But he never would have reached the world, from sold-out concerts to seventh-inning stretches, without his love for songwriting. His 2008 album, Home Before Dark, debuted in the US and UK at #1, and his songs have been covered by artists ranging from Elvis Presley to Andrea Boccelli. Neil has been nominated for three Golden Globes, 13 Grammys, and was named NARAS’ MusiCares Person of the Year in 2009. He’s a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and in 2011, he was honored by the Kennedy Center for his lifetime of contributions to American culture. He’s charted 56 songs on the Billboard Hot 100, including 12 top 10 hits, and has released 16 Top 10 albums. Over the course of his astonishing career, Neil has sold more than 128 million albums worldwide. Produced by Albert Hammond, Don Was, Peter Asherįor Neil Diamond, it’s always started with a song. Although heaping helpings of synthesizer do their worst to slow him down, Diamond does his best with Lovescape's material, and salvages a handful of memorable moments for longtime listeners or the casual fan.“ (Johnny Loftus, AMG) Elsewhere, he covers "One Hand, One Heart" from West Side Story, refueling the ballad with his typical message of unification and peace, and buoys the faint country feel of "When You Miss Your Love" with a deft vocal touch, never letting it drift into dangerous Elton John territory. He has written or co-written 11 of Lovescape's 15 tracks, and it's his lilting, bruised heart duet with Kim Carnes that's the obvious standout. A strummed acoustic guitar slows down the Hammond/Warren composition "Don't Turn Around," letting it breathe like the classic "Red Red Wine" - Diamond's take has none of the mechanization of Ace of Base's later hit version.
But when Neil sings "Come on let's go/We've got room on that mountain of love," you want to believe in his feed-the-world message and follow him right to the top of the peak (how does he climb in those ankle boots?). "Mountains of Love"'s sanitized world beat groove and keening horns would shrivel in anyone else's hands.
#NEIL DIAMOND DISCOGRAPHY LOSSLESS FULL#
It's all drenched in the kind of reverb that screams "lite rock radio sap." Fortunately, Diamond's wine-stained voice is still full of emotion and more than capable of closing the album's gaping holes with a just-right emphasis here and a plaintive growl there. „Lovescape frames Neil Diamond's typically strong, if a little over-dramatic, vocal style with plinking keyboards, cooing backup singers, and hissing, breathy synthesizers. „Lovescape“ features some of Diamond's most impassioned performances on songs like the Was-produced "Wish Everything Was All right," and a sensitively realized version of Stephen Sondheim and Leonard Bernstein's "One Hand, One Heart," from WEST SIDE STORY. Love is found ("Someone Who Believes in You"), treasured ("All I Really Need Is You"), and lost ("Hooked on the Memory of You"), over the course of this 15-song cycle.
Something of a concept album about love (although a Neil Diamond album that didn't center on the subject of love wouldn't be much of a Neil Diamond album at all), „Lovescape“ uses a variety of producers, like Diamond's fellow singer-songwriter Albert Hammond, the talented Don Was, and Diamond himself, to craft its multi-faceted message.
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