paul Simon's efforts, so there were no suprises on this one. The complete lyrics are a nice plus to go along with the songs as well as the descriptions of his releases. For someone just getting aquainted with Paul Simon, or wanting a good measure of his work without buying a double or triple CD, this is a thumbs up effort.