MoeFOH's Album of the Week... Week #3

[MoeFOH]

MoeFOH's Album of the Week 🎶

Same as the movie thread, each week we're going to spotlight an album... be it a classic, new release, hidden gem, or outright turd... and open it for discussion: i.e. post up your favourite tracks, clips, lyrics, experiences if you saw live, etc... or dive deeper and give us a critique on why you think it's great, overrated, or a complete train wreck... And finally score it for us...  

All contributors go into a monthly prize draw for a 3-cigar sampler! 

PM me with suggestions if there's an album you want to nominate for next week's discussion. 

 

Week #3: Graceland

The 1986 7th solo album of Paul Simon's and one that both revived a somewhat flagging solo career and is generally regarded as a modern classic. The album was a landmark piece due mostly to its innovative melding of traditional pop with African genres such as isicathamiya and mbaqanga. But simply it was a collection of great songs. SImon said something to effect of he never wrote a better song than the title track Graceland, and among many other highlights the release of the film clip for You Can Call Me Al with Chevy Chase was a memorable standout for fans worldwide. 

Agree / Disagree?

Thoughts, memories, live experiences, favourite tracks...? 

Post em up!

Score it out of 10!

[MoeFOH]

 

[riderpride]

This album was HUGE. I remember listening cover-to-cover on family roadtrips. My favorite was ''Boy in the Bubble", but Diamonds, Al, and Graceland were all fantastic tunes. Paul really nailed it with both deep and meaningful lyrics mixed with some lightheartedness and the unique sound on this album. 

An easy 9/10 for me.

Cheers!

[Chibearsv]

The few songs I heard from this album had a cool vibe but the video with Chevy Chase was pretty bad

[MoeFOH]

14 minutes ago, Chibearsv said:

but the video with Chevy Chase was pretty bad

Oh man, I loved that clip! 

[riderpride]

19 minutes ago, Chibearsv said:

The few songs I heard from this album had a cool vibe but the video with Chevy Chase was pretty bad

Fair enough,  but I think it's priceless! I love the lighthearted feel, especially so considering the inspiration for the song. I chuckle at Betty and Al every time.

Cheers

[RedLantern]

Despite it's critical acclaim it's not an album that I listen to straight through. Diamonds on on the soles of her shoes is such a transcendent track though - it has such a calming and happy vibe. I feel like it's a song that should be part of the loop at every DMV and the dentist and things like that. I guess I'd give it a personal score of 7/10. 

[Chibearsv]

15 hours ago, MoeFOH said:

Oh man, I loved that clip! 

Ok, you can have Chevy Chase....Tawny made her appearance that year too.  Tough competition but I think she wins 😁

 

[Ford2112]

I much prefer 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover. That Steve Gadd intro is 🤟🤟

[bassistheplace]

Simon was one of the first mega songwriter/star to use "world music" as a foundation for this collection of songs. he also used a zydeco band from Louisiana. Pretty amazing risk as an artist and of course incredible vision to assemble so many different players, ideas ans sounds. I'm not a huge Simon fan, but this album is a testament to his musical genius