This album was released within weeks of the duo getting back together for a benefit concert at Madison Square Garden on behalf of George McGovern's 1972 presidential campaign. Simon & Garfunkel's work had never been compiled before, but their albums were still selling so well as catalog items... [+] Expand

This album was released within weeks of the duo getting back together for a benefit concert at Madison Square Garden on behalf of George McGovern's 1972 presidential campaign. Simon & Garfunkel's work had never been compiled before, but their albums were still selling so well as catalog items that this record should have been superfluous. Instead, it touched all the right buttons, providing an overview of the duo's most popular songs and biggest singles, but also offering longtime fans a previously unissued alternate take of "America" and live versions of "For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her," "Homeward Bound," "Feelin' Groovy," and "Kathy's Song," which meant that even fans who already had everything else they'd ever released wanted to own it -- understandably, it peaked at number five on the charts. Over the years, its value has lessened somewhat with the release of more ambitious, wider-ranging compilations of their work that were also mastered more carefully, from better sources, though this is still the best easily available single disc on the duo. All of their most identifiable and widely embraced hits, from "The Sounds of Silence" to "Bridge Over Troubled Water," are represented here, along with the duo's best-known and most personal album cuts ("Kathy's Song," etc.), making it a decent introduction for the total neophyte -- what's missing are some interesting and ambitious singles that either haven't stood the test of time ("Fakin' It") or were artistic blind alleys ("The Dangling Conversation"), plus "Punky's Dilemma," a perennial FM radio favorite that lay just below Columbia Records' and the duo's radar. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide [-] Collapse

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