Paul Simon – Greatest Hits Live From Philadelphia 1980 (Eagle DVD)

 

Picture: C     Sound: C+     Extras: D     Concert: C+

 

 

By 1980, Paul Simon found himself with as successful a solo career as he had as a duo with Art Garfunkel, but he was starting to run out of energy and ideas.  Still at the lower side of his peak, he taped a concert at Philadelphia’s Tower Theater and it is now available on DVD as Paul Simon – Greatest Hits Live From Philadelphia 1980.

 

Simon still has his voice, but it is not always performing at its peak, as he sings and plays the following:

 

1)     Me & Julio Down By The Schoolyard

2)     Still Crazy After All These Years

3)     Ace In The Hole

4)     Something So Right

5)     One-Trick Pony

6)     Jonah

7)     50 Ways To Leave Your Lover

8)     Late In The Evening

9)     American Tune

10)  The Boxer

11)  The Sound Of Silence

 

 

He was not a legacy act then and though he made a comeback since, some wondered if he was totally out of ideas.  However, he also skips some of his key solo hits, yet does some older Simon & Garfunkel hits.  If that was not odd enough, they had not really reunited in any way, making the choices all the odder.  The overall concert is mixed, making this good for fans only.

 

The 1.33 X 1 image is very soft and was taped, but this is down a generation and the source material might not have even been stored in the best of shape.  The DTS 5.1 and Dolby Digital 5.1 & 2.0 Stereo mixes show their age, trying to repurpose the audio the best they can, but it can’t hide the age of the audio or that it was not meant to be multi-channel.  There are no extras.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo