Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 21
 Oh please October 31, 2008
John Williams
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
I know Mr Diamond lets do another album together, says Mr Rubin and like the last one strip it back and bore everyone to death.
Dull, dull and dull. What are you all talking about i was asleep quicker this time than last time. Even live he tries to liven them up a bit.
I have seen Neil Diamond live many times and own all his albums including this one JUST BECAUSE YOU FEEL YOU HAVE TOO. Please bring back the old Neil Diamond maybe not the Heartlight one but the Forever in Blue Jeans one would be nice.
 I Know Why You Are Here.... October 11, 2008
Peej (London)
0 out of 3 found this review helpful
Look, I know what's going on here. Like most of us you've been long aware of Neil Diamond - perhaps secretly admired him even - and can belt out 'Sweet Caroline' and 'Cracklin' Rosie' with the best of them when you hear it on the car radio, but you never thought you'd actually shell out and buy one of his albums being as it would sit in your CD collection amongst the 'D's' of Dylan, Drake etc. But then...but then...
A few years back you started seeing strange reviews in your favourite music magazine or in the press; they taked about the new Rick Rubin produced Neil Diamond album and told you how this was the type of album you'd always wanted Diamond to make. Aware of what Rubin did for Johnny Cash you listen intrigued to '12 Songs' - not expecting to fall for the hype - and suddenly find yourself transfixed with one of the best albums of 2005, heaping praise on it to equally disbelieving friends.
Now, three years later, aware that Rubin has again collabrated with Diamond on another album, you're here to see if this is '12 Songs' Volume II and if you want to add another D to your collection. Well, mark this well. It's not and you shouldn't! In fact, there's a good argument to suggest this album shows that even Rick Rubin is fallible.
What happened on '12 Songs' was that Rubin honed down Diamond's strength - his songwriting - and cut away all the cheesy schmaltz and Las Vegas style pandering that made the artist so unpalatable to most of us who weren't fans. On this album, while it would be unfair to say that Diamond has returned to his old ways, there is just too much slack given to the songs. They all go on far too long for one thing and nearly all build towards a ponderous chorus that you can see coming for miles and, particularly on the collaboration with Natalie Maines on 'Another Day', just seem to drag as each repetition gets louder and the vocal pyrotechnics swoop up and down (There's probably some musical term for what I'm trying to describe but, sadly, I don't know what it is).
The terrible irony here amongst all this, is that the best song on the album, 'Pretty Amazing Grace', actually sounds better when Diamond performs it live with a large backing group - something he has done quite a lot on TV and at various festivals this year - in a sense returning us to the old days. Loving the song I was really disappointed to hear it's rather restrained rendering on 'After Dark'; it really needed some beefing up and the low-key performance on the album is frustrating.
The rest of the album is either forgettable or tedious and there is little that drives along in the way that 'Delirious Love' did on '12 Songs'. I'm afraid that I think Rubin should have made his Artist cut down the length of the songs and bring in a lot more quality control.
So, if you're here for the reasons I suggest then be very wary. I did succumb and buy this but I'm afraid it's going to my Mum as a Christmas present this year - and that probably tells you all you need to know!
 Born again Diamond fan October 2, 2008
Bongani Girl (England)
I had not really thought about or listened to ND for many years. Then seeing him on a TV programme promoting Home Before Dark I was truly smitten. I bought the CD and was blown away by the songs. This prompted me to buy more. Hot August Night being one and I realised I had missed out on a lot over the years by not listening to him.
I can truly say I am a born again Diamond fan and can't wait for the next album.
Diamond Gold August 20, 2008
J. A. Harvey (Lincolnshire, UK)
It is not hard to see why Neil stopped making music for so many years, I mean let's face it, any new material he puts out will be compared with his humungous back catalogue of popular songs. The previous offereing '12 Songs' for instance was nice enough, but after playing it quite a bit at first, there wasn't anything to keep me coming back for more, so it's been collecting dust for the last year or so.
'Home Before Dark' however, is quite a different proposition. The album was being promoted with 'Pretty Amazing Grace', a wholesome and instantly appealing God song, that prompted my wife, (who likes that sort of thing) to chuck a copy in the shopping trolly; I'm so glad she did - even though I'd have saved a couple of quid at Amazon - because I may not have bothered this time. Like all great albums this takes a few plays before you can fully appreciate it, but it's worth the effort.
What emerges here is an artist desperate to remain relevant and make music that people will still want to hear. Listen to 'If I Don't See You Again', a clear message to his fans, as is 'One More Bite of the Apple'. And listen also to the words of 'Forgotten'; it tells the tale of where I put '12 Songs', "high on a shelf all by myself, under a sign that reads forgotten".
But it is the enchanting title track that really rakes up the dirt. 'Home Before Dark' uses darkness at the end of the day as a metaphor for the end of relevance, stardom, whatever. It is about the fear of death in the artistic sense. On this track, as with many tracks on the album, Neil bares his soul and reveals a depth of desperation and honesty rarely known among the breed, I felt almost privilaged to listen.
Unlike most of his contemporaries, Neil's voice sounds the same as it ever did, but then he sounded sixty when he was twenty seven. I can't wait for the next album but if this turns out to be his swansong, it will never be forgotten in my house.
 Nothing like as strong as 12 Songs July 12, 2008
Dyspeptic Spirit (Sunny Berkshire)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Another new release, another raft (?) of 5 star Amazon customer reviews.
Is it only me that feels that the majority of reviews on Amazon are given by die-hard fans who would give a 5 star review for a CD of their beloved artist breaking wind for 2 hours. The trouble is that this makes a mockery of the whole review process and ends up hindering rather than helping the average purchaser separating the Tom Waits CDs from the Robbie Williams CDs. The only solution I find is to look at all reviews by a given person before taking any notice of a given rating in an attempt to see if they have good taste, well, similar taste to yourself anyway.
Anyway, back to the new CD. I thought 12 Songs was a phenomenal album, a stark, emotional affair full of powerful, melodic songs. By contrast the music on Home Before Dark is more laid back, rhythmic and ephemeral; something to have on quietly in the background while you work. The exception is the opening track If I Don't See You Again which would have felt quite at home in 12 Songs. From that point on the music loses it's intensity and edge and becomes, well, for me anyway, largely unremarkable; an easy listening experience. Too add to this many of the songs feel overlong and outstay their welcome lacking the brevity and tightness that made 12 Songs so good. This is not to say that Home Before Dark is a bad album, it isn't, it's just a little bit, well, of a let down compared to the previous CD.
It's also extremely annoying to find that the CD/DVD contains two bonus songs (a fact I missed until after I had purchased the regular CD) one of which, Without Her, is one of the strongest tracks on the album in my opinion. Hey ho.
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