Bookends

As great a song as Mrs Robinson is, and as much as I love Bridge Over Troubled Waters, I was surprised by how much I did not enjoy this album. WTH is At the Zoo? America and Hazy Shade of Winter are good, otherwise a big no thank you to this. I mean I get it, I see what Paul was trying to do, I'm willing to stipulate that he accomplishes it, sure there's quality lyrics, harmonies, music, but still. Just not for me, at least not at this moment.

yawn

Noooooo... Paul Simon 2 days in a row?? WTF? But to be fair this album is way better than his solo shit from the 80s. Still a lot of folky 60s garbage I could really do without but the mega-hit, Mrs. Robinson, was welcome and there were a couple other tracks I enjoyed.

I expected to not love this album for being tweet and pretentious, not overthought and bombastic. Mrs. Robinson still slaps, but I continue my life’s work of not particularly loving S & G.

One great song does not equate a great album.

A couple absolute gems on this one, but overall, not a great record.

Two Simon and Garfunkel in a row. That's two more than I probably want to listen to. So, let's see how this goes... This record came out in 1968. Strange to think what happened to S&G in about five years. They went from being on the cutting edge of the youth counterculture movement. To being left in the dust while their proteges didn't bother looking back. In a bid for relevancy, there are certainly production tricks here. That's interesting guess. But it's still a couple of the least interesting icons I can imagine.

Classic songs are good

Fy bövelen vad dåligt det var. Av alla låtarna var det kanske en eller två låtar som var lyssningsbara. Annars var det bara experimentellt tönteri. Håll er till folk, losers!!

This starts off much more psychedelic than I expected. Some interesting effects with the synths, edits into other tracks and ‘field recordings’. It feels like there a concept in there, but I am not sure what it is. None of the tunes (beyond Mrs Robinson) really grabbed me. It does pick up a little after that and Winter is a bit more lively, but the album is generally bit bland for me.

I wasn't expecting this. It's almost a Dylan goes electric moment. A BONKERS start as Save the Life of My Child crackles in. It then goes back to more folk sensibilities. They have the melodies, for sure. America is a bit of an anthem. The spoken word segments don't quite work for me. I want music, not randoms recorded on the street. Nice strings on Old Friends. Mrs Robinson is annoyingly over familiar.

Rauhallista ja hienoja melodioita, mut sellanen tietynlainen iskukyky puuttu, että osuis sieluun

Everyone and their parents love Simon & Garfunkel. It didn't bridge the generation gap in my case though. I've always been left trying to work out the fervent levels of reverence. 'Save The Life of My Child' not being what I expected makes it really jarring and odd, more what you'd expect from some weird late 60s prog band. Similarly 'Voices of Old People' - which is exactly that, tape recordings of old people talking for two minutes - is just bizarre. Elsewhere its sounds like expected, acoustic and folky with some nice orchestration. The 'Mrs Robinson' and 'A Hazy Shade of Winter' singles are the most immediate of the 12 songs

Meh

I surprisingly was not into this album at all.. I find it pretty boring, and aside from the singles, the songs just weren't that good..

Meh.

Not great

Mostly utter shite.

Not good

Now and then, I listen to an album that I used to be familiar with and I get surprised. Bookends is one of those surprises and a lot of them are unpleasant. Punky's Dilemma is a cutesy trifle--it made me gag a little. At The Zoo's heavy handed whimsy is only slightly redeemed by the sprightly 50s rock 'n roll rhythms of the chorus. A Hazy Shade of Winter is the kind of clumsy on-the-nose folk rock that might have been on Wednesday Morning, 3 AM. Overs offers a preview of Paul Simon's ambitions and pretensions, which would reek by the time he started his solo career. Perhaps the worst offender is Save The Life Of My Child, which is simultaneously melodramatic and flippant, a nauseating combination. I had never thought of Paul Simon as much of an innovator, but he does two very interesting things on this track. He uses bold psychedelic production touches, especially in the background vocals, which are bizarre in the context of a folk rock tune. It doesn't really work all that well, but kudos for the effort. Even more amazing is Simon's use of a synthesizer in 1968! Too bad it's so ugly. Much better is the sustained synthesizer tone which introduces Fakin' It. Fortunately, some of the tunes are as good as I remembered. The aforementioned Fakin' It is a cleverly composed, hooky, folk rock tune. It has an unexpected and fun horn arrangement and the fade out, which combines synthesizer and percussion, is pretty neat. Mrs. Robinson is another solid folk pop tune, with grace notes of blues and rock 'n roll. Old Friends is a low key folk tune and earns its sentiment, with a gorgeous arrangement by Jimmy Haskell and subtle production touches that gently goose the winsome mood. But best of all is America. Paul Simon plays to his strengths lyrically with his sharply observed portrait of two young people on the road. And instead of being a smart ass, he goes for honesty and vulnerability. Musically, it's a winner, too. The melody is lovely and the song structure mirrors the episodic nature of the lyrics in clever ways. Yes, of all bands, did a wonderful cover of this tune. So, how to rate? I really want to give Bookends the benefit of a doubt and score it as a 3 because it has some legitimately classic tunes, but the stinkers are pretty awful. Sigh.

Simon and Garfunkel? Sorta terrible?

the famous Mrs Robinson Song is on the album. besides: not my sound

Its simon and Garfunkle

The more I hear of Simon & Garfunkel the less that I like them. I won't deny they have some classics (Mrs. Robinson on here) that I like but the rest of their music is not for me

Pas mal! Mrs Robinson At the zoo Save life of my child

Honestly was expecting to really enjoy this one but I found the randomness of the lyrics annoying. Plus a track of old people talking? Hardly the stuff of genius.

Dat was me iets te zij-ig

Simon & Garfunkel zijn altijd wat zoutloos als je 't mij vraagt.

Op 2 toffe nummers na vond ik het een erg rommelig album.

Se hace durillo el disco, soporífero por momentos

Album très « mou » et pas kiffant à mon goût.. j’ai du mal à apprécier les chansons de cette album même si tout n’est pas affreux. « voices of old people » j’ai pas compris le concept déjà que j’étais pas dans l’album..

a bit boring

sorta weird, had the hits but overall album was strange

Some good songs and some bad ones. Not very memorable on first listen

Bit meh really

3.5

So this is the album where that song from \"The Graduate\" came from.

Meh. Didn't expect any synth and Mrs. Robinson is always great, but overall not my cup of tea.

By far my least favourite S&G album. Trying too hard to be weird.

Standout Track: A Hazy Shade of Winter At The Zoo

boring but i get why people like it

ugh I'm getting pretty bored of the US folk shit. Seems every second day I'm getting it atm. 2/5.

Not for me. 1/5

This album felt like being trapped forever in a retirement home. It smells of sadness, sun-bleached floral wallpaper and long forgotten hard candy. I swear I even heard a wheelchair creaking somewhere in the distance. Or maybe it was just the souls of old people screaming in despair. A terrible, terrible experience. I wouldn’t recommend it unless you’re over 80 and easily frightened by loud noises and young people. Bonus negative points for the creepy album cover. 1/10

A concept album that ends up being wildly uneven, frankly unexciting and pretty damn pompous, ultimately leaving only two or three acceptable tracks for Greenwich Village folk snobs and my mother. Still not reconciled with the genre.

Not my thing

Naw.

no me gustó tanto como pensé

I did not like this at all. I got two Simon and Garfunkel albums in a row. First was Parsley, Sage and that was great. This seemed like some kind of experiment gone wrong. The only song worth listening to is Mrs Robinson. And you MUST be able to find that somewhere else, where the rest of the vinyl is mot being wasted.

Horrible

Noia mortale

Pas mon style au moment de l’écoute

Can’t be bothered with this insipid crap.

BORING

Ms Robinson was the only good one. Just not my type of music I guess.

I mean, everyone says that the album was kind of trashy, which I totally agree on. I got kinda bored and then stopped listening to it and after a few hours I decided to keep listening it even if it was pretty boring, I guess the only song that I liked was Mrs. Robinson but that doesn’t make the album any better.

first time listening and i've worked out who ruined music

No puc

Niet mijn smaak. Aparte skits zitten in dit album, vaak keek ik om me heen afvragend wat ik hoorde.

ehh not really my vibe,

Not for me.

Me aburrió y lo saque

Nice haircut nerd. Also a lot of filler shit. I get it, its for the album. But liked the bass they used in saved the life of my child. Other than that its the Beatles with two guys. 50% 3/12

Absolute nothingburger for me.

That is not for me

Very meh. One good famous song.

A couple of good tracks, but so much filler.

This is not my type of music. I really struggled focusing on it

I like bookends theme

Too sad for me I don't like listening to the voices of old people

I really didn't like it at all. I do not like folk rock in the first place, but I still tried to go in unbiased. Even though I don’t like the music I do enjoy the message they were trying to convey.

No thanks. I’ve never liked anything from these two. Listening to a full album was torture. At least it was only 30 mins. 1/5 that single star is for giving The Bangles a great tune to cover.

Absolut schlimmm

Yeah this wasn't for me

no!!!

Yeah... Hated it. Boring.

slightly better than a power drill to the side of my temple

Favorite tracks: Mrs. Robinson

The following duos are only a small handful of duos better than Simon & Barfunkel: Starsky & Huch, Itchy & Scratchy, Tom & Jerry, Beavis & Butthead, Bert & Ernie, Calvin & Hobbes, Smokey & The Bandit, Abbot & Costello, Darstardly & Muttley, Pinky & the Brain, Ren & Stimpy, Rocky & Bullwinkle, Wallace & Gromit, Laverne & Shirley, Cagney & Lacey, Dharma & Greg, Jake & the Fatman, Kath & Kim, Mork & Mindy, Scarecrow & Mrs King, Simon & Simon,

As I occasionally give the Greatest Hits album a play, so thought I had an idea of what to expect here I was quite wrong, and not in a good way Voices of Old People- seriously? Who would ever want to listen to that over and over again? Mrs Robinson is not a favorite of mine, so basically nothing of interest here Most of the album just made me feel sleepy, so maybe there is an alternative use for the collection 1/5

Nothing prepared me for how schmaltzy this gets. Terrible lyrics, jarring and dissonant passages that come out of nowhere. Their harmonies never really did anything for me but I wasn't expecting to loathe this as much as I did.

Beautiful, poetic storytelling paired with a thoughtful, cohesive concept. The album feels reflective and human, quietly exploring time, memory, and disconnection in a way that lingers rather than demands attention.

Bit shit tbh

I wept. From boredom And pretentious pretendings of depth.

I do not like Simon and Garfunkel

Thank god this is only 30 minutes long. Musically some of the psychedelic elements are cool but main Gott the lyrics are either boring as shit or depressing af.

I can never remember. Was it Simon or Garfunkel that was attacked by their tiger?

Super fucking garbage

It’s like half a concept and one that’s with little depth. I was surprised how I reacted to it

I have PTSD from my parents listening to, in my mind, waaaaay too much S&G while I was growing up. I grew to loathe Feelin' Groovy in particular (I know that particular song isn't on this album -- but still). After listening -- I found "Save the life of my child" to be the most interesting song on the album. I also know remember that I loathe "A hazy shade of winter" and continue to be neutral about "Mrs. Robinson". I absolutely will not return to this album.

Druže, kakve su ovo droge. Eksperimentalna muzika kao u plemenima, pred kraj par melodičnih pjesmica sa Mrs.Robinson među njima, ali ne izvlači prosjek nikako. Osjećaj tjeskobe dok se sluša. Loše.

Grating. Both slow and too much going on at the same time. Recognize "Mrs. Robinson," but that doesn't mean I like it.

1. book - 1.5 2. child - 1 3. america - 1.5 4. overz - 2 5. people - 0 6.friendz - 2 7. theme - 1 8. fakin - 1 9. punkyz - 1.5 10. robinzon - 2 11. zhade - 1 12. zoo - 1.5

Paul Simon is a vampire

Did not like it at all. Enjoyed the last 2 songs. That’s it

Could not get into this one. Album starts slow, lost me in the middle, but finished strong with the albums best three songs.

Até tinha potencial, mas não curti

Didn't enjoy the album. I had At The Zoo on my Liked Songs playlist but I don't know why. I thought that song may have been what would make the album higher, I was mistaken.

Concept albums are either really well done, or are garbage. This is one of the latter unfortunately. The theme of this concept is apparently life and mortality. The whole "concept" was covered in 17 minutes (side A only). It just felt unfinished and rushed. You have to give concept albums time to grow and develop. These morons should have taken a page out of Pink Floyd's book. The Wall had a runtime of 1hr 20mins and is a masterpiece. This is just dumb. Side B of this album was full of previously released singles as well as unused material from "The Graduate" soundtrack. So basically, they couldn't come up with enough of an idea for an album, so they rushed a concept, then filled the rest in with garbage that wasn't good enough for a previous album. Just a money grab. I guarantee the only reason this album is on this list is because it is one of those albums that popular opinion (of braindead hipsters) dictates you should love because it is so deep and revolutionary, when in actuality it is just 2 nerds in peacoats sitting in a dusty library singing about nonsense. Why did someone bring a recorder into a fucking seniors home for 2 minutes during Voices of Old People? Favourite songs: Mrs. Robinson Least favourite songs: Voices of Old People, along with the rest of this album. 1/5. One point for the previously released Mrs Robinson. The rest of the album is trash. I don't necessarily hate Simon & Garfunkel, but I hate this album. Paul Simon was apparently suffering from writers block during the making of this album. Here's an idea: if you don't have enough material for an album, DON'T RELEASE ONE!!

Disappointing to say the least. I am a fan of Simon & Garfunkel. This album offered nothing even resembling their repertoire except Mrs Robinson. It doesn't even come close to the Sound of Silence.

The melodies are full of surprising turns and pretty harmonies. But it has some of the blandest folksy psychedelic jangly touches, the arrangements are mostly a big schmaltzy pillow, and it's a tedious 30 minutes with an overall extremely irritating precious vibe with one huge hit I never need to hear again. Music for babies.

WTF! Hvad var det? Der er lyde på det album jeg ikke anede Simon & Garfunkle kunne lave. Og der var deres røv kedelige korsang. Der kom faktisk et par okay numre hen mod slutningen. Mrs. Robinson vidste man jeg godt kan noget. Men hele lytte oplevelsen skæmmes af usammenhængende vrøvl fra gamle mennesker, tossede sange om dyr i en zoo osv.

yo who are these people why do they have so many listeners

Anyways, it's a two billion year-old like, rock...

No thanks

Doesn't match my taste in music

Man that was excruciatingly boring...

boring

Annoying. EMR: 3/5

Medio down y aburrido. Anticuado.

I don't like these guys. Not for me. Give me Simon, leave Garfunkel at home.

Hate em

Leiernder Folk Rock.

Boring. I know I’m dull, bat that was another level.

Not a fan at all.

Very boring no thank you

Sleepy 60s poetic stuff. I'm not civilized or in touch with my feelings enough to appreciate it.

Haut mich nicht vom Hocker.

That was truly awful. I have no idea how they became popular. The Lemonheads cover of Mrs Robinson and The Bangles Hazy Shade of Winter were far superior to the ones on this album.

Can’t do it sorry

dont care for guitar strum-alongs, just not for me

Simon & Garfunkel wekken de suggestie dat ze heel gevoelig over moeten komen. Het voelt bij mij altijd erg geforceerd. Ik heb dus vooraf al een gevoel bij deze plaat. Na de intro van dit album start toch een nummer dat ik niet direct verwacht had. Safe the Life of My Child is echt iets anders dan ik vooraf voor oren had. Het eerste geluid triggert zelfs aandachtig luisteren. Het is een interessante compositie, daar kom ik niet omheen. Maar buiten dat eerste geluid is het niet per se fijn om te luisteren. Het maakt wel dat ik wat afstap van mijn vooroordeel en toch nieuwsgierig word naar de rest. Nou, ik word toch snel met beide benen weer op de wereld gekwakt. Wat een suffe, neppe nummers volgens er dan. Fakin' It is het meest fake nummer van de plaat, maar markeert wel een omslagpunt. Naar mijn andere allergie. Het wordt wel erg Beatles-achtig. "Is there any d-a-a-a-a-nger. Pffff. De laatste twee nummers vormen weer een omslag. Het wordt wat enerverender. Maar deze nummers kunnen het album echt niet redden.

yaaawn - not my cup of tea

Tony Soprano murhaa Salvatore Big Pussyn Sopranosin tokan kauden viimeisessä jaksossa.

Meh. Puure Hippie Sound. Langwilig. 1 Stern.

It is bad

Not a fan

60-lukulainen melodisesti mauttomalla, vähän outoilevalla mutta samalla tuttavallisella tavalla. Kaikki tämä pätee myös Mrs. Robinsoniin kertosäettä lukuun ottamatta.

nope

Awful

the worlds most famous folk nonces are at it again. i think that sums the album up pretty aptly.

Twee, twaddly, pukishly tender. Paul ditching Art was as smart a move as Benjamin Braddock ditching Mrs Robinson. But it was even smarter when he ditched the librettos and started writing songs.

It's Simon and Garfunkel, so... you can expect Simon and Garfunkel music. To each their own, and for who likes it, it's rather good, I suppose. This album particularly I thought it was not very good, although.

I think even hard core fans of the duo would struggle with this one. According to wiki it’s a ‘concept album’ so read whatever you like into that. The most remarkable thing about this album is that it topped the Billboard 200 in 1968. I can only guess that it was bought on the strength of their previous works particularly the graduate which was of the same year. I imagine the vast majority of those who bought it were greatly disappointed and immediately filled it at the back of their record collection, never to be played again. 1 star is too many.

Not my type of music

Had a couple bangers but lots of filler/discordant shit too. Way better to tease out the good songs and not listen to the album.

Not nice

7/10

Lol, kind of sounded like pinball wizard