Paul Simon - Graceland (1986) {2CD+2DVD Set, 25th Anniversary Collector's Edition}

Commemorating the 25th anniversary of Graceland, Paul Simon's groundbreaking album that continues to influence and inspire generations. Following its Sundance Film Festival premiere in the US, the Joe Berlinger-directed documentary Under African Skies, chronicling the creation and lasting influence of Graceland, it has its UK premiere at Sundance London. The documentary garnered critical acclaim on the film festival circuit with screenings at SXSW 2012, where it received an Audience Award, the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, and the Sundance Film Festival. To help commemorate the anniversary and celebrate the indelible musical legacy of Graceland, this is a special Graceland 25th Anniversary Collector's Edition Box Set with two CDs and two DVDs including the re-mastered original album, audio narrative The Story of 'Graceland as told by Paul Simon, Under African Skies, documentary film with extended interviews, the original 1987 African Concert from Zimbabwe, three original music videos and the iconic Saturday Night Live performance of "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes"; replicas of an original Graceland poster, handwritten lyrics pad; deluxe 80-page book featuring new and archival photos and interviews with Paul Simon.

With Graceland, Paul Simon hit on the idea of combining his always perceptive songwriting with the little-heard mbaqanga music of South Africa, creating a fascinating hybrid that re-enchanted his old audience and earned him a new one. It is true that the South African angle (including its controversial aspect during the apartheid days) was a powerful marketing tool and that the catchy music succeeded in presenting listeners with that magical combination: something they'd never heard before that nevertheless sounded familiar. As eclectic as any record Simon had made, it also delved into zydeco and conjunto-flavored rock & roll while marking a surprising new lyrical approach (presaged on some songs on Hearts and Bones); for the most part, Simon abandoned a linear, narrative approach to his words, instead drawing highly poetic ("Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes"), abstract ("The Boy in the Bubble"), and satiric ("I Know What I Know") portraits of modern life, often charged by striking images and turns of phrase torn from the headlines or overheard in contemporary speech. An enormously successful record, Graceland became the standard against which subsequent musical experiments by major artists were measured.

In 1986, Graceland sold 14 million copies worldwide and garnered both the Album and Song of the Year Grammy in 1987. Simon and the members of Ladysmith Black Mambazo performed on Saturday Night Live and appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone. It generated three hit singles and it kept Paul Simon and the Graceland tour on the road for five years. Its music was heard across the globe. Today, its music and its reputation still reach generations of music enthusiasts yet so many are unaware of how pivotal that one album was during the 1980s, how it helped birth the idea of World Music and revived the career of one of America's most important songwriters. How it influenced the political progress of South Africa a country divided by institutionalized racism, causing and then transcending years of controversy. How in fact the album came to be in the first place.
This deluxe box set celebrates Graceland's 25th anniversary with bonus tracks, concert footage and video clips, the documentary film (Under African Skies), deluxe book featuring unreleased photos, new liner notes and a replica of Paul Simon's handwritten lyrics pad. The Exclusive disc contains 5 previously unreleased live tracks recorded in San Sebastian, Spain from the Graceland/Rhythm of the Saints Tour of 1989.

This deluxe package includes a luminous remastered version of Paul Simon’s landmark African-pop album, previously unreleased demos, a live concert DVD and a revealing making-of documentary. Recording in apartheid-era South Africa with local musicians was bold; the marriage of township grooves and shapely, revealing songwriting was groundbreaking. It's hard to even remember the charges of cultural imperialism that greeted Graceland when it was released. Today, the glorious bounce of "Graceland" and "You Can Call Me Al" reminds us that, for all of Simon's genius with tunes and lyrics, it's his rhythmic searching and sophistication that sets him apart.