Paul Simon - Graceland: 25th Anniversary

25th anniversary of Paul Simon's Graceland celebrated with a 180-gram commemorative reissue!

Mastered at Sterling Sound from the original analog masters and pressed at RTI. Includes collectible poster plus download MP3s of the full album plus three bonus songs

"Prior to Graceland, the music of South Africa was largely unknown outside the country, except to a small minority of world music fans ..." — Peter Gabriel

There are singers. There are songwriters. There is only one Paul Simon. And there certainly is nothing like Simon's landmark classic album Graceland, which is commemorating its 25th anniversary with a documentary film and a special reissue.

The universal appeal of the music of Graceland proved more powerful and enduring than the political hotbed attending its creation. In 1986, the album sold 14 million copies worldwide, and received universal praise from critics around the globe. Simon, a 12-time Grammy Award-winner, and composer of then two Grammy-awarded albums of the year (Bridge Over Troubled Water, Still Crazy After All These Years) traveled to South Africa to record with local artists. Simon and the members of Ladysmith Black Mambazo subsequently performed on TV's Saturday Night Live and appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone. Graceland earned Simon another Album of the Year at the Grammy Awards in 1987 as well as Song of the Year in 1988.

The story of the making of Graceland and the controversy it created, is told in "Under African Skies," a full-length documentary from two-time Emmy and Peabody Award-winning filmmaker Joe Berlinger. The flim debuted at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, kicking off the year-long celebration commemorating the 25th anniversary of Simon's musical and cultural achievement with Graceland.

Simon's artistic decision to collaborate with African musicians created a new world musical fusion, combining American and African musical idioms while igniting an intense political crossfire. Simon was accused of breaking the UN cultural boycott of South Africa designed to end the Apartheid regime. The album generated three hit singles — in January 1987 "You Can Call Me Al" was played everywhere; while the title track won Song of the Year in 1988 — and it kept Simon and the Graceland tour on the road for five years.

Graceland continues to provide rewards to its listeners and remains a pivotal listening experience for writers, artists and fans. "Paul Simon's Graceland played a greatly significant role in removing the standoffish dread Western culture harbored toward South Africa during its internal struggle against apartheid, humanizing both a country's soul-searching hunger for liberation and its simultaneous outpouring of cathartic creative expression." — Timothy White, Billboard

1. The Boy In The Bubble

2. Graceland

3. I Know What I Know

4. Gumboots

5. Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes

6. You Can Call Me Al

7. Under African Skies

8. Homeless

9. Crazy Love, Vol 2

10. That Was Your Mother

11. All Around The World or The Myth Of Fingerprints