100 Greatest Albums of All Time

51. Bridge Over Troubled Water, Simon and Garfunkel, Columbia, 1970

On their fifth and final studio album, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel were pulling away from each other: Simon assembled some of it while Garfunkel was in Mexico starting his acting career with a part in the film version of Catch-22. Garfunkel vetoed Simon’s “Cuba Sí, Nixon No,” and Simon nixed Garfunkel’s idea for a Bach chorale. But what remains is the partnership at its best: wry, wounded songs with healing harmonies such as “The Boxer,” though the gorgeous title track was sung by Garfunkel alone, despite his resistance. “He felt I should have done it,” Simon told ROLLING STONE in 1972. “And many times I’m sorry I didn’t do it.”