How does SURPRISE stack up to earlier Paul Simon album classics? I guess only time will tell. I think it's a fine, thoughtful piece of work. As is his style lately, Simon writes in a non-linear vein, which has frustrated, even turned off former fans. His recent work continues to produce melodies that seem to run all over the place. This is not the Simon of "Bridge Over Troubled Water", or "The Sounds Of Silence". There are few "Top 40" type songs on SURPRISE, and that has pretty much been the case with Simon since One Trick Pony. But repeated listening reveals musical textures and meanings that peel away to reveal something deeply moving and meaningful to the listener who truly listens. Highly recommended.

I was actually somewhat disappointed in selections Simon chose for this collection. With the exception of the last track, "Father and Daughter," most of the tracks are very similar - vocals with heavy percussion support and light guitar. Some additional electric instruments were added on some tracks but most of the tunes are not the kind that "stick with you."

This is one of the most (if not THE most) imaginatively written, produced, and played album in Simon's canon. Some may miss the world-flavored instrumentation and predictability of albums such as Graceland (and dislike Eno's brilliant electronic spicing), but it is evident from the first listen that you are in the hands of masters; after subsequent listens, you may find that this disk may not ever find a place of rest in your CD collection (mine still lives in the CD changer, two years after buying it). Very strong songwriting and incredible production send this one straight through the crossbars-- Just get it.

Paul Simon the storyteller can still be found in this album.
Paul Simon the singer and musician is lost to electronica and apparently silly attempts to sound modern.
This is not magical Paul Simon. Almost any other PS album is!
Sigh.

I would consider myself a cautious though true Paul Simon admirer (meaning that while I consider Rhythm of the Saints among the best albums of all time, and find much to deeply admire on Hearts and Bones and even Songs from the Capeman, I find Graceland mostly a major ho-hum and You're The One a feeble, almost senile effort). I have only recently come across his 2006 Surprise and listened with great interest.
Overall I find it highly interesting, strong, with moments of brilliance, poetry, beauty - though as well as embarrassments (Outrageous, Beautiful). Brian Eno's production (that is, Eno circa Deep Blue Day and An Ending) in its best moments merges seamlessly with, mostly complements and sometimes elevates Simon's lovely, thin, earnest voice and occasionally substantial lyrics.
While That's Me, I Don't Believe, Wartime Prayers and Everything About it is a Love Song all have marvellous moments as well as strength and unexpected turns in both songwriting and production, it's Once There was an Ocean that makes this CD worth owning. It is arguably the most incisive, mature song in Simon's entire body of work.
This song is about transcendence and personal redemption without being "religious" at all (despite the subtle church/synagogue imagery). In this song, a spiritual sense emerges which needs not be tied to any organised religion. Here, Simon brilliantly fuses his folk-song talents of long-ago (in a tale about a young man who leaves home to renounce all that meant 'home' to him) with a deeper, more spiritual maturity obviously brought on by advancing years and experience. It is about getting in touch with that which is infinitely grander than us.
To me, it tells the tale of a man unhappy about his lot and searching for more, in an attempt to be larger, to find meaning. He has at least partially blamed his parents for much of his own endless wandering and unhappiness, and finds temporary fulfillment once he leaves home, the place he's defined as the source of his troubles.
But upon receiving news of the death of one of his parents and
returning home for the funeral finally gets in touch with that
'something unstoppable' that transcends him and connects him with the
timeless, the infinite (and infinitely more meaningful than the search
for temporary pleasures).
The lyrics which describe - indeed allude - to all this are penned so subtly, so finely, seemingly so effortless, one hardly notices their depth and intricacy in the first few listens. It's so rare when a song succeeds in speaking volumes in just a few lines. It's because we listeners have become totally unused to finding true poetry in our songs' lyrics.
Brian Eno's delicacy here really elevates the song and perfectly underscores the lyrics which fuse the very personal with that which transcends it, the individual with the truly universal. The crystal, almost glass sounds during the song's final verse not only echo the stained glass imagery but also the sudden enlightenment of the main character, as the death of a parent was what was needed for him to align himself with what truly matters in life, and with the very movement of the universe itself. Here Simon speaks of the lifting of the veil, where you suddenly 'understand' something about life of great significance, and how afterwards there's a feeling of nothing being different but of everything having changed.