Graceland

The melding of South African styles and Simon's trademark sensibility made for one of the most intriguing albums--not to mention commercial hits--of the 1980s. At once lively, thoughtful, gorgeous, and tough, Graceland acknowledges splits both in South Africa's social fabric and in Simon's personal life (the title track is a clear descendant of the earlier "Hearts and Bones", a song about the singer- songwriter's brief marriage to Carrie Fisher). Humour is hardly absent from the mix, though; witness the addled "I Know What I Know" and the fable-like "You Can Call Me Al". --Rickey Wright