Home Before Dark is the long awaited new album from legendary artist Neil Diamond. Home Before Dark was produced by legendary producer Rick Rubin who also produced Neil's critically acclaimed 12 Songs. Bonus DVD includes Neil in the studio performing songs. The songs are: 1. Pretty Amazing Grace 2. If I Don't See You Again 3. Forgotten 4. The Boxer (bonus track...this song is not on the album)
Remarkably Home Before Dark is the first US chart topping album of Neil Diamond's forty year career. It appears to repeat the formula behind 2006's acclaimed 12 Songs--relatively understated arrangements and a subtle Rick Rubin production. But Diamond, though sixty-seven years old and the oldest recipient of a Number One so far, is no Johnny Cash, turning his unique voice to some well chosen contemporary material. Instead Home Before Dark is a collection of new Diamond songs, and though they might not match the boomers in his back catalogue they are hardly stripped back. These are songs designed to fill large venues alongside the showstoppers in Diamond's still energetic live show. "Pretty Amazing Grace" is in the great tradition of Diamond songs that defy their corniness with sheer catchiness, as is "One More Bite of the Apple" while "Don't Go There" features bracing backing vocals and a delightfully dated wobbly guitar hook. The duet with Natalie Maines, "Another Day (That Time Forgot)", would fit comfortably on American country radio while "The Power of Two" sounds like another hit in waiting. In fact this is more a conventional Diamond collection than a Rick Rubin production, dominated by lightly understated country rock arrangements played by a crack team including Smokey Hormel, Heartbreakers Benmont Tench and Mike Campbell and the usually experimental Matt Sweeney. This is a charming and consistently solid set, though Home Before Dark does lack the unexpected intensity that made 12 Songs stand out so. ---Steve Jelbert
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
A dreary disappointment:
I have loved Neil Diamond since I saw him at the Bitter End in New York City in 1967. Since then I have seen him in concert at least 10 times and I will also always be grateful for the autographed photo he sent my 8th grade students in 1972. It therefore pains me to say this long awaited follow-up to "12 Songs" is a deep disappointment. I admired the work Rick Rubin did with Johnny Cash, especially his last CD. I've come to the conclusion, however, that Neil's songs benefit from more accompaniment.... more info
AWESOME:
Being a baby boomer and having listened to Neil Diamond for years, it is nice to get some new stuff. He is "eternal" and this new DVD is awesome.
Some good stuff....
Home before producing a listenable CD:
It's not the worst CD you could buy at Wal-Mart. And Neil shows an occasional spark of the genius of his early years with Bang and Uni Records. But this sounds like a crude demo tape he recorded in his Malibu home basement. Every song has a bum chord change or bad lyric that needed a little more work. The sparse production is dreadful. Neil's gruff, constipated vocals NEED a fuller arrangement. He isn't Mario Lanza. Neil needs to tap back into his prime sound, that folk/gospel/pop/Brill Building concoction... more info
Four good songs:
And they are "If I Don't See You Again" (with some Lennon and McCartney feel), "The Power Of Two", "Slow It Down", and "Whose Hands Are These?". All listenable, memorable, respectful of his still incredibly voluminous fan base. Additional instrumentation is done with taste; though the duet on "Another Day" is hardly successful: Natalie Maines sounds like..."Hey Rick, you really think this will sell?".
There are two tracks which must have been written at Starbuck's just prior to entering the studio:... more info
Tracks:
If I Don't See You Again
Pretty Amazing Grace
Don't Go There
Another Day (That Time Forgot) with Natalie Maines
