Paul Simon 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 '80s. 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.