The All-TIME 100 Albums: Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon and Garfunkel

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The All-TIME 100 Albums

73 of 101

By Josh Tyrangiel Published: November 13, 2006

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ALBUM: Bridge Over Troubled Water

YEAR RELEASED: 1970 LABEL: Columbia ARTIST: Simon and Garfunkel

TIME 100 ALBUMS PODCASTS

PODCAST: Welcome to the All-TIME 100 Albums - the musical compilations of the last half-century that need no introduction. That said, listen in below as music critics Josh Tyrangiel and Alan Light introduce the list and talk about the top albums of the 1950s and '60s.

PODCAST: We know. Twenty-nine of the 100 greatest albums of all time come in the 1970s, and Pink Floyd isn't there. Play this podcast to learn why we picked the titles we did, and if you have something to say, tell us about it using the talkback link below.

PODCAST: Maybe it's a Sign O' The Times that you're listening to critics' audio recordings about great music, but this podcast about how we chose the best albums of the 1980s really is a Thriller. Give it a listen below.

PODCAST: Here's music even the younger set will know by heart. Listen to selected clips from the 1990s through present day as music critic Josh Tyrangiel discusses his picks.

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These lifelong friends pretty much hated each other by the time their fifth and final album came out. Simon wrote most of the songs while Garfunkel was acting in Catch-22, and when they got together to finalize material they feuded endlessly. (Garfunkel vetoed a song about Nixon; Simon overruled a Bach chorale. Call it a draw for them and a victory for listeners.) What made it onto the album are some of the duo's saddest melodies ("El Condor Pasa," "The Only Living Boy in New York") and most buoyant harmonies ("The Boxer," "Cecilia"). Only Garfunkel sang on the title track, which, according to BMI, was the 19th most performed song of the 20th century, spawning versions that run the quality gamut from Aretha Franklin's transcendent cover at the Fillmore in '72 to Clay Aiken's considerably less transcendent cover on American Idol in '03.