'60s Folk, Folk Rock/Pop, Pop; Simon & Garfunkel - Old Friends (1997 Columbia-Legacy, Austria) 3 CD Collection

The Collected Works was a triple-disc box set that included all of the duo's albums, but no rarities. For average fans -- even fairly dedicated ones -- that set contained most everything they would need, even if the sound quality was a little below average. Old Friends is a three-disc box set that was designed to replace The Collected Works, but it fails to achieve its goals despite its improved remastered sound.

Part of the reason is the content itself -- all five albums plus the rarities on this set could have fit on three discs, offering a real complete recorded studio works, but the compilers decided to truncate the albums and toss on a handful of rarities.

The result certainly isn't bad -- after all, it features all of the hits, most of the major album tracks, the 1975 reunion "My Little Town," and a couple of good rarities like "Blues Run the Game" -- but it isn't all it could have been.

If you already own The Collected Works, Old Friends serves little purpose unless you're a collector or audiophile, and if you're a neophyte, you're better off obtaining the original albums, not this well-intentioned and enjoyable but ultimately unsuccessful compilation.(S.T. Erlewine, allmusic.com)

My opinion is a little different. I think the collection is something for different groups of people. For newbies the box is perfect, because it offers a wonderful 52 pages booklet with lots of information and which fan who doesn't know the duo yet will buy the original albums directly? Then the box was interesting for me, because I'm not the big fan, but I like their hits and also some other things of them. What I want to say is that the box is interesting for all the people who don't own the albums from 1964 to 1970. All hits, the most important album tracks as well as some rarities offer a good overview of Simon & Garfunkel in the sixties. Booklet is included. Enjoy (Frank)

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Part 2 (zippy)                                                Part 2 (M)

Part 3 (zippy)                                                Part 3 (M)

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