10 Greatest Final Albums In Rock

10. Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon and Garfunkel

Considering the type of music they play, Simon and Garfunkel feels like one of the last bands to get caught up in band drama. When you hear about the drug problems of the Rolling Stones or people like Alice Cooper getting into legal trouble, the guys who wrote The Sound of Silence belong in a whole separate universe. Their relationship was just as volatile as everyone else’s though, and it’s practically a miracle that they got to make Bridge Over Troubled Water.

During the production cycle for this record, both Paul and Art were not getting along, disagreeing on every single creative direction and getting more frustrated with how the other was dictating things. Although some of these songs sound like the demos for what would become both of their solo careers, that tension is what created the magic on these tracks, bringing together the world music percussion on a song like Cecilia and delving into more adult contemporary songs on So Long Frank Lloyd Wright.

Once they put down all of their baggage, songs like their cover of Bye Bye Love have that same chemistry we had known them for, along with the title track’s beautiful wish for peace even when times are at their darkest. Both of these men would lead very different lives in the mainstream, but this is one of the last times where they felt stronger together than apart.