Paul Simon had a period of brilliance, Sounds of Silence, Hazy Shade of Winter, etc.
I've been interested to look back, as I've aged, at the tendency of artists to have "a vision" which tends to get expressed early on, and they never reach that level again. Sure, Simon's created a very respectable body of work, but most of it past the 70's has been "workmanlike" rather than inspired. How many bands produce one, maybe two, albums of remarkable stuff and then drift off into far less gripping work? I'm sure some of this is based on the pitfalls of success (like the old saw: "Why do great writers cease to be so once they become famous? Because they can buy whiskey by the case!"), but I've come to suspect that in most cases there is a limited amount of "vision" in most, and when it's been expressed, there's nothing left in the tank to replace it.
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back when he was brilliant ...
Date: 2008-10-29 06:36 am (UTC)I've been interested to look back, as I've aged, at the tendency of artists to have "a vision" which tends to get expressed early on, and they never reach that level again. Sure, Simon's created a very respectable body of work, but most of it past the 70's has been "workmanlike" rather than inspired. How many bands produce one, maybe two, albums of remarkable stuff and then drift off into far less gripping work? I'm sure some of this is based on the pitfalls of success (like the old saw: "Why do great writers cease to be so once they become famous? Because they can buy whiskey by the case!"), but I've come to suspect that in most cases there is a limited amount of "vision" in most, and when it's been expressed, there's nothing left in the tank to replace it.