Barnes & Noble
There's never been any disputing Paul Simon's status as one of the rock era's great songwriters. But when it comes time to recording those songs, he's always been at his best when teamed with a foil, whether it be erstwhile partner Art Garfunkel or collaborators like Ladysmith Black Mambazo (who partnered with him on Graceland). Here, Simon calls upon a new teammate, one that, not to pun on the disc's title, comes as something of a surprise. Here, Simon has recruited producer Brian Eno, a master of ambient sound who's brought out new facets in just about everyone he's worked with, from U2 to David Bowie -- a streak he continues here. The graceful, introspective songs that Simon pulled together for Surprise are ideally suited for Eno's tinkering, ranging from the angular "Outrageous," which alternates whisper and scream sections with aplomb, to the ethereal "That's Me," a wisp of a tune that brings out the most poignant notes in Simon's voice. The singer has, for now at least, shelved his penchant for serving up aural comfort food. Instead, he brings some of his most challenging notions to the table, such as the lean, emotionally devastating lyrics of the gospel-tinged "Wartime Prayers" and the acerbic self-assessments of "Sure Don't Feel Like Love," which Eno wraps in a groove that somehow reconciles the diametrically opposed funk approaches of Bo Diddley and David Byrne. While there will certainly be some folks still pining for Simon to go another round with his old pal Art, those willing to take a chance will find that Simon's just as compelling when teamed with art of the small "a" variety. David Sprague
All Music Guide
The obvious surprise of Surprise, Paul Simon's tenth solo album and his first since 2000's underrated You're the One, is that the singer/songwriter has enlisted Brian Eno as his collaborator. At first glance the pairing seems odd, even awkward, since they seem to come from opposing backgrounds: Simon the folk-rock troubadour and Eno the avant-garde art rock adventurist. Dig a little deeper, and the similarities do surface. For one, there is the mutual shared interest in world music -- most evident in Eno's productions/collaborations with Talking Heads at the turn of the '70s and on Simon's 1986 Graceland and its 1990 follow-up, The Rhythm of the Saints, but there are undercurrents running as far back as Simon & Garfunkel's "Cecilia." But more than any other singer/songwriter of his generation, Paul Simon has demonstrated a keen interest in having his albums sound unique and distinct from each other, using each album as an opportunity to explore a different sonic characteristic, so working with a sonic landscaper (as his back-cover credit on Surprise calls him) is not out of character. Similarly, Eno has not been entirely adverse to pop, either, as his ongoing collaboration with U2 proves, not to mention his productions for James or even the flamboyant pop of such early Roxy Music singles as "Virginia Plain." So, their collaboration here is unexpected, but not unnatural -- in fact, it's anything but unnatural, since Surprise is as seamless and graceful as Graceland, which it resembles greatly in how it blends a new sound with Simon's songs. But where Graceland found Simon writing around existing rhythm tracks, the opposite is true here: Eno fills in the space behind songs, creating an evocative, dream-like bed for Simon's words, which, more than ever, scan equally well as poetry as they do song lyrics. Simon was shifting toward this direction on You're the One, but he pushes even harder here, largely abandoning familiar song structures -- only two cuts here have something resembling a conventional chorus, and one of those is "Father and Daughter," originally released on the Wild Thornberrys soundtrack and the only track not treated by Eno -- for elliptical, winding songs that demand attention.
These are songs that cry out for the kind of cinematic sounds Eno brings to them, since he helps give them structure, momentum, and emotional weight, and his "sonic landscapes" do this precisely, following the contours of Simon's words and enhancing his meaning. And while Surprise glides along easily, thanks both to Eno's seamless work and the warmth of Simon's voice, it's an album meant to be listened to closely, and it pays back that effort handsomely. With repeated plays, Simon's songs don't seem as open-ended, and there's more to discover within Eno's production, particularly in how it plays off Simon's recurring themes of faith, aging, fatherhood, and getting by in George W. Bush's U.S.A. But this is not by any stretch a protest record; "How Can You Live in the Northeast?" and "Wartime Prayers" are about the uneasiness of living in the post-9/11 America, yet they're not statements of outrage, they're about the emotional toil of the time, and they have counterparts in the wearied narrators of "Once Upon a Time There Was an Ocean" and "Outrageous." It adds up to a bittersweet undercurrent that runs through Surprise, not unlike the melancholy threaded throughout Hearts and Bones, which this also resembles in its overall introspective tone and arty bent, but this is hardly a one-dimensional record; there is gentle hope and wry humor as well, giving this music a rich elegance that makes it stand among Simon's best work. Unlike such deservedly praised comeback albums from some of his peers -- such as Dylan's Love and Theft, the Rolling Stones' A Bigger Bang, Paul McCartney's Chaos and Creation in the Backyard -- Simon doesn't achieve his comeback by reconnecting with the sound and spirit of his classic work; he has achieved it by being as restless and ambitious as he was at his popular and creative peak, which makes Surprise all the more remarkable. Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Rolling Stone
1/2 Eno outfits some of Simon's most elegant songs yet with spacey accouterments, ranging from the shimmery atmospherics of "That's Me" to the buzzy electro-folk groove of "Another Galaxy." Christian Hoard
Entertainment Weekly
[Grade: A-] Patience is rewarded with moments of stellar songwriting. ''I Don't Believe'' is practically an album unto itself.... Eno finds smart ways to accent Simon's worry lines. Chris Willman
The New Yorker
The surprise this time is that Simon isn't globetrotting...in search of new sounds. But he hasn't stopped exploring, either.... Simon remains the most intelligent songwriter of his generation. Ben Greenman
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
[Grade: B] "Surprise" is challenging, and in a pop music world ruled by burn bright-flame out familiarity, that could be its finest quality. Barry Gilbert
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