Still Crazy… marked the end of one era and the beginning of another for Paul Simon. There has always been a clear line to be discovered in his oeuvre, with albums showing an ever-progressing growth. The songs here are the clearest expressions of a writing style he developed in the early 1970s. The musical and lyrical sophistication of that style is at their peak here: it was the best Paul Simon
… album to date. From the sexual inconsolability in 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover to the thinly veiled state of mind in the title track, the album is full of expertly crafted songs about neuroses and infidelity. The 'Randy Newman-esque' irony that Simon liked to use in the 1970s is also at its peak here, as in You're Kind and Have A Good Time. Listeners must have thought that Simon couldn't be better after this creative peak. But, as it turned out, this was still nothing ...more
