Customer Reviews: Read 85 more reviews...
 Diamond is forever May 16, 2008
Amanda Richards (Georgetown, Guyana)
37 out of 41 found this review helpful
"There are two types of people in the world: those who like Neil Diamond and those who don't." - quote from the movie "What About Bob?"
If you're in the latter category, please read no further.
If you're still with me, this is a "pretty amazing" album from the evergreen Mr. Diamond, taking us back to his music of the seventies, namely the "Song Sung Blue" and "Sweet Caroline" period. There's also no complaining about the length of the album, as there are five songs that are six minutes and above, and only one track below four minutes.
American Idol viewers would have been treated to a live performance of the single "Pretty Amazing Grace", and if you liked that one, you're really going to enjoy this album.
Other recommended tracks are:
If I Don't See You Again - the first song on the album, and the longest at 7 minutes 14 seconds.
Another Day (That Time Forgot) - with Dixie Chick Natalie Maines
Forgotten - lots of guitars
Act Like a Man - a little Moon River, a little Country, pure Diamond
Whose Hands Are These - a folksy, inspiring treasure with heavy guitar and piano backing
No Words - you'll be hooked from the intro (personal favorite)
This is vintage Diamond, and I predict a very good year indeed.
Recommended - just recommended - buy it!!
Amanda Richards, May 15, 2008
Lifelong fan's reaction May 7, 2008
Laura A. Williams (Milwaukee, WI)
33 out of 36 found this review helpful
I have been a Neil Diamond fan my whole life. One of the first songs I remember learning by heart is "Song Sung Blue," taught to me when I was three or four by my then-teenage sisters. I was taken to my first concert when I was about 10. I've grown up with this man's music -- singing it, teaching it to myself on the guitar and piano, returning to old favorites as I got older and finding nuances that I had missed when I was younger.
This is, hands down, his finest album. I feel a little sorry for the reviewers both here and in the media who can't see that. Those who long for the boom-boom-boom of the 80s, the sequins and muttonchop whiskers, are forgetting that, first and foremost, Neil Diamond is a songwriter. For too many people, the whole Neil Diamond thing has never actually been about the music. It's all about "the scene," the big events, the production numbers, the over-the-top orchestrations and the oversized flag descending onstage at the end of "America." Really, it's too bad that not everyone can hear these songs for what they are: some of the best of his career, right up there with anything he wrote 30 years ago.
Over the years I've turned my husband, a die-hard classic rock aficionado, into a fan. We caught our nine-year-old daughter singing along to "Pretty Amazing Grace" in the car last night. If that doesn't prove the timelessness of these new songs, and the man who wrote them, I don't know what will. I hope he keeps recording with Rick Rubin and this stripped-down little band until he's ready to call it quits -- a long time from now.
Love this CD!!! May 8, 2008
Linda A. Manning
11 out of 12 found this review helpful
Home Before Dark may not resemble the music that Neil turned out in the 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's however the songwriting and performing on this CD is nothing less than incredible. This is a new style for Neil, which he started with 12 Songs, and in my opinion he has fined tuned it in Home Before Dark and made it his own in a very extraordinary way. Don't buy this CD if you are looking for a CD full of Sweet Caroline songs however if you are a serious music lover and Neil Diamond fan I would highly recommend purchasing this CD. This CD showcases Neil's talent at its best!!
Way to go Neil!! Hope this CD makes it to #1!!!!!!!!!
Possibly the finest recording of Diamond's career May 7, 2008
DalkeyPlayer (Ireland)
10 out of 12 found this review helpful
Diamond's second collaboration with Rick Rubin, following on from 12 Songs, sees him embrace, more fully, the stripped down production values that put a premium on songcraft and honesty of delivery. This is a very intimate, personal, lyrical and powerful piece of work. Where Diamond had been a little tentative in his approach to Rubin's uncluttered production values on 12 songs, here he is confident and authoritative and fully committed.
The opening track, If I Don't See You Again, sets the tone for the entire collection. Running to a full 7 minutes it is superbly crafted and lyrically engaging. It is one of those songs that engages fully on first hearing and then improves with every subsequent exposure.
Pretty Amazing Grace, the song Diamond performed recently on American Idol, draws you in, builds beautifully and stays in your head long after it is over.
The Duet with Natalie Maines, Another Day (That Time Forgot), is one of the highlights of this collection. The song is wistful and wonderful and the way their voices complement each other is exquisite.
Forgotten is almost a throwback to Diamond's Bang days, but here is a man who has lived a full life and is not pretending otherwise. The Power Of Two is a power love song in the best Diamond tradition.
I could go on, but you get the picture. This is a collection I would heartily recommend to anyone that enjoys pure songwriting, delivered simply, elegantly, eloquently and with integrity and passion. I thought 12 Songs was one of the records of 2005. This is superior in every way
nice follow-up May 7, 2008
the drifter (minneapolis)
10 out of 11 found this review helpful
this is a great second edition to the Rick Rubin/Neil Diamond collaborations. Neil seems to bring everything to his craft for this one. I would have liked at least one song with a bit more groove to it, but such a song might have stuck out like a sore thumb.
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