Paul Simon

remastered cd with three bonus tracks in expanded packaging. upon the realisation that 50 percent meant 'half', paul simon terminated his wildly successful partnership with art garfunkel. anyone who was paying attention to the quality of the writing on those simon and garfunkel albums shouldn't have been surprised by simon's rapid emergence as a solo artist of the first order. his self-titled solo debut is a vibrant, eclectic affair that expands on the artistic developments of his former work while exploring new musical horizons. the elliptical 'mother and child reunion' is surely one of the first american pop flirtations with jamaican music. 'me and julio down by the schoolyard' is similarly groundbreaking for its time in its use of latin rhythms (a move simon would eventually repeat on 'late in the evening').