Customer Reviews

Paul Simon - Greatest Hits: Shining Like A National Guitar

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"...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.

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!

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.

This collection cerainly represents his greatest hits among the retail business, and it is a great CD if that is what you're looking for. But I find that with most artists, their songs that were not huge hits are often the best ones. So if you are truly interested in Paul Simon, I recommend trying a few of his other CD's. Definately his newer stuff, Graceland, etc., and a couple of his first albums would certainly wet your appetite.

But if you are only partially fascinated with Paul Simon's work since Simon and Garfunkel, I can recommend this CD whole-heartedly. It is a great album, and I enjoy it.

Well, I have a lot of Paul Simon CDs and so I am able to compare the quality. This new collection has a very good remastering quality. In my ears, I appreciate the somewhat different sound of the "Graceland"-album titles. Nevertheless, the 1993 3CD-collection still is my personal favourite. There is no new material on the "Shining"-collection, so it is no must-have.

Although this album has been superseded by 'The Essential' collection released in 2008, 'Shining Like A National Guitar' is still a fantastic selection of Paul Simon tracks in one place. You get a variety of tracks from his solo albums and although his 'Graceland' songs stand out and have particular resonance for me, the other tracks selected here are just as great. From the primal drumming of 'Obvious Child' to 'Still Crazy After All These Tears' and the jubilant 'Me and Julio Down By The Schoolyard', this CD has some outstanding tracks to introduce you to Paul Simons song writing abilities and style. The booklet is excellent, with a short essay and the song lyrics and all in all this makes for one top package and a good place to go if you'd like to know more of Paul Simons music.

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Love this CD - his humor, love of life, gentleness come through as ever. Thanks, Paul.

Beautiful collection... and one of the most beautiful portraits of Paul Simon I've seen. Does anyone know where I can get a poster of this album cover???

Paul Simon is one of the most amazing and talented songwriters ever! I love this CD, it is really, really unique, and a joy to listen to! The best songs (in my personel opinion) are "Kodachrome" (so catchy I could listen to it for hours!) "Me & Julio Down By The Schoolyard" (great guitar! Can't get enough) "Still Crazy After All These Years" and, or course, the mega-successful "Graceland". But all the songs are good, except for "You Can Call Me Al" . . . I know it's a classic but I don't really like it. Besides that, I adore this CD. But it, I promise you it will have a permanent home in your CD player!

When you listen to this album, you'll soon realize Paul Simon loves drums and big band sound. I have no clue what his lyrics are saying, but they're great poetry. 4 selecions on this disc from the Monster hit 'Graceland' plus many more we've learned to tap our feet to. My personal favourites if I had to pick a couple are 'You Can Call Me Al' and 'Kodachrome', however the whole disc is well worth having. A major work and very very good quality.