Columbia records billed Neil Diamond's Three Chord Opera as his first album of all-original material in 27 years (since 1974's Serenade), which was true, but deceptive....
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Columbia Records' series of two-disc, limited-edition Essential compilations of its major long-term stars -- Bob Dylan, Billy Joel, Barbra Streisand, etc. -- has been a...
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Keying off the title of an earlier hits collection on another label, Columbia's 12 Greatest Hits Volume II summed up Neil Diamond's first eight years with the label,...
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A somewhat entertaining collection of Neil Diamond's lesser-known melodies brought forth here under the title And the Singer Sings His Song. Certainly a few positives come...
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The double-CD Glory Road: 1968 to 1972 set raises all kinds of mixed emotions. On the one hand, it's a great idea to distill down the highlights of Neil Diamond's career on...
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Produced by Robbie Robertson of the Band--and don't forget Diamond appeared in the classic film The Last Waltz--this was credible pop album from an artist most rock fans...
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A beautifully recorded concept album about Diamond's own emergence from the Brooklyn streets and from the Brill Building's Tin Pan Alley. Produced by Robbie Robertson. ~...
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This album came when Neil Diamond was firmly entrenched in his adult contemporary niche. A/C can be so pandering it's insulting sometimes, but when it's done with heart and...
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Diamond's status as a world-class entertainer began here--with these terrific hit singles, all from albums now long since deleted. Included in this collection of Diamond's...
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Classics: The Early Years rounds up 12 highlights from Neil Diamond's recordings for Bang Records. These, of course, were Diamond's earliest recordings, and for many fans...
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Though Hot August Night is better known as the definitive Neil Diamond live album, Gold will have value for those who prefer the songsmith's pop-rock beginnings to the slick...
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Although Diamond has continued to sell healthy quantities of his albums and to fill arenas for his concerts, Heartlight and its title song, which was a Top Ten hit, were his...
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Actually, His 12 Greatest Hits consists of 12 songs that were hits for Neil Diamond on Uni between 1969 and 1972. "Cracklin' Rosie" is here, along with Diamond's other...
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Hot August Night 2 might not capture Neil Diamond at the peak of his career like its predecessor did, but it makes a convincing case for Diamond's skills as a showman....
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Home of the "original" "You Don't Bring Me Flowers"--and thus classic by definition--this features covers of "God Only Knows" and Joni Mitchell's "Free Man In Paris" and...
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I'm Glad You're Here With Me Tonight suffers from stilted, polished production, and a poor selection of songs; "Free Man in Paris" and "God Only Knows" may be great songs,...
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Love at the Greek captures Neil Diamond at the height of his late-'70s excess. Considerably less kinetic and exciting than the previous double-live album Hot August Night,...
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Lovescape frames Neil Diamond's typically strong, if a little over-dramatic, vocal style with plinking keyboards, cooing backup singers, and hissing, breathy synthesizers....
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Featuring Diamond's "Song Sung Blue," this was the singer's first top 5 album--and the last album he'd officially make for Uni Records. Next up: Hot August Night....
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Moods finds Neil Diamond attempting to craft a more ambitious and substantial album than his usual pop record through heavy orchestration, but the results only work when he...
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Neil Diamond, in the opinion of many critics and fans, went into an artistic decline in the mid- to late- '70s. It turns out that he still had a number of good songs left in...
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Less overproduced than its predecessors, this album immediately followed the released of Columbia's much-praised Bang Records compilation Classics: The Early Years. Had...
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Primitive attempts to capitalize on the easy listening success of Heartlight by replicating its sound and structure. In other words, it's another collection of romantic...
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Rainbow is a compilation that relies solely on compositions by folk-rock singer/songwriters and modern-day pop craftsmen, which means that the record is more consistent than...
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MCA repackaged two of Neil Diamond's albums, 1973's Rainbow, and 1968's Velvet Gloves and Spit, as a single-cassette release in the early '80s. It's not necessarily a bad...
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Not exactly a classic, but the cover songs here, all of them sung in Diamond's peculiarly appealing bellow, are particularly fab: "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore,"...
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On September Morn, Neil Diamond began to push the borders of easy listening, concentrating more on immaculately polished studio craft than songcraft. Even though the songs...
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The follow-up to his huge smash album Jonathan Livingston Seagull, this less-ambitious effort included "Longfellow Serenade" and reached No. 3 on the Billboard charts....
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Neil Diamond's first regular album release for Columbia Records, following the success of the movie soundtrack Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Serenade is a slight effort...
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While admittedly a dated project, this early Uni album is a well put together sampling of all Diamond was (via hits like "I Am...I Said") and all he admired--including...
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Driven by the hit singles "I Am...I Said" and "Crunchy Granola Suite," Stones is a stronger album than most of Neil Diamond's late-'60s records. Instead of padding the album...
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MCA repackaged two of Neil Diamond's early-'70s albums, Stones and Moods, as a single-cassette release in the early '80s. It's not necessarily a bad way to purchase the...
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Although he managed to place three singles in the charts after joining Uni Records in 1968, Neil Diamond did not achieve a real hit record on the label until March 1969,...
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While Neil Diamond's The Christmas Album is designed almost exclusively for his adult contemporary constituency, the vocalist still manages to light up most of the...
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An amazingly ambitious album for its time, incorporating African rhythms and lyrical themes and much more, this included "Cracklin' Rosie" and was perhaps Diamond's first...
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The follow-up to Touching You, Touching Me was an ambitious set of songs, all originals except for a Top 20 cover of "He Ain't Heavy...He's My Brother," including the...
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The very idea of Diamond as Al Jolson is priceless; so too are the major hits here, which include "America" and the so-overly- dramatic-it-makes-you-squeal "Love On The...
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Columbia has been Diamond's label since 1973, and it acquired the rights to his Bang material of 1966-1968. But MCA still controls the recordings from 1968-1973. That's why...
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Diamond's first regular album release to sell in substantial numbers, Touching You, Touching Me contains the gold Top Ten single "Holly Holy," and a Diamond composition, but...
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Talk about roots! Here's a man whose covering of Brill Building-era songs ranks among the most very legitimate--and it's a fab listen. Hear "Up On The Roof," "Will You...
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This is Diamond's equivalent of, say, one of Barbra Streisand's Broadway albums. Come to think of it, it's Broadway that Diamond is returning to as well; specifically, the...
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Most of Neil Diamond's albums are cluttered with filler, but few of his records were as flat-out strange as Velvet Gloves & Spit. Apart from "Two Bit Manchild," the album is...
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Featuring the very popular title track--which was first an "artificial" duet with Barbra Streisand, then legitimized here--this mainstream Diamond album also included one...
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Neil Diamond -- the voice, the artist, the entertainer -- is best described through this record as a rhapsody of American pop culture during this period in the late '70s....
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Singer Neil Diamond has crafted some of the most memorable tunes of his generation. Experience the energy and passion of Diamond's live concerts with this exciting...
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Much like its predecessor Hot August Night 2, Live in America captures Neil Diamond at the height of his powers as a showman. By the time Live in America was recorded, it...
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Neil Diamond's first Christmas album, released in 1992, was a million-seller, but even so, it seemed a little bit soon to be releasing another one only two years later. Not...
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A surprising hit--for it was in fact a country album--the former Noah Kaminsky here sings with Waylon Jennings and the Mavericks' Raul Malo. He can do anything!...
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Neil Diamond mounted a major comeback with Tennessee Moon, his first collection of new material in nearly five years. Instead of capitalizing on the psuedo-hipster status he...
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Sony repackaged and re-released three of Neil Diamond's most popular albums -- including the wonderful singles collection Classics: The Early Years, Jazz Singer and...
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Like any record company worth their salt, MCA knows a good gimmick when they see it, and when the millennium came around...well, the 20th Century Masters -- The Millennium...
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Though he tried diligently, Diamond was much more of a singles artist than album artist in his early days. This historic live recording is a classic in its...
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This is the ultimate Neil Diamond record. Not necessarily the best -- he's at his most appealing crafting in the studio -- but certainly the ultimate, capturing all the...
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The Movie Album: As Time Goes By was a double-disc set that didn't even run 70 minutes. It all could have fit on one disc, but it was decided that a double-disc was the best...
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In My Lifetime is a triple-disc, 71-track box set spanning Neil Diamond's entire career, from his early Bang hits, through his heyday at MCA to his latter-day adult...
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Neil's manager pleads with him. "Neil, baby, you got to get sophisticated. You can't expect to be swinging your ass out there singing 'Cherry Cherry' forever. Your...
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Not as comprehensive an anthology of Neil Diamond's eight-album, four-year affiliation with MCA as 1992's 38-track double Glory Road, Collection is a definitive single disc...
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