Paul Simon (album) - Reception

Reception

Robert Christgau gave the album an A+ rate, writing that Paul Simon "is the only thing in the universe to make positively happy in the first two weeks of February 1972"

Critical praise was indeed widespread for this album, though several reviewers were put off by it. Noel Coppage, in STEREO REVIEW, called it "undistinguished" and added, "I gather...this album is merely Simon's way of keeping his hand in while Garfunkel makes movies....I'm now wondering if Garfunkel's arranging work doesn't include sending Simon back to rewrite some of his songs before recording them." Despite Coppage's panning, the other STEREO REVIEW critics went on to give the album one of its "Record Of The Year" awards.

Also, HIGH FIDELITY critic Henry Edwards said the album was "a tasteful, disciplined, but disapponting piece of work...The first solo attempt for any major artist can be a painfully difficult experience. Now that Paul Simon has had his initiation, one waits eagerly for his next attempt."

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Allmusic
Robert Christgau (A+)

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