Neil Diamond Albums: The Very Best of Neil Diamond: The Original Studio Recordings

Back for another Neil Diamond compilation album. This time, we look at The Very Best of Neil Diamond.

The Very Best of Neil Diamond: The Original Studio Recordings is a compilation album that was released in 2011 by Columbia Records. As the name suggests it contains 23 studio recordings of Diamond’s greatest hits. The promotional video states that all Diamond’s “all time greatest hits for the first time on 1 CD” – although there have been other compilation CDs with studio recordings, this is all his hits up to this point.

Although the compilation album only reached US #45 on the Billboard Charts, it did well in the UK, reaching #5 in the UK Albums chart and reaching Platinum status.

The compilation album was also released in a limited box set edition which contained five photo postcards of Diamond as well as the album itself.

Tracklisting

Writer credits shown in brackets.

1. Forever In Blue Jeans (Neil Diamond, Richard Bennett)
2. Beautiful Noise (Neil Diamond)
3. Love On The Rocks (Neil Diamond, Gilbert Bécaud)
4. Cherry, Cherry (Neil Diamond)
5. I Am…I Said (Neil Diamond)
6. Sweet Caroline (Neil Diamond)
7. Cracklin’ Rosie (Neil Diamond)
8. Play Me (Neil Diamond)
9. I’m A Believer (Neil Diamond)
10. Girl, You’ll Be A Woman Soon (Neil Diamond)
11. Holly Holy (Neil Diamond)
12. Solitary Man (Neil Diamond)
13. Song Sung Blue (Neil Diamond)
14. You Don’t Bring Me Flowers (duet with Barbra Streisand) (Neil Diamond, Alan Bergman, Marilyn Bergman)
15. Hello Again (Neil Diamond, Alan Lindgren)
16. Red, Red Wine (Neil Diamond)
17. If You Know What I Mean (Neil Diamond)
18. Brother Love’s Travelling Salvation Show (Neil Diamond)
19. Pretty Amazing Grace (Neil Diamond)
20. Kentucky Woman (Neil Diamond)
21. Shilo (Neil Diamond)
22. America (Neil Diamond)
23. Hell Yeah (Neil Diamond)

Album Availability

The album is available on CD, digitally and streaming services which you can get now.

Next time on Neil Diamond Albums, we look at Diamond’s next studio album, Melody Road 😃!

Neil Diamond Albums: The Bang Years 1966-1968

It’s now time to check out a compilation album. It goes back right to the beginning, The Bang Years.

The Bang Years 1966-1968 was a compilation album for Diamond and was released in 2011 on Columbia Records. This is the first time that all of Diamond’s songs from his time on Bang Records have been digitally released on CD including some songs like “The Time Is Now” that make their debut on CD. It takes all the songs from his first two studio albums, The Feel Of Neil Diamond and Just For You as well as the non-album single release of “Kentucky Woman” (that did appear on the Bang Records compilation, Neil Diamond’s Greatest Hits released in 1968).

All versions of the songs featured in this compilation is mono. There is a true stereo version of “You Got To Me” found on the 1983 compilation album, Classics: The Early Years (click here to read more about this compilation album).

The album features liner notes by Diamond with his memories of the recordings during his time at Bang Records.

The album itself did not chart in the US and only reached #88 in the UK Albums Chart. But despite this, it is a great introduction album worth checking out and seeing how it all started for Diamond in his early music career.

“Crooked Street” and “Shot Down”

Two songs that are noticeably absent from The Bang Years are “Crooked Street” and “Shot Down”. The reason for their exclusion was that they were not officially released by Diamond. These two songs actually came from the Bang Records vaults and ended up on the compilation album, Do It!, for the first time, that the record company released in 1971 after Diamond left the record company and signed up for Uni Records. These two songs appear in demo format.

Tracklisting

Writer credits shown in brackets.

1. Solitary Man (Neil Diamond)
2. Cherry, Cherry (Neil Diamond)
3. Girl, You’ll Be A Woman Soon (Neil Diamond)
4. Kentucky Woman (Neil Diamond)
5. Thank The Lord For The Night Time (Neil Diamond)
6. You Got To Me (Neil Diamond)
7. I’m A Believer (Neil Diamond)
8. Red Red Wine (Neil Diamond)
9. The Boat That I Row (Neil Diamond)
10. Do It (Neil Diamond)
11. New Orleans (Frank Guida, Joseph Royster)
12. Monday Monday (John Phillips)
13. Red Rubber Ball (Paul Simon)
14. I’ll Come Running (Neil Diamond)
15. La Bamba (Ritchie Valens)
16. The Long Way Home (Neil Diamond)
17. I’ve Got The Feelin’ (Oh No, No) (Neil Diamond)
18. You’ll Forget (Neil Diamond)
19. Love To Love (Neil Diamond)
20. Someday Baby (Neil Diamond)
21. Hanky Panky (Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich)
22. The Time Is Now (Neil Diamond)
23. Shilo (Neil Diamond)

Album Availability

The album is available on CD, digitally and streaming services which you can get now.

Next time on Neil Diamond Albums, we check out yet another compilation album, The Very Best Of Neil Diamond: The Original Studio Recordings 😃!

Neil Diamond Albums: Dreams

We now check out the next studio album from Neil Diamond, Dreams.

Dreams was the twenty-ninth studio album for Diamond and was released in 2010 on Columbia Records. This is a covers album featuring songs that are among Diamond’s favourites. It is the first covers album in a while since The Movie Album – As Time Goes By in 1998.

As well Diamond’s favourite songs he covered, he does add in his own, a newly recorded version of “I’m A Believer” that was a hit of the band, The Monkees.

The album did well and reached US #8 on the Billboard 200 Charts. The album also did well in the UK reaching #8 in the UK Albums Chart and certified Gold.

Two singles were released from Dreams, “Yesterday”, a cover by The Beatles and “Midnight Train To Georgia”, a cover by Gladys Knight & The Pips. Both did not chart.

Tracklisting

Writer credits shown in brackets.

1. Ain’t No Sunshine (Bill Withers)
2. Blackbird (John Lennon, Paul McCartney)
3. Alone Again (Naturally) (Gilbert O’Sullivan)
4. Feels Like Home (Randy Newman)
5. Midnight Train To Georgia (Jim Weatherly)
6. I’m A Believer (Neil Diamond)
7. Love Song (Lesley Duncan)
8. Losing You (Randy Newman)
9. Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen)
10. A Song For You (Leon Russell)
11. Yesterday (John Lennon, Paul McCartney)
12. Let It Be Me (Gilbert Bécaud, Manny Curtis, Pierre Delanoë)
13. Desperado (Glenn Frey, Don Henley)
14. Don’t Forget Me (Harry Nilsson)

My Favourite Songs from this album

• Ain’t No Sunshine
• Alone Again (Naturally)
• I’m A Believer
• Yesterday

Album Availability

The album is available on CD, digitally and streaming services which you can get now.

Next time on Neil Diamond Albums, we finally get a release which looks at his early material on CD, The Bang Years 1966-1968 😃!

Neil Diamond Albums: A Cherry Cherry Christmas

It might be July, but we must continue Neil Diamond Albums blog series in chronological order and it just so happens it is a Christmas album, A Cherry Cherry Christmas.

A Cherry Cherry Christmas was the twenty-eighth studio album for Diamond and was released in 2009 on Columbia Records. This album is a combination of newly released material as well as a selection of previously released Christmas songs from his two previous Christmas albums, The Christmas Album (1992) and The Christmas Album Volume II (1994).

The album features the title track, “Cherry Cherry Christmas” which Diamond wrote especially for this album. It is an interesting take as Diamond drops in several of his own song titles within the song (including the title track which features the song title, “Cherry, Cherry”). See how many Diamond song titles you can find when listening to the song! In addition, Diamond released a cover of the song, “The Chanukah Song” by Adam Sandler. Diamond said “There are so many beautiful Christmas songs around and so few Hanukkah songs”.

The title track, “Cherry Cherry Christmas” was the only song released as a single and it did well reaching US #4 on the US Adult Contemporary Chart.

Tracklisting

Writer credits shown in brackets.

1. Cherry Cherry Christmas (Neil Diamond)
2. Sleigh Ride** (Leroy Anderson, Mitchell Parish)
3. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas** (Hugh Martin, Ralph Blane)
4. White Christmas* (Irving Berlin)
5. Christmas Dream (Neil Diamond)
6. The Christmas Song* (Mel Tormé, Bob Wells)
7. Deck The Halls/We Wish You A Merry Christmas** (Traditional)
8. Jingle Bell Rock* (Joe Beale, Jim Boothe)
9. You Make It Feel Like Christmas* (Neil Diamond)
10. Winter Wonderland** (Felix Bernard, Richard B. Smith)
11. Joy To The World** (Isaac Watts, Lowell Mason)
12. Amazing Grace (John Newton)
13. Meditations On A Winter Night (DJ Ashba)
14. The Chanukah Song (Adam Sandler)

* Taken from The Christmas Album

** Taken from The Christmas Album Volume II

My Favourite Songs from this album

• Cherry Cherry Christmas
• Christmas Dream

Album Availability

The album is available on CD, digitally and streaming services which you can get now.

Next time on Neil Diamond Albums, Diamond covers some of his favourite songs, Dreams 😃!

Neil Diamond Albums: Hot August Night/NYC

We now look at the next live album from Neil Diamond. It’s Hot August Night/NYC!

Hot August Night/NYC was a live album for Diamond and was released in 2009 on Columbia Records. This is the third live album in the Hot August Night series following on from Hot August Night (1972) and Hot August Night II (1987).

Hot August Night/NYC was recorded live at Madison Square Garden in New York City in 2008. The double CD contains the full live concert and also contains some bonus live music taken from other venues.

The live album peaked at US #2 in the Billboard charts and was certified double Platinum. This is the highest ranking for a live album for Diamond. In the UK, it reached #14 in the UK Albums Chart and was certified Gold.

Tracklisting

Writer credits shown in brackets.

Disc One

1. Holly Holy (Neil Diamond)
2. Street Life (Neil Diamond)
3. Beautiful Noise (Neil Diamond)
4. Love On The Rocks (Neil Diamond, Gilbert Bécaud)
5. Play Me (Neil Diamond)
6. Cherry, Cherry (Neil Diamond)
7. Thank The Lord For The Night Time (Neil Diamond)
8. Home Before Dark (Neil Diamond)
9. Don’t Go There (Neil Diamond)
10. Pretty Amazing Grace (Neil Diamond)
11. Crunchy Granola Suite (Neil Diamond)
12. Done Too Soon (Neil Diamond)
13. Brooklyn Roads (Neil Diamond)
14. I Am…I Said (Neil Diamond)
15. Solitary Man (Neil Diamond)
16. Kentucky Woman (Neil Diamond)
17. Forever In Blue Jeans (Neil Diamond, Richard Bennett)
18. Sweet Caroline (Neil Diamond)

Disc Two

1. You Don’t Bring Me Flowers (Neil Diamond, Alan Bergman, Marilyn Bergman)
2. Song Sung Blue (Neil Diamond)
3. I’m A Believer (Neil Diamond)
4. Man Of God (Neil Diamond)
5. Hell Yeah (Neil Diamond)
6. Cracklin’ Rosie (Neil Diamond)
7. America (Neil Diamond)
8. Brother Love’s Travelling Salvation Show (Neil Diamond)
9. Lady-Oh (Bonus Live) (Neil Diamond)
10. If You Know What I Mean (Bonus Live) (Neil Diamond)
11. Glory Road (Bonus Live) (Neil Diamond)

Hot August Night/NYC DVD

Also released at the same time was a DVD release of the full concert recorded live in Madison Square Garden in New York City. As well as the concert, there is bonus material in the form of “Welcome Home Neil” which is a documentary of Diamond checking out his home town of New York City.

Songs performed: Holly Holy, Street Life, Beautiful Noise, Love On The Rocks, Play Me, Cherry Cherry, Thank The Lord For The Night Time, Home Before Dark, Don’t Go There, Pretty Amazing Grace, Crunchy Granola Suite, Done Too Soon, Brooklyn Roads, I Am…I Said, Solitary Man, Kentucky Woman, Forever In Blue Jeans, Sweet Caroline, Sweet Caroline (reprise), You Don’t Bring Me Flowers, Song Sung Blue, I’m A Believer, Man Of God, Hell Yeah, Cracklin’ Rosie, America, Brother Love’s Travelling Salvation Show

My Favourite Songs from this album

• Home Before Dark
• Crunchy Granola Suite
• Forever In Blue Jeans
• Sweet Caroline
• America

Album Availability

The album is available on CD, digitally and streaming services which you can get now.

Next time on Neil Diamond Albums, we look at another festive album, A Cherry Cherry Christmas 😃!

Neil Diamond Albums: Home Before Dark

Time to check the next studio album by Neil Diamond and this was a successful hit, Home Before Dark.

Home Before Dark was the twenty-seventh studio album for Diamond and was released in 2008 on Columbia Records. This was the second album that was produced by Rick Rubin and contained new original material written by Diamond.

This was a critically acclaimed album as Home Before Dark hit the top spot reaching US #1 in the Billboard Charts and certified Gold. It also reached #1 in the UK Album Charts certified Platinum. It also hit number one in New Zealand as well.

Two singles were released from the album. The first was “Pretty Amazing Grace” which reached US #30 in the Billboard Charts. It reached #49 in the UK Singles Charts (#42 in the UK Download Charts). The second was “If I Don’t See You Again” which did not chart.

It is interesting to note that Home Before Dark features one of Diamond’s longest running songs in his entire catalogue. “If I Don’t See You Again” runs a playing time of 7 minutes 13 seconds.

Tracklisting

All songs written by Neil Diamond

1. If I Don’t See You Again
2. Pretty Amazing Grace
3. Don’t Go There
4. Another Day (That Time Forgot) (duet with Natalie Maines)
5. One More Bite Of The Apple
6. Forgotten
7. Act Like A Man
8. Whose Hands Are These
9. No Words
10. The Power Of Two
11. Slow It Down
12. Home Before Dark

Home Before Dark – Deluxe Edition

Also released at the same time as the regular edition was a deluxe version of Home Before Dark which featured two bonus songs and a DVD which features a live two song set plus an exclusive studio session of “The Boxer”, a cover of the Simon & Garfunkel song which never made it to the album. It is worth a listen!

Disc One – CD

1. If I Don’t See You Again (Neil Diamond)
2. Pretty Amazing Grace (Neil Diamond)
3. Don’t Go There (Neil Diamond)
4. Another Day (That Time Forgot) (duet with Natalie Maines) (Neil Diamond)
5. One More Bite Of The Apple (Neil Diamond)
6. Forgotten (Neil Diamond)
7. Act Like A Man (Neil Diamond)
8. Whose Hands Are These (Neil Diamond)
9. No Words (Neil Diamond)
10. The Power Of Two (Neil Diamond)
11. Slow It Down (Neil Diamond)
12. Home Before Dark (Neil Diamond)
13. Without Her (Harry Nilsson)
14. Make You Feel My Love (Bob Dylan)

Disc Two – DVD

1. Pretty Amazing Grace (Neil Diamond)
2. If I Don’t See You Again (Neil Diamond)
3. Forgotten (Neil Diamond)
4. The Boxer (Paul Simon)

My Favourite Songs from this album

• Pretty Amazing Grace
• Don’t Go There
• No Words
• Home Before Dark

Album Availability

The album is available on CD, digitally and streaming services which you can get now.

Next time on Neil Diamond Albums, we check out a live album, Hot August Night/NYC 😃!

Neil Diamond Albums: 12 Songs

It has been a while since we checked a Neil Diamond studio album, but its now time to look at the next one, 12 Songs.

12 Songs was the twenty-sixth studio album for Diamond and was released in 2005 on Columbia Records. It had a been a while since Diamond release his next studio album, but there was a reason for this. Diamond worked with producer Rick Rubin who had suggested to Diamond to listen to some of his old material in the 1960s. They had spent time getting ideas and Diamond ended up writing several songs before it finally made it to the album. This also got Diamond playing more of his guitar live on stage.

This paid off because the album was a hit. It reached US #4 on the Billboard Charts and was certified Gold. In the UK, the album was a top 5 hit reaching #5 in the UK Albums Charts and certified Gold.

One single was released from the album, “Delirious Love” with The Beach Boys singer, Brian Wilson which reached US #27 in the Billboard Adult Contemporary Chart.

The album was released as a regular release and a special version that included two bonus tracks, “Men Are So Easy” and “Delirious Love” with Brian Wilson.

Extended Copy Protection

Sony BMG had added Extended Copy Protection (XCP) software on the initial copies of 12 Songs. This was supposed to prevent users from copying the songs onto their Windows computers. However, the software also exposed the computer to malicious attacks. Rubin and Diamond were not aware of this and made them furious because it hurt sales of the album. All future releases did not feature the software.

Tracklisting

All songs written by Neil Diamond

1. Oh Mary
2. Hell Yeah
3. Captain Of A Shipwreck
4. Evermore
5. Save Me A Saturday Night
6. Delirious Love
7. I’m On To You
8. What’s It Gonna Be
9. Man Of God
10. Create Me
11. Face Me
12. We
13. Men Are So Easy (bonus track – special version)
14. Delirious Love (with Brian Wilson) (bonus track – special version)

12 Sketches – Artist’s Cut

In 2006, Diamond released a limited edition of 12 Songs which featured a bonus disc which contained demos and early versions of the songs featured in 12 Songs. Also featured is a booklet with lyrics.

Disc One

1. Oh Mary
2. Hell Yeah
3. Captain Of A Shipwreck
4. Evermore
5. Save Me A Saturday Night
6. Delirious Love
7. I’m On To You
8. What’s It Gonna Be
9. Man Of God
10. Create Me
11. Face Me
12. We
13. Men Are So Easy
14. Delirious Love (with Brian Wilson)

Disc Two

1. Oh Mary (demo)
2. Hell Yeah (early take)
3. Captain Of A Shipwreck (alternate take)
4. Evermore (early take)
5. Save Me On A Saturday Night (alternate take)
6. Delirious Love (early take)
7. I’m On To You (demo)
8. What’s It Gonna Be (alternate take)
9. Man Of God (early take)
10. Create Me (alternate take)
11. Face Me (demo)
12. We (early take)
13. Men Are So Easy (alternate mix)

My Favourite Songs from this album

• Hell Yeah
• Delirious Love
• I’m On To You
• We

Album Availability

The album is available on CD, digitally and streaming services which you can get now.

Next time on Neil Diamond Albums, we look at another great studio album which was top hit, Home Before Dark 😃!

Neil Diamond Albums: Stages (Performances 1970-2002)

We now look at yet another official live compilation album, Stages (Performances 1970-2002).

Stages (Performances 1970-2002) was a live compilation album for Diamond and was released in 2003 on Columbia Records. This compilation contains live performances that Diamond has performed between 1970 and 2002. This special box set contains 5 CDs and a DVD. The first two CDs contains a complete live concert in Las Vegas, Nevada which took place in 2002. The next two CDs looks at Many Stages and live performances over the years between 1970 and 2002. The final CD is called Live Christmas and contains live performances of Christmas songs. The DVD is split into two parts – the first is highlights from a concert at Lansdowne Road in Dublin, Ireland in 2002 and a documentary looking backstage and behind the scenes. The box set also contains a booklet with exclusive photos and information about the live set.

The live set contains many previously unreleased performances including some great live cover versions of some well known songs by other artists.

Tracklisting

Writer credits shown in brackets.

Disc One – A Night In Las Vegas 27/12/2002

1. Overture (Neil Diamond, Alan Lindgren)
2. America (Neil Diamond)
3. A Mission Of Love (Neil Diamond)
4. Hello Again (Neil Diamond, Alan Lindgren)
5. Kentucky Woman (Neil Diamond)
6. The Boat That I Row (Neil Diamond)
7. Cherry, Cherry (Neil Diamond)
8. Red Red Wine (Neil Diamond)
9. I’m A Believer (Neil Diamond)
10. Play Me (Neil Diamond)
11. Love On The Rocks (Neil Diamond, Gilbert Bécaud)
12. Soolaimon (Neil Diamond)
13. If You Know What I Mean (Neil Diamond)
14. Beautiful Noise (Neil Diamond)
15. Girl, You’ll Be A Woman Soon (Neil Diamond)
16. I Haven’t Played This Song In Years (Neil Diamond)
17. You Are The Best Part Of Me (Neil Diamond)
18. Forever In Blue Jeans (Neil Diamond, Richard Bennett)

Disc Two – A Night In Las Vegas 27/12/2002

1. Starflight (Tom Hensley, Alan Lindgren)
2. Captain Sunshine (Neil Diamond)
3. Holly Holy (Neil Diamond)
4. Sweet Caroline (Neil Diamond)
5. Sweet Caroline (reprise) (Neil Diamond)
6. You Don’t Bring Me Flowers (Neil Diamond, Alan Bergman, Marilyn Bergman)
7. Yes I Will/Lady Magdalene (Neil Diamond)
8. Shilo (Neil Diamond)
9. He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother (Bob Russell, Russell Scott)
10. I Am…I Said (Neil Diamond)
11. Cracklin’ Rosie (Neil Diamond)
12. Brother Love’s Travelling Salvation Show (Neil Diamond)
13. America (Walk Off) (Neil Diamond)

Disc Three – Many Stages

1. Lordy (Neil Diamond)
2. Brooklyn Roads (Neil Diamond)
3. Home Is A Wounded Heart (Neil Diamond)
4. The Last Picasso (Neil Diamond)
5. The Last Thing On My Mind (Tom Paxton)
6. You Got To Me (Neil Diamond)
7. God Only Knows (Tony Asher, Brian Wilson)
8. Lay Lady Lay (Bob Dylan)
9. Glory Road (Neil Diamond)
10. Rocket Man (Elton John, Bernie Taupin)
11. Say Maybe (Neil Diamond)
12. Once In A While (Neil Diamond)
13. Rainy Day Song (Neil Diamond, Gilbert Bécaud)
14. Guitar Heaven (Neil Diamond, Gilbert Bécaud)
15. Songs Of Life (Neil Diamond, Gilbert Bécaud)
16. Fire On The Tracks (Neil Diamond)
17. Brooklyn On A Saturday Night (Neil Diamond)
18. Primitive (Neil Diamond)
19. The Story Of My Life (Neil Diamond)

Disc Four – Many Stages

1. This Time (Neil Diamond, David Foster, Jeremy Lubbock)
2. The American Popular Song (Tom Hensley)
3. Teach Me Tonight (Sammy Cahn, Gene DePaul)
4. Dedicated To The One I Love (Ralph Bass, Lowman Pauling)
5. Spanish Harlem (Jerry Lieber, Phil Spector)
6. Beatles Medley: Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End (John Lennon, Paul McCartney)
7. Sweet L.A. Days (Neil Diamond, Doug Rhone)
8. Fortune Of The Night (Neil Diamond, Tom Hensley, Alan Lindgren)
9. Mountains Of Love (Neil Diamond, Tom Hensley, Alan Lindgren)
10. If There Were No Dreams (Neil Diamond, Michel Legrand)
11. All I Really Need Is You (Neil Diamond, Tom Hensley, Alan Lindgren)
12. Yesterday’s Songs (Neil Diamond)
13. Can Anybody Hear Me (Neil Diamond, Bill LaBounty)
14. Talking Optimist Blues (Good Day Today) (Neil Diamond, Gretchen Peters)
15. Everybody (Neil Diamond, Jesse Diamond)
16. Marry Me (Neil Diamond, Tom Shapiro)
17. In My Lifetime (Neil Diamond)
18. I Got The Feeling’ (Oh No, No) (Neil Diamond)
19. Longfellow Serenade (Neil Diamond)
20. Unchained Melody (Alex North, Hy Zaret)
21. I Believe In Happy Endings (Neil Diamond)

Disc Five – Live Christmas

1. O Holy Night (Adolphe Adam, John Sullivan Dwight)
2. Silent Night (Franz Gruber, Joseph Mohr)
3. White Christmas (Irving Berlin)
4. Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer (Johnny Marks)
5. O Come, O Come Emmanuel (Traditional)
6. Little Drummer Boy (Katherine Kennikott Davis)
7. Morning Has Broken (Eleanor Farjeon)
8. You Make It Feel Like Christmas (Neil Diamond)
9. The Christmas Song (Mel Tormé, Robert Wells)
10. Winter Wonderland (Felix Bernard, Richard B. Smith)
11. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town (J. Fred Coots, Haven Gillespie)
12. We Wish You A Merry Christmas (Traditional)

Disc Six (DVD)

Part 1: Onstage Highlights – Filmed Live From Dublin, Lansdowne Road 06/07/2022

• America
• Hello Again
• Solitary Man
• I’m A Believer
• September Morn
• Beautiful Noise
• Girl, You’ll Be A Woman Soon
• Sweet Caroline
• Sweet Caroline (reprise)
• I Am…I Said
• Cracklin’ Rosie
• Brother Love’s Travelling Salvation Show

Part 2: Welcome to Diamondville 2001-2022 (A Documentary Life On The Road)

Album Availability

The album is available on CD, digitally and streaming services which you can get now.

Next time on Neil Diamond Albums, we look at the next studio album and it is time to go back to basics, 12 Songs 😃!

Neil Diamond Albums: The Essential Neil Diamond

It’s time to look at another compilation album, The Essential Neil Diamond.

The Essential Neil Diamond was a compilation album for Diamond and was released in 2001 on Columbia Records. This compilation has a combination of studio recordings as well as some live renditions of some of his hits. The selections were made by Diamond and collaborator Al Quaglieri.

The compilation album reached #90 on the Billboard Charts and was eventually certified Double Platinum. In the UK, it did well and the compilation album reached #11 in the UK Albums Charts and certified Gold.

Tracklisting

Writer credits shown in brackets.

Disc One

1. Solitary Man (Neil Diamond)
2. Cherry, Cherry (Neil Diamond)
3. I Got The Feelin’ (Oh No, No) (Neil Diamond)
4. Kentucky Woman (Neil Diamond)
5. Girl, You’ll Be A Woman (Neil Diamond)
6. You Got To Me (Neil Diamond)
7. Red Red Wine (Neil Diamond)
8. Thank The Lord For The Night Time (Neil Diamond)
9. I’m A Believer (Neil Diamond)
10. Sweet Caroline (Neil Diamond)
11. Song Sung Blue (Neil Diamond)
12. Holly Holy (Neil Diamond)
13. I Am…I Said (Neil Diamond)
14. Cracklin’ Rosie (Neil Diamond)
15. Play Me (live) (Neil Diamond)
16. Morningside (live) (Neil Diamond)
17. Crunchy Granola Suite (live) (Neil Diamond)
18. Brooklyn Roads (live) (Neil Diamond)
19. Soolaimon (live) (Neil Diamond)

Disc Two

1. America (Neil Diamond)
2. Hello Again (Neil Diamond)
3. Love On The Rocks (Neil Diamond, Gilbert Bécaud)
4. Captain Sunshine (live) (Neil Diamond)
5. He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother (live) (Bob Russell, Bobby Scott)
6. Yes I Will/Mary Magdalene (live) (Neil Diamond)
7. Shilo (live) (Neil Diamond)
8. Brother Love’s Travelling Salvation Show (live) (Neil Diamond)
9. If You Know What You Mean (Neil Diamond)
10. Beautiful Noise (Neil Diamond)
11. You Don’t Bring Me Flowers (Neil Diamond, Alan Bergman, Marilyn Bergman)
12. Desirée (Neil Diamond)
13. Forever In Blue Jeans (Neil Diamond, Richard Bennett)
14. September Morn (Neil Diamond, Gilbert Bécaud)
15. I’ve Been This Way Before (Neil Diamond)
16. Yesterday’s Songs (Neil Diamond)
17. Heartlight (Neil Diamond, Burt Bacharach, Carole Bayer Sager)
18. Headed For The Future (Neil Diamond, Tom Hensley, Alan Lindgren)
19. You Are The Best Part Of Me (Neil Diamond)

The Essential Neil Diamond 3.0

In 2009, Columbia Records release a limited edition of the compilation album that included a bonus disc of eight additional songs including some live versions. The tracklisting is the same as before but with the following additional disc.

Disc Three

1. The Boat That I Row (Neil Diamond)
2. Do It (Neil Diamond)
3. Longfellow Serenade (Neil Diamond)
4. And The Grass Will Pay No Mind (live) (Neil Diamond)
5. Done Too Soon (live) (Neil Diamond)
6. Glory Road (live) (Neil Diamond)
7. Pretty Amazing Grace (live) (Neil Diamond)
8. Hell Yeah (Neil Diamond)

Album Availability

The album is available on CD, digitally and streaming services which you can get now.

Next time on Neil Diamond Albums, we check out another compilation album from his old record company and in my opinion a cheap attempt, Play Me – The Complete Uni Recordings…Plus 😃!

Neil Diamond Albums: Three Chord Opera

Now time to check out another Neil Diamond album. And a self-penned album, Three Chord Opera.

Three Chord Opera was the twenty-fifth studio album for Diamond and was released in 2001 on Columbia Records. This is the first album since the 1974 album, Serenade, of original material entirely written by Diamond himself. The title itself takes Diamond back to his roots.

The album did well in the US charts. It reached US #15 on the Billboard Charts and was certified Gold. In the UK, the album reached #49 in the UK Albums Charts.

Two singles were released from the album. The first single was “You Are The Best Part Of Me” which reached US #28 in the Billboard Adult Contemporary Chart. The second single released was “A Mission Of Love” but did not chart.

The song, “I Believe In Happy Endings” featured in the 2001 comedy film, Saving Silverman which Diamond made a cameo role. Diamond actually wrote a song especially for the film called “The Ballad Of Saving Silverman” which ended up not being released, until Diamond released it in the 2018 compilation, 50th Anniversary Collectors Edition (we will check this in a future blog).

Tracklisting

All songs written by Neil Diamond

1. I Haven’t Played This Song In Years
2. Don’t Look Down
3. I Believe In Happy Endings
4. At The Movies
5. Midnight Dream
6. You Are The Best Part Of Me
7. Baby Let’s Drive
8. My Special Someone
9. A Mission Of Love
10. Elijah’s Song
11. Leave A Little Room For God
12. Turn Down The Lights

My Favourite Songs from this album

• Don’t Look Down
• I Believe In Happy Endings
• You Are The Best Part Of Me
• A Mission Of Love
• Leave A Little Room For God

Album Availability

The album is available on CD, digitally and streaming services which you can get now.

Next time on Neil Diamond Albums, we look at another compilation album, The Essential Neil Diamond 😃!