Paul Simon - Hearts and Bones (Japan Blu-spec CD2 2011)

One of Paul Simon's most accomplished albums, Hearts & Bones is also among his least appreciated, a commercial disappointment at the time of its release due more to Simon's darker themes than to any discernible decline in his powers as a songwriter or instincts as a producer. The best songs here are among his most nakedly self-referential, from the bittersweet title song, sifting through the ashes of his failed marriage, to the self-recriminating "Think Too Much (a)" (as if to prove the point, he includes two songs with the title) and the fatalistic "Train in the Distance." "René and Georgette Magritte with Their Dog after the War" is a polished gem, both a musical analogue to the artist's dead- pan surrealism and a unique love song, and "The Late Great Johnny Ace" links the slain doo-wopper to the slain John Lennon. If there were justice in the set's cool reception, it was Simon's subsequent decision to ignore commercial stratagems altogether--a leap that yielded his next, groundbreaking album, Graceland. --Sam Sutherland