ALBUM REVIEW: Art Garfunkel - Watermark

    There's only so much background information that can be given for Art Garfunkel, although I will say that, in the lead-up to this album, the cards were in Garfunkel's favor. His previous album Breakaway was not only an appropriate follow-up to Angel Clare, but yielded its fair share of hit singles and eventually became certified platinum by the RIAA. Indeed, Breakaway was a very good album, and perhaps Garfunkel went in with a bit of confidence - maybe rightfully so. Watermark feels like a mix of ideas from his first two albums, just as soft and commercial as Breakaway but with a certain folk sensibility that was omnipresent on Angel Clare. For what it's worth, the highest moments on Watermark shine just as bright, but overall the record may be his most inconsistent yet. Clean and sensible production from the man himself and songwriting from the legendary Jimmy Webb isn't quite enough to carry what is ultimately a hit-or-miss batch of tunes and some lackluster performances from Garfunkel.

    Ultimately, I think Garfunkel is an artist that benefits tremendously from collaborating with as many artists as he does. This is no more evident than in the album's best moment, "(What a) Wonderful World," featuring the likes of singer-songwriter James Taylor and a certain Paul Simon, who at this point you should all be familiar with - for Garfunkel hating Paul as much as he does, he sure did like to collaborate with him. Jokes aside, it is a lovely rendition of the classic tune, complete with a great performance from Garfunkel. This is, funnily enough, the only song not produced by Garfunkel, instead being handled by the legendary producer Phil Ramone. The rest of the album is handled solely by Art Garfunkel, and I'd wager that it's probably the best-produced out of his three, honestly - it's not as big and falsely climatic as Angel Clare and it sounds a little less muddled than Richard Perry's work on Breakaway in my mind. This mixing of production styles really does benefit numerous songs, from the light opener of "Crying in My Sleep" or the mysterious sound of the album's title track. For the most part, Garfunkel seemingly spared no expense in making Watermark is best sounding record.

    Now, unfortunately, the song collection leaves a bit to be desired. Compared to the varied writers from the first two records, Watermark is mostly all written by Jimmy Webb. Now, while Webb is certainly a capable songwriter, some of the material cooked up on this record is seriously lacking. The overly smooth "Saturday Suit" looses all its energy before it even begins, and while the two song run of "Marionette" and "Shine It on Me" certainly has a bit more energy (or at least the former does), they just aren't that good to begin with. Now, to be fair to Jimmy, his songwriting on the album is typically decent enough, and the worst song is one not written by him - that title goes to a rendition of "She Moved Through the Fair," an old traditional tune that sounds like a Still Crazy leftover in the worst possible way. It should be worth mentioning that another track, "Fingerprints" has been effectively erased from the album in favor of "(What a) Wonderful World," so maybe that track is worse for all we know - I wouldn't, since I didn't hear it.

    Watermark is a semi-mixed bag. The overall strengths of the album lie in the fact that it's by a good distance Garfunkel's best sounding record, brilliantly produced to a clean and rich sound that blends aspects of his first two records together. If only more of the songs had the weight to provide more substance to the style, because we'd probably be looking at Garfunkel's best solo album yet if that were the case. As is, we are left with a fine collection of good, okay, and not-so-okay songs with some great production - like putting icing on white bread.

RATING: ✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯

Listen to Watermark.