Maps of Music

Surprise (2006)

Where the lyrics of Surprise take you, and where it was really made.

Surprise spawned an unusually large number of singles for a later Simon album, something that did not happen with either Songs From the Capeman or You're the One.

Key places

Mayfair Studios, London (2006)

Recording site Mayfair Studios — Mayfair Studios is listed among the studios where the album was recorded. Wikipedia names London as one of the three recording cities. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Lansdowne Studios, London (2006)

Recording site Lansdowne (London) — Lansdowne Studios is listed as a place where the album was recorded. The studio is in London, one of the album's three recording cities. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Capitol Studios, Los Angeles (2006)

Recording site Capitol Studios — Capitol Studios is listed among the album's recording studios in the release credits. It is in Los Angeles, a city not named in the Wikipedia text. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Sony Music Studios, New York (2006)

Recording site Sony Music Studios — Sony Music Studios in New York City is listed as one of the studios where the album was recorded. New York is one of the three recording cities named in the Wikipedia text. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Right Track Recording, New York (2006)

Recording site MSR Studios — Right Track Recording is listed among the album's New York studios in the credits. The album was recorded in New York as well as London and Nashville. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Ocean Way Nashville, Nashville (2006)

Recording site Nashville — Ocean Way Nashville is listed as a recording studio for the album. The point is placed at the city center of Nashville, not at the studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Surprise: eleventh solo studio album by Paul Simon
• Released May 9, 2006
• Peaked at number 14 on the Billboard 200
• Final studio album for Warner Bros. Records, his long-time label

Background

• Followed You're the One, which returned Simon to the American Top 20 after ten years
• Simon spent most of the next two years promoting that album
• Took a year off in 2002
• Reunited with Art Garfunkel in 2003 and 2004 and toured as Simon & Garfunkel
• December 2004: Simon's studio albums were reissued in remastered form
• Simon turned sixty in 2001; the single "Old" from You're the One joked about that age
• The September 11 attacks, one month earlier, also affected him

Recording

• Recorded in London, New York and Nashville
• Simon first met Brian Eno in London to discuss combining Eno's electronic production with his guitar folk-rock
• Eno was credited as provider of "sonic landscape", not as producer
• Simon said the project took about two years, with 20 days spent with Eno split into four periods
• Simon's method: he began with the rhythm, then drums, key, guitar, song form and melody
• Wartime Prayers was among the first songs written for the album

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Paul Simon (born October 13, 1941, Newark, New Jersey) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.
• He met Art Garfunkel in elementary school in 1953 and they became known as Simon & Garfunkel in the 1960s.
• The duo's folk-rock hits such as "The Sound of Silence", "Mrs. Robinson", "America" and "The Boxer" defined the 1960s counterculture.
• Their final album, Bridge over Troubled Water (1970), is among the best-selling albums of all time.

Career

• As a solo artist, Simon explored gospel, reggae, soul and world music.
• Paul Simon (1972), There Goes Rhymin' Simon (1973) and Still Crazy After All These Years (1975) drew acclaim and hits such as "Mother and Child Reunion" and "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover".
• Graceland (1986), incorporating South African influences, became his most successful and acclaimed album.
• He wrote the Broadway musical The Capeman (1998), which was poorly received.
• His later albums include You're the One (2000), So Beautiful or So What (2011), Stranger to Stranger (2016) and Seven Psalms (2023).
• He has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice and won 16 Grammy Awards.

Honors

• He received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2001 and the first Library of Congress Gershwin Prize in 2007.
• He co-founded the Children's Health Fund, a nonprofit providing medical care to children.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Most critics gave positive reviews
• Metacritic score: 78 out of 100, based on 23 professional reviews
• The Observer's Neil Spencer praised both Simon's and Eno's work, calling the album "a thrilling return to form"
• Entertainment Weekly's Chris Willman wrote that patience is rewarded with moments of stellar songwriting, and praised Eno's sonic upgrade
• AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine was very positive, calling the album a comeback
• Billboard was more reserved, writing that Surprise falls shy of a masterpiece but is consistently engaging
• Rolling Stone wrote that despite the album's shiny surface, Simon sounds like Simon

Records

• Billboard 200 debut at number 14, with first-week sales of over 61,000 copies
• Highest American chart position since The Rhythm of the Saints reached number 4 in 1990
• Sales in the US reached 296,000 copies
• UK: debuted at number 4, held number 4 in its second week, fell to number 20 in its third week
• UK chart position was his best since The Rhythm of the Saints reached number 1 in 1990

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Father and Daughter was released in Europe as a CD single backed with Another Galaxy and reached number 31 in the UK
• That's Me was the second single, with the classic You Can Call Me Al as its B-side, and failed to appear on any national chart
• Outrageous, the third single, was promoted with a music video made specifically for the song
• The B-side of the CD single for Outrageous was the American number-one hit 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover
• The Surprise Tour covered the United States, Canada and parts of Europe between June and November 2006, with 27 shows
• The tour included a sold-out performance at Wembley Arena on November 10

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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