Following a decline in his popularity as a solo artist, Simon reunited with Garfunkel for some successful shows. The two of them started working on a new S&G album, but all the old arguments flared up and they broke up again. Paul chucked Art's songs and worked some of his into a new solo album.
At the time of its release, this album didn't fare much better commercially than his recent releases, though it seems to have been reassessed with hindsight. To me it shows hints of his next (much more successful) solo album Graceland, in that it has a good bit of groove to it and the quite '80s' sounding production. In places, the synth laden grooves even sound a bit like that good 70s era Stevie Wonder.
It's a bit of a mixed bag, and I'd argue that the more straight-ahead mellow tracks are still his strength, such as the sombre "the late great Johnny Ace", his tribute to John Lennon. That being said, the peppy "Cars are cars" is a fun little song, regardless of its slightly so-so lyrics.
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