Rhythm method (The Rhythm Of The Saints - Paul Simon)

Member Name: cswann

Product:	The Rhythm Of The Saints - Paul Simon
Date:	19/09/00 (41 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Nice gentle 'mood' music

Disadvantages: Can blend into the background at times

After "Graceland", Paul Simon turned to Brazilian rhythms for inspiration, and they are strongly featured on "The Rhythm of the Saints".
There is still an African feel to much of it, leftover from "Graceland", (Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Hugh Masekela feature on a couple of tracks) and it feels like a progression, in terms of muiscal style.
My favourite song is "The obvious child" - it sounded truly innovative to me when it came out, in a similar way that Talking Heads' songs like "And she was" did, and I still love it. Another is "Born at the right time", with its beautiful tune and gentle rhythm. And then there's the bit in "The Cool cool river" when the brass instruments make their appearance - fantastic.
Elsewhere, the album can tend to fade into the background for me, as subdued MOR-type music - "Further to fly" for example sounds like a George Benson track. It's all high quality stuff, though.
So, for me, ideal for playing when friends are round, or as background to a romantic meal, rather than something I'll sit and listen avidly to.

Summary: