This two-record set on one CD collects 16 Paul Simon hits from his solo career after Simon & Garfunkel without much rhyme or reason. The selections are not in chronological order and several of the cuts are oddly chosen. Those minor points aside, there are some landmark works presented on these discs. "Hearts and Bones" is a brilliant depiction of a crumbling love affair, while "Slip Slidin' Away" uncovers the hurt of divorce and middle age with a groove that's pure mid-'70s decadent. Simon's infatuation with rhythm is all over the place, from the reggae of "Mother and Child Reunion" to the South African bounce of "You Can Call Me Al." –Rob O'Connor

'The Concert in Hyde Park' chronicles the legendary artist's historic concert at the 2012 Hard Rock Calling Festival in London with an epic career-spanning set including Simon s most enduring hits ("Kodachrome," "Graceland," "Me and Julio Down By The Schoolyard," "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover"), fan favorites, and two Simon & Garfunkel classics. The concert features a reunion with the original Graceland musicians on the Grammy-winning album's 25th anniversary, including Hugh Masekela and Ladysmith Black Mambazo, as well as a surprise appearance from reggae legend Jimmy Cliff, performing his original songs "The Harder They Come" and "Many Rivers to Cross", and a duet with Cliff and Simon on "Vietnam" and "Mother and Child Reunion."

In the Blue Light is the fourteenth solo studio album by American folk rock singer-songwriter Paul Simon. Produced by Paul Simon and Roy Halee, it is set to be released on September 7, 2018, through Legacy Recordings. The album consists of re-recordings of select lesser-known songs from Simon's catalog, often altering their original arrangements, harmonic structures, and lyrics. The songs were recorded with the instrumental ensemble yMusic, including guitarist Bill Frisell, trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and the National's Bryce Dessner. The album's title is a reference to the lyrics in the song "How the Heart Approaches What It Yearns" from the 1980 album One-Trick Pony.

Paul Simon is the second solo studio album by American singer-songwriter Paul Simon. It was released in January 1972, nearly two years after he split up with longtime musical partner Art Garfunkel. His first solo album, recorded in England in 1965, remained unreleased in the U.S. (except for a brief period in 1969) until 1981, when it appeared in the 5-LP Collected Works boxed set. Originally released on Columbia Records, Paul Simon was later issued under the Warner Bros. label and has since returned to Columbia through Sony. The album topped the charts in the United Kingdom, Japan, and Norway and reached No. 4 on the U.S. Billboard Pop Albums. It was certified platinum in 1986.

Time Life Music’s Singers & Songwriters: Classics features 20 cuts, almost all of which were culled from the singer/songwriter-rich 1970s. Featuring a solid mix of certifiable classics including “Still Crazy After All These Years” (Paul Simon), “(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay” (Otis Redding), and “Everybody's Talkin'” (Harry Nilsson) along with artist high watermarks such as “Leader of the Band” (Dan Fogelberg), “Sundown” (Gordon Lightfoot), and “For What It’s Worth” (Buffalo Springfield), Classics dutifully replicates a classic rock radio Sunday playlist.

Simon & Garfunkel were an American folk rock duo consisting of singer-songwriter Paul Simon and singer Art Garfunkel. They were one of the best-selling music groups of the 1960s and became counterculture icons of the decade's social revolution, alongside artists such as the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and Bob Dylan. Their biggest hits—including "The Sound of Silence" (1964), "Mrs. Robinson" (1968), "Bridge over Troubled Water" (1969), and "The Boxer" (1969)—reached number one on singles charts worldwide. They won 10 Grammy Awards and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.

The two-year interval covered in this volume of Time-Life Music's Singers & Songwriters series was one of consolidation for the many singer/songwriters who had emerged in the early '70s. Carole King followed up Tapestry, the album that established her as a performer after years as a songwriter, with Music, which spawned the hit "Sweet Seasons." James Taylor was on his second follow-up to his commercial breakthrough Sweet Baby James with One Man Dog, which produced "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight." His new wife Carly Simon released her third album, No Secrets, which gave Simon her biggest hit yet with "You're So Vain." John Denver, too, hit new sales peaks with Rocky Mountain High and its title single. And Cat Stevens had followed the success of Tea for the Tillerman with Teaser and the Firecat and its second single "Morning Has Broken." Meanwhile, several new singer/songwriters were crowding the field, among them Don McLean with the epic allegory "American Pie," America with its Neil Young sound-alike "A Horse With No Name," and Seals & Crofts with the lilting "Summer Breeze".

With Graceland, Paul Simon hit on the idea of combining his always perceptive songwriting with the little-heard mbaqanga music of South Africa, creating a fascinating hybrid that re-enchanted his old audience and earned him a new one. It is true that the South African angle (including its controversial aspect during the apartheid days) was a powerful marketing tool and that the catchy music succeeded in presenting listeners with that magical combination: something they'd never heard before that nevertheless sounded familiar. As eclectic as any record Simon had made, it also delved into zydeco and conjunto-flavored rock & roll while marking a surprising new lyrical approach (presaged on some songs on Hearts and Bones)…

Retaining the buoyant musical feel of Paul Simon, but employing a more produced sound, There Goes Rhymin' Simon found Paul Simon writing and performing with assurance and venturing into soulful and R&B-oriented music. Simon returned to the kind of vocal pyrotechnics heard on the Simon & Garfunkel records by using gospel singers. On "Love Me Like a Rock" and "Tenderness" (which sounded as though it could have been written to Art Garfunkel), the Dixie Hummingbirds sang prominent backup vocals, and on "Take Me to the Mardi Gras," Reverend Claude Jeter contributed a falsetto part that Garfunkel could have handled, though not as warmly.

Bridge Over Troubled Water was one of the biggest-selling albums of its decade, and it hasn't fallen too far down on the list in years since. Apart from the gospel-flavored title track, which took some evolution to get to what it finally became, however, much of Bridge Over Troubled Water also constitutes a stepping back from the music that Simon & Garfunkel had made on Bookends – this was mostly because the creative partnership that had formed the body and the motivation for the duo's four prior albums literally consumed itself in the making of Bridge Over Troubled Water. The overall effect was perhaps the most delicately textured album to close out the 1960s from any major rock act. Bridge Over Troubled Water, at its most ambitious and bold, on its title track, was a quietly reassuring album; at other times, it was personal yet soothing; and at other times, it was just plain fun.