Paul Simon, "Surprise"

by Jim Harrington

Paul Simon (music) is one of the most popular figures in pop-music history. That's certainly a factor behind why so many people are rooting for him to have a hit with "Surprise."

It's also been a very long time since Simon delivered a worthy new album. His last good one was 1990's "Rhythm of the Saints." Now that's a dry spell.

That's also likely part of the reason why the initial reaction to "Surprise" has been, let's say, overzealous.

"Surprise" is a good, certainly not great, CD. It's definitely Simon's best album since "Saints." But that's really not saying much, given that ones in between were 1997's awful "Songs from the Capeman" and 2000's mediocre "You're the One."

Simon, however, sounds pretty terrific on this album. His lines boast more heart and soul, especially on the lovely track "Another Galaxy," than anything he delivered during the Simon & Garfunkel reunion show that this critic had the misfortune of catching a few years back. It just goes to show that Simon is so much better when he cares about the material--and he cares about this material.

And, really, so should you.

It's good to see that the multi-millionaire rock legend hasn't lost his taste for musical adventure, which is exactly what made "Saints" and 1986's "Graceland" so enjoyable. This time around, the adventure consists of an unlikely collaboration with avant-garde genius Brian Eno, who produced the album and co-wrote three of its tracks.

Some of the songs, including the uproarious "Outrageous," work exceedingly well. Mostly, however, the mix between folksy troubadour and electronic music pioneer seems a bit strained.

It's pretty easy to enjoy the likes of "Once Upon a Time There was an Ocean" and "That's Me." It's also pretty easy to guess that those electronic music-tinged tunes would have sounded even better sung by such likely characters as David Bowie, David Byrne and Bryan Ferry.