Doin' the Friday Shuffle

1. "The Sounds of Silence" - Paul Simon (sung by Jason Raize) - Paul Simon - Broadway Sings the Best of Paul Simon
Wow, this is even worse than I remembered. Just really, really bad, badly arranged, sung, and over-produced. And I like Broadway stylings!

2. "Love Takes Time/Remember?/In Praise of Women/Perpetual Anticipation/The Sun won't Set" - Stephen Sondheim - Putting It Together (1993 New York Cast)
Another loser. Not a real medley fan. Although Julie Andrews singing Sondheim does have much to recommend it.

3. "Overture" - The Who - Thirty Years of Maximum R&B
Maybe my favorite rock instrumental ever.

4. "Into the Forest" - Danny Elfman - Corpse Bride
A relatively recent acquisition I have yet to get into. The few listens I've given it, though, are encouraging.

5. "Quiet" - Paul Simon - You're the One
A slow, moody, monotonous piece. A bit too slow, moody, and monotonous, truth be told.

6. "Staring at the Sun" - U2 - Pop
A great song that got a little lost in the studio, as the live acoustic version suggested.

7. "Drifter's Escape" - Bob Dylan - John Wesley Harding
I quite like the mild-mannered, shuffling phase of Dylan's career that culminated here. this song has a great little groove, and a nicely earnest and keening vocal from Dylan.

8. "My Lord Willoughby's Welcome Home" - Sting - Songs from the Labyrinth
I like this album of John Downland lute music by Sting, but maybe not as much as I expected to. Pleasant stuff, though.

9. "Rejoice" - U2 - October
That opening riff became a kind of iconic U2 riff, and rightly so. It's hard not to be charmed by Bono's earnestness here: "I can't change the world/But I can change the world in me." Cute, no?

10. "School Days Medley" - Mandy Patinkin - Kidults
consisting of a nicely arranged melding of "Inchworm," "School Days," and "Time in a Bottle." I know I said I don't generally like medleys, but, well, "generally." This one's well-executed.

Until Whenever