Graceland

1	The Boy in the Bubble 3:59
2	Graceland 4:50
3	I Know What I Know 3:13
4	Gumboots 2:44
5	Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes 5:48
6	You Can Call Me Al 4:40
7	Under African Skies 3:37
8	Homeless 3:48
9	Crazy Love, Vol. II 4:18
10	That Was Your Mother 2:52
11	All Around the World or the Myth of Fingerprints 5:46

Barnes & Noble

An inveterate musical explorer, Paul Simon has experimented with elements of gospel, doo-wop, and Inca folk music throughout his 30-year career. But his experiments hit a nerve as never before on this 1986 recording. Simon's use of several South African styles, plus a little zydeco and Mexican rock, helped nurture a mainstream interest in world music that remains strong to this day. Moving beyond appropriation, Simon met the exotic styles halfway, insinuating the rhythms into the mix to create a supple, beguiling synthesis. A landmark recording, Graceland won a bundle of awards and helped launch a substantial Western presence for South African groups like Ladysmith Black Mambazo, and Malathini and the Mahotella Queens. Martin Johnson

All Music Guide

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); for the most part, Simon abandoned a linear, narrative approach to his words, instead drawing highly poetic ("Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes"), abstract ("The Boy in the Bubble"), and satiric ("I Know What I Know") portraits of modern life, often charged by striking images and turns of phrase torn from the headlines or overheard in contemporary speech. An enormously successful record, Graceland became the standard against which subsequent musical experiments by major artists were measured. William Ruhlmann