The Rhythm of the Saints - Dark Publications

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Editorial Reviews:

Album Description
Limited Edition European pressing of this album comes house in a miniature LP sleeve. WEA. 2006.

Album Details
2006 Digitally Remastered Reissue of the Classic Paul Simon Album in a Limited Edition LP Sleeve Replica of the Original Vinyl Album Cover.

Customer Reviews: Read 26 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

As graceful as Graceland January 9, 2005
27 out of 28 found this review helpful

Paul Simon followed up the classic Graceland, his fusion of African and Western pop music with this stunning album of great songs with a South American and more particularly Brazilian flavour. This reissue includes four previously unreleased tracks.

The Obvious Child is my favorite, a powerful melodic song with great drums and guitars and a wistful, nostalgic feel. Another favorite is The Coast, a story about a family of musicians taking shelter in a church; this song really impresses with its flowing melody, polyrhythmic drum patterns and moving lyrics.

Proof is another charming pop song, particularly noted for its evocative backing vocals and gentle, lilting rhythm whilst Further To Fly and She Moves On are more subdued, melancholy numbers with bubbling and insistent rhythmic patterns.

The mood lifts with the uptempo and buoyant Born At The Right Time, once again a lyrical and musical masterpiece and filled with catchy hooks. The guitar and atmospheric backing voices of Spirit Voices are beyond compare whilst the title track is a meandering piece with innovative instrumental flourishes.

What makes these songs particularly moving is that Simon tells the stories of ordinary people and that his perceptive, poetic lyrics are carried so well on the exotic instrumentation. Of course, the beautiful tunes have a lot to do with that. Rhythm Of The Saints may not be as immediately appealing as Graceland and may not offer quite as many classics, but it remains a major achievement, a brilliant marriage of Brazilian and Western popular musical styles.

5 out of 5 stars

Better Than Graceland July 6, 2005
10 out of 12 found this review helpful

This is one of the rare CD's that get better every time you hear it. There's no catchy hooks like the ones in Graceland, but it's suffused with the same spirit. Simon has always been the master of couching dark lyrics in emotions in upbeat tunes (think Sound of Silence). Listening to Cool, Cool River, Can't Run But and The Obvious Child makes you realize that he's still that dark spirit yearning upward for spiritual redemption. Not all the tunes are as much fun as the title song or Born At the Right Time, but they all hold out hope for a lost generation.

5 out of 5 stars

I know this is a silly way of ranking albums, but... June 15, 2006
10 out of 11 found this review helpful

I really think it's Simon's best. This, and perhaps (in a very different style) "Paul Simon." I'm just listening to it again after several years...the melodies are intricate, the words are vivid and allusive, the range is astounding. Graceland has a wonderful rock-style going on, but I really think this is my favorite. I know a lot of non-Simon fans who love this one album. It's just fantastic.

4 out of 5 stars

Paul Simon's music, track arrangement, and vocals are fantastic, BUT... April 29, 2006
4 out of 12 found this review helpful

... the packaging is what earns this a 4-star review. Paul Simon's music in "The Rhythm of the Saints" is top-notch, as are the vocals and track assembly.

"The Rhythm of the Saints" is a CD full of wonder and delight - it is an arrangement of music that is certain to leave a smile on a person's face. And yet, my purchase of this CD - at a price much higher than I'd usually pay for a CD by other artists - leaves me feeling cheated. Read on for the full story.

I would caution buyers to a fact that I did not have access to when purchasing this album - buying music CDs has changed even from the late 1990s. Gone are the days of jewel cases and fold-out lyric sheets with artist bios and such; "The Rhythm of the Saints" as well as "Graceland" comes in a cardboard sleeve. While honestly being unable to say if there exists a fold-out lyric sheet *inside* the cardboard (as I've not yet worked up the nerve to open the fragile-looking case), there really seems to be a definitive trend towards this kind of packaging in recent years.

The 4-star review has NOTHING to do with either Amazon or Paul Simon, but rather (likely) the record label distributing the media. As mentioned above, the trend here seems clear and this trend serves to stymie new music purchases - just as my parents have Lps from the 60s, I too would like to keep my purchased music CDs indefinitely. I view the packaging transition and global reduction in "add-ons" within the retail package as running contrary to this end. The one way to assure the inclusion of the material seems to be through buying well-looked-after used CDs, and there has been a rather aggressive movement in the United States to halt the sale of used audio and video media.

In summary - "caveat emptor"... because buying a compact disc these days for $12 doesn't get you nearly as far as buying a $10 CD did in the late 1990s.

5 out of 5 stars

This is a great album November 10, 2004
3 out of 4 found this review helpful

I bought a tape of this when it first came out, and before CD's were all the rage. Several years ago my tape broke, and somehow I never got around to replacing it. That said, I loved this release, and would rank it as one of Simon's best solo albums. The magic he encounters when he immerses himself in this music is outstanding and I'm surprised on one has reviewed this cd.

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