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The Jazz Singer: Original Soundtrack

The Jazz Singer: Original Soundtrack

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Artist: Neil Diamond
Label: Columbia
Category: Music

List Price: £9.99
Buy New: £4.15
You Save: £5.84 (58%)



New (42) Used (10) Collectible (1) from £3.14

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars 9 reviews
Sales Rank: 1160

Format: Soundtrack, Import
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5

EAN: 5099748392725
ASIN: B000024X9L

Release Date: January 7, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: IN STOCK. USUALLY DISPATCHED SAME OR NEXT WORKING DAY (MON - FRI). PLEASE ALLOW 3 - 6 DAYS FOR DELIVERY. BRAND NEW AND FULLY GUARANTEED BY A WELL ESTABLISHED TRUSTED LTD COMPANY. EMAIL DISPATCH CONFIRMATIONS SENT. TRACK PROGRESS 24/7

Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 9



4 out of 5 stars Can't Argue With Success   May 6, 2008
Music Man (England)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

Not as enduring or magical as the soundtrack for Jonathan Livingston Seagull, but then again this is a completely different type of film that he was composing for. JLS was more of a spiritual journey which was perfectly complimented in the music, whilst Jazz Singer is more of a commercial movie of a "Boy Done Good" scenario.

Personally, I preferred the songs on JLS, or should I say his genre of music, less anthemic, which probably isn't a word, and more beautifully crafted. However you can't argue with success, and there have been enough hits pulled off this album to back up any argument against it. Perhaps it's because I've heard "America" spouted from every radio station ever since that I probably should have written this review when I first heard it and not now that I have become battle weary of it.

It's nevertheless a good soundtrack with only a few weak points. It proved to be a commercial success and one of Diamond's last big sellers, if you don't include 12 Songs. A lot of material was used from "Jazz Singer" in his subsequent live shows, which made a lot of his performances a little less sensitive and more akin to "tub thumping" hysteria.

Should you buy it? If you are just a gatherer of music in general, chances are you've got most of the big songs on a compilation. However, if you're a Diamond fan then it's not really up for debate..............you've probably already got it and are still enjoying it.



5 out of 5 stars Not anything to add   January 14, 2008
mike (Manchester England)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

Can't say anything the other reviewers haven't already said. I am not a Neil Diamond fan (or wasn't until this album). I thought the film was uninspiring but the soundtrack, although not jazz as the title would imply, was exciting and invigorating. Great album.


5 out of 5 stars Great range of styles and a great soundtrack   December 29, 2007
LXIX (scotland)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

Overall, an excellent CD. The main moments are 'Hello Again', 'Love on the Rocks', 'America' and 'Summer Love'.

If you listen closely you'll hear that some of the tracks are slightly different from the ones on the DVD.

There's also a great range of musical styles here - from the quirky 'Robert E. Lee' to the rousing 'America' and, of course, a few Jewish songs like 'Kol Nidre'.

The only disappointing thing is that some music from the film doesn't feature on this accompanying soundtrack - in particular, the rousing version of 'Hava Nagila'.



4 out of 5 stars Listen to Neil Diamond's soundtrack and skip the film   April 8, 2005
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

The decision to make a modern version of Al Jolson's "Jazz Singer" in 1980 is one of the more dubious ideas to come out of Hollywood. Putting singer Neil Diamond in the Jolson role opposite Laurence Olivier as his cantor father and Lucy Arnaz as the woman he loves had only one sure upside in that Diamond also did the music for the film. If your choice is between watching the film or listening to the soundtrack, then listen to the soundtrack.

Diamond was inspired by the immigrant element of the story to honor the national melting pot in the opening song "America," along with one of his better ballads from that part of his career "Hello Again." The songs also play to Diamond's strength in that several of them would be done "live" in the context of the film, and anyone who has listened to "Hot August Night" or any other concert album by Diamond knows he is a lot better live than he is in the studio. In retrospect that is clearly the point in Diamond's career where the hard rock and gospel influences went away and he began a soft rock/pop artist where songs like "Love on the Rocks" and "Summerlove" became the norm. His early songs are arguably his best, but it was not until his 1976 album "Beautiful Noise" that Diamond ever had an album go platinum.

To his credit Diamond does come up with songs that meet the narrative needs of the film, not that this is a reason to watch the movie, so do not accuse me of advocating you do that. There is no reason for you to see that "You Baby" is part of an awkward homage, for lack of a better word, to Jolson in black face. Also worked into the mix are some traditional Jewish songs, "Adon Olom" and "Kol Nidre/My Name Is Yussel," and Diamond makes an earnest attempt to do them right. The resulting mix might be uneven, but there are enough solid songs here to make this an above average Neil Diamond album.


5 out of 5 stars A little Jazz goes a long way   January 17, 2005
Benacre Broad (Suffolk UK)
7 out of 7 found this review helpful

How can put into words how this soundtrack album has affected me. It introduced me to the fabulous Neil Diamond after watching the flim of the same name. Agreed it has some rather silly tracks like " On the Robert E Lee"which although works in the film does not have the same feel good factor on audio.Kol Nidre is a very powerful track & no doubt very emotional to sing as well.
Buy it & play it loud "Hey Louise" is great I wish they had left the "Get on with it Fool" bit during the mouth organ at the beginning of the track " Summer Love" on the album.

I have watched the film countless times & heard the soundtrack just as much. One never gets board of either,

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