Simon & Garfunkel: Bookends (Columbia, 1968)

Simon & Garfunkel: Bookends (Columbia, 1968):

1. "Bookends Theme" - Who cares?
2. "Save the Life of My Child" - Unlistenable. I always thought folkies dug these guys because of their crystalline harmonies/production. But this is messy as muck, a Whimsy Suite in desperate need of a sweeping. Why didn't Yes cover this one? Too close to the prog edge?
3. "America" - I already forgot this one and I'm writing this in the middle of side two. I'm sure it's crappy, though.
4. "Overs" - The musical equivalent of a run-on sentence. Or a paragraph that goes on for almost two pages. I don't care if it's only 2:14. Edit, dude! Get to the point!
5. "Voices of Old People" - Really? When I want bullshit musique concrète, I'll take Yaz(oo)'s "I Before E Except After C." P. S. I had to listen to Upstairs at Eric's to cleanse myself after listening to this very bad album.
6. "Old Friends" - Aw ok this is pretty. Could work as an Eno-esque tangential listening experience. Modest strings. Modest Paul. Alright, Paul, pull back a bit. You're making your presence felt a bit too much. And pull back on those strings too. And now you're amping up the strings?!? ARGH!
7. "Bookends" - Who cares even less?
8. "Fakin' It" - Ooh strong start. Mildly rockin'. Aw you had to go wuss it all up by singing! Oh gawd, more whimsy. Can't you leave a good song alone?
9. "Punky's Dilemma" - Best thing about this one is that Streisand recorded it and Xgau got an amazing article out of it.
10. "Mrs. Robinson" - The best American feature-length film of the 1960s is not The Graduate.
11. "A Hazy Shade of Winter" - Best song here, duh. But The Bangles own it now. Sorry 'bout it.
12. "At the Zoo" - You did NOT just say "somebody told me it's all happening at the zoo."

Grade C+. The plus is for the fact that's it's under 30 mins. That's pretty remarkable, actually. Even I can swallow whimsy at that length.