Paul Simon (4 stars)
The Studio Recordings 1972-2000
By compressing years of successes and failures into a single stack of CDs, catalog reissues summarize the drama in an artist's career in a way that might not have been so apparent to listeners when the music was first released.
Rarely has such drama been so evident as in the new nine-CD collection of Paul Simon's solo work from Warner Bros. This huge collection, featuring 30 bonus tracks, plays like a feature film; albeit one in which most of the good stuff comes in the middle. But Simon's melodic songwriting and thrifty guitar work make it easy to follow along, even when the bonus tracks are mostly dispensable.
Longtime fans will recall the sun shining after Simon's first stormy divorce from Art Garfunkel in 1970. His 1972 release, Paul Simon, occasionally sounded like overflow from the S&G days, but it generated several attention-getting singles.
There Goes Rhymin' Simon and Still Crazy After All These Years both did well, spinning off more Grammys and singles. These early releases will satisfy part of any hunger for the old days, since Simon covers his own "American Tune" on Rhymin' and even joins up briefly with Garfunkel on "My Little Town" from Still Crazy.
But Simon's storm clouds rolled back in. One Trick Pony went nowhere in 1980. Hearts and Bones didn't even get that far in '83. The sun returned in '86, when Simon championed South African music with Graceland, marking the first time his music had a real beat. It became his biggest success, introducing him to a new generation of listeners. His acclaimed next album, Rhythm of the Saints, gave Brazilian music the same top-of-mind awareness.
But, the skies soon got dark again with Songs from the Capeman, the soundtrack of his Broadway musical bomb. His latest, You're the One, earned modest acclaim and commercial success.
On this musical note, we're all caught up, left only to wonder, as Simon continues the encore of his fragile recent reunion with Garfunkel, what the weather will be like tomorrow.
Beastie Boys (3.5 stars)
To The 5 Boroughs
After a six-year hiatus, the Beastie Boys return with a disc that sounds exactly like the Beastie Boys: old-school hip-hop, lyrics that form a pop-culture cornucopia all presented with a political edge. Still, if the Beasties haven't changed much, the world has, and this Brooklyn trio set out to make a post-9/11 album, the World Trade Center towers conspicuously standing on the cover. Less sprawling and ambitious than Hello Nasty, To the 5 Boroughs is very much a message album, offering a focused blast of the Beastie Boys' characteristic rage and wit.
On "It Takes Time to Build" the lyrics form more of a political speech than a rap, though always with the band's biting humor: "By the time Bush is done, what will be left? / Selling e-pills at the discotheque / Environmental destruction and the national debt / But plenty of dollars left in the fat war chest." In "An Open Letter to New York," the Beastie Boys present, with a straight face, the most sentimental song of their career, rapping: "Dear New York, I know a lot has changed / 2 towers down, but you're still the same." If there is any irony here, it is that these words are delivered over a sample from the Dead Boys' misanthropic punk classic "Sonic Reducer."
The secret weapon throughout is Mix Master Mike's increasingly awesome skill, as he manages to keep even the most preachy lyrics as something worth hearing on the dance floor as opposed to belonging in a lecture hall.
Richard Abowitz